The commission last week proposed several new rules aimed at advancing the completion of the DTV transition by the February 2009 deadline, including requiring full-power stations to file a transition progress report with the FCC by Dec. 1, 2007, with the steps that will be taken to complete the project on time.
The progress report proposal is one of several the commission recommended on April 25 as part of its third review of the DTV transition.
Other rulemaking proposals for full-power TV stations, include:
- restricting granting future extensions of time to construct digital facilities;
- offering expedited processing to stations applying for a construction permit for their post-transition channel based on the new DTV Table of Allotments;
- examining the circumstances in which stations may reduce or terminate analog service to facilitate construction of post-transition facilities;
- permitting stations that have different pre-transition and post-transition channels to devote their resources to building their post-transition channel;
- requiring stations by Dec. 1, 2007, to file a form with the commission detailing the current status of the station's digital transition, the additional steps the station must take before the transition deadline, and a plan for how the station intends to meet the deadline; and
- establishing Feb.17, 2009, as the construction deadline for stations with new channel allotments in the upcoming new DTV Table of Allotments.
For more information, visit: www.fcc.gov.
