Anomalies in station interference data used by the...

Anomalies in station interference data used by the FCC to run models of post-incentive auction repacking may be caused by the way the commission’s TVStudy software is calculating station contours, said the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition in informal comments posted Friday in docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/1vmL4hx). NAB first identified the anomalies when it analyzed the FCC data (CD July 8 p4). “These distortions could have a major effect on both the incentive auction and the repacking,” said the coalition. When the software compares a station’s contours with others, it is using minimum effective power levels to make its calculations instead of actual station power levels, it said. This can make stations seem “more resistant to the effects of incoming interference” than they really are, the filing said. It is “unclear” why the FCC is using minimum effective radiated power levels in its calculations, said the coalition. It said the commission should clarify why it is using the ERP levels, and without a “compelling reason” eliminate them.