Dec. 16 Is Form 349 Deadline for Mutually Exclusive NCE Auction 83 Applicants

The 69 mutually exclusive Auction 83 noncommercial educational FM translator applicants have until Dec. 16 to file Form 349 FM translator applications, the FCC Media Bureau said in a public notice Monday. The FCC will use the NCE point system to compare and “tentatively select” applications from each group of mutually exclusive stations to receive the license for a translator, the PN said. The applications are mutually exclusive “only to other, pending NCE FM translator proposals filed in the Auction 83 Filing Window. As such, these applicants are ineligible to participate in Auction 83,” the PN said. The point system the FCC will use to decide among mutually exclusive NCE applicants is based on whether the applicant is a local entity, has diverse ownership, is involved with a statewide network providing content to local schools, and how large a coverage area and population served the translator would allow, the PN said.