4-0 Vote Expected for Radio Technical Draft Order

A draft order on updating technical rules for radio set for the FCC’s Feb. 18 meeting is considered uncontroversial and is expected to be unanimously approved, said broadcast industry and FCC officials in interviews (see 2201280065).

The order’s provisions include language eliminating a restriction on AM station power levels, doing away with outdated interference rules that apply only to stations in Alaska, and conforming rules for border stations with treaty obligations to Mexico and Canada. “These are helpful items, but will apply to fact-specific situations,” said broadcast attorneys David O’Neil of Rini O’Neil. “The changes correct inconsistencies in some FCC rules and clarifies the wording of others,” blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorneys David Oxenford and Adam Sandler.

The changes “better reflect current developments in the radio industry and ensure that our technical rules are accurate, up-to-date, and consistent,” the draft order said. “In so doing, we increase transparency and certainty for broadcasters while eliminating unnecessary regulatory burdens.”

The draft order hasn’t been substantively changed since being released last month, an FCC official told us, and docket 21-263 has had no new activity since the draft was released. The order also closely resembles the NPRM it stems from, which was approved 4-0 in July (see 2107070062). “Harmonizing the rules makes sense,” said O’Neil.

The one shift from the NPRM version is dropping a proposal to eliminate a rule on demonstrating interference by FM transmitters. NAB pushed for the change, arguing the rule adds clarity to a broadcaster’s responsibilities when constructing new facilities. The FCC concurred, according to the draft order. “The rule provides useful guidance for broadcasters regarding their rights and obligations,” the order said. “We do not wish to introduce uncertainty or ambiguity into situations where it does not currently exist.” The rule has rarely been invoked, the draft order said.

​​​​​​​The order's remaining provisions include clarifications of the FCC’s process for determining the community of license for new noncommercial educational stations, and language changing the interference rules for NCE Class D stations to align with the rules for other classes of FM station. Class D stations are now a mostly defunct class, broadcast officials said. The draft order would also define AM fill-in areas, and eliminate the maximum rated transmitter power limit rule for AMs. “Elimination of this technical restriction on AM transmitters will allow AM stations of any class to use transmitters of any rated power, thus benefiting the AM service by broadening the market of transmitters available to stations,” the draft order said.

Nearly all the provisions were unopposed by commenters, according to the draft order.