TV broadcasters on ch. 6 can breathe a a little easier, at least temporarily. The FCC has decided to defer a decision on scrapping its rules requiring low-power FMs and noncommercial educational FMs to protect TV ch. 6 from interference. The FCC had proposed doing so as part of an FM rule update approved this week, but decided to hold off.
FCC Says Nix To No Pix On 6
The commission puts the kibosh on hybrid digital/analog transmission system that would have allowed ch. 6 licensees to provide additional audio-only service.
A controversy has bubbled up in connection with the FCC proceeding to set the date by which Low Power Television stations will be required to convert to digital operations. In comments filed in the proceeding to set the end date, the question of when to terminate analog broadcasting became tangled in another issue — whether ch. 6 LPTV stations should be allowed to continue to be be used to broadcast FM programming.
