spectrum repack

A group of House members says the commission needs to not grant extensions to the 39-month timeline of the spectrum repack.

Broadcasters have long been concerned that all stations may not be able to make the mandated switch to new channels following the spectrum auction on the FCC’s schedule, largely because broadcasters don’t believe there are enough qualified tower crews to get the work done — a concern shared by some tower companies. That fear was exacerbated by the deaths of three tower workers in Miami last month.

WWOR New York will repack in early 2018, more than a year sooner than the originally proposed FCC deadline of August 2019, and will do it for much less.

TV stations being repacked now have yet another quarterly filing obligation. Stations transitioning to a new channel in the repack must file a quarterly Transition Progress Report by the 10th of October, January, April and July. On Tuesday, the FCC issued a Public Notice reminding stations of this obligation.

TVAnswers.org offers educational sections explaining to viewers why the transition is occurring, when stations in their area are changing channels and what steps they need to take to continue receiving their local TV stations. 

In anticipation of the repack market for high-power UHF transmitters, it has been expanding its workforce and otherwise gearing up. Although the company is confident that the business is coming, it’s just not sure when or, to put it more precisely, it isn’t sure of the pace of business. The repack is to play out in phases over three years.

GatesAir will provide the station group with Maxiva transmitters and installation services covering 65 TV stations in 44 markets.

In July, Bruce Swail took the reins as CEO of GatesAir as the company’s longtime chief executive, Phil Argyris, announced his retirement. Swail comes to the company having served as CEO of two private equity-owned tech companies. While Swail acknowledges company owner The Gores Group could divest the transmitter maker at any time, his focus is on growth and optimizing profitability, he says.

The Viewer and Listener Protection Act of 2017 introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas is applauded by NAB President Gordon Smith: “This bill addresses the nearly $400 million shortfall in the $1.75 billion repack fund. It also makes clear that no broadcaster will be forced off the air if it makes a good faith effort to meet FCC deadlines.”

The congressman says the Viewer Protection Act is designed to protect broadcast television viewers and mobile broadband users.

As the repacking of the TV band proceeds after the incentive auction, the FCC has issued some guidance as to what comes next for TV stations. The other big question is the funds necessary for repacking. Here’s the latest.

T-Mobile says it is offering to pay moving costs for low-power stations “that operate on a secondary basis and are unable to obtain a permanent channel in time to accommodate T-Mobile’s rapid deployment of broadband service in the 600 MHz band.”

Top of mind this week for managers and engineers alike will be hitting the FCC’s July 12 deadline for initial construction permit and repack expense reimbursement filings. But in the rush to get that done, it’s important not to lose sight of future possibilities like single frequency network operation.

On Monday, the Incentive Auction Task Force and the Media Bureau announced the availability of information on the FCC’s website reflecting updated post-auction transition files available for download. The commission said files will be updated on a rolling basis whenever there is a phase change request granted. Such a change will require modification of one or more of the post-auction transition files issued as part of the Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice (e.g., the grant of a station’s requested change to its transition phase). The FCC will update the transition files within a few days of any granted change and ensure that the date of the update is reflected in the files. The commission noted that not every file will need to be updated for each granted change.

T-Mobile has committed to covering the costs for local public television low-power facilities that are required to relocate to new broadcasting frequencies following the government’s recent spectrum incentive auction.

This year, July 12 is an important non-vacation day for many broadcasters. It’s when an important post-incentive auction filing is due at the FCC for broadcast stations assigned to new channels as a result of the FCC’s spectrum auction and channel repack. Here are answers to five vital questions that will hopefully encourage you to file ASAP.

By now, most broadcasters should be quite familiar with the FCC’s 10 phases for repacking television spectrum. Karl Voss, chief engineer of KAET Phoenix, says they better get up to speed fast on what he calls “Phase Zero” — any channel in 600 MHz or above that is not protected.

The move is lauded by the NAB, which said: “Today’s order is a positive step towards mitigating the incentive auction’s impact on the tens of thousands of viewers who rely on these important sources of news, entertainment and emergency weather warnings.”

Dates are coming up when stations that were repacked following the incentive auction will need to give the FCC notice as to their plans to construct, and also their expected expenses in constructing so that they can get reimbursement from the FCC for the costs that the incur. The FCC issued a public notice to remind stations that are being repacked as to some of the upcoming deadlines in this repacking process.

Wireless carrier T-Mobile has big plans for its newly acquired 600 MHz spectrum — a nationwide 5G network deployment by 2020. However, there’s a hitch. The repack of the TV band needed to clear the spectrum for wireless use won’t be finished until the middle of that year. So, the wireless carrier is trying to speed up the repack by enticing some stations to move their new channels earlier than required.

While the FCC will open a limited window for displaced LPTV and translator stations to apply to operate on new channels, some stations may be forced off the air before the application window opens, which could potentially deprive tens of thousands of viewers of access to local TV signals as a result, NAB says.

The FCC will open a displacement window for LPTV stations and TV translators after full-power stations that were repacked as a result of the incentive auction have had their own windows when they can request alternative channels or increased facilities. It looks like the LPTV window will be announced at the end of this year.

The trade group releases statistics on the importance of broadcasting to Americans in times of emergencies. And NAB CTO Sam Matheny goes before the House Communications Subcommittee to spell out the many advances ATSC 3.0 will give stations in keeping the public informed in times of crisis. He urges them to make sure stations have the time and resources to complete the mandated spectrum repack.

NAB’s Patrick McFadden: T-Mobile “has a small problem with accuracy, or what some might call the truth. Let’s not forget that T-Mobile is the company that went to absurd lengths in stomping its magenta sneakers about the need for the FCC to set aside spectrum in the incentive auction for everyone not named AT&T and Verizon, going so far as to come up with the world’s most pathetic superhero movie to try to make its point.”

The 1,700 companies that populated last week’s NAB Show exhibition continued to experience relatively slow growth in the aggregate in 2016. But they look forward to spending resulting from the spectrum repack, ATSC 3.0 and the much discussed transition to IP.

From speeches, sessions, cocktail parties and bars, I gained some insight that I can share with you on Chairman Pai’s deregulatory initiative, the repack’s reimbursement fund and deadline, an ATSC 3.0 fissure and the network-affiliate OTT agreements.

Stations can save money on equipment and power bills, but some over-the-air viewers may need to change their antennas.

TV broadcasters have a lot on their minds this year at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. New efficiencies enabled by IP video transport as well as IT technology and next-gen TV made possible by ATSC 3.0 are near top of mind. But no issue facing over-the-air TV broadcasters at this year’s gathering tops the FCC-mandated repack of the television spectrum. Above: Few transmitter sites will require dealing with logistical issues as complicated as those that had to be overcome at One World Trade Center in New York. (Photo: ©2016 John M. Lyons. Used with permission.)

The FCC announced that it is appointing 10 commission employees to serve as “Regional Coordinators” to help ensure a “smooth and efficient post-auction transition.” These coordinators will each have a geographic region to which they are assigned. They will keep in touch with the television stations affected by the repacking in their area to assess them stations progress in complying with the required channel moves and to assist where possible in smoothing issues that may arise in that process.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has purchased an R&S THU9evo high-power UHF transmitter from Rohde & Schwarz, which will be installed later this year as part of the company’s compliance with the […]

Once again, TVNewsCheck’s tech guru Phil Kurz has emerged from the depths of Excel — this time with the corrected version of our chart of old and new channel assignments originally posted on Friday, April 14. “I want to thank everyone for sending comments to point out problems with the initial version. As I mentioned when I posted it, I knew there would be errors. I believe you will find this version to be much improved.” It’s available as a downloadable PDF here.

While a number of broadcasters made some big bucks in the incentive auction and almost 1,000 will have to change frequencies in the spectrum repack, when the dust settles the industry probably won’t look much different than it does today.

Our Phil Kurz pored through FCC’s “Final Television Channel Assignment Information Related To Incentive Auction Repacking” and extracted only the stations changing channel assignments from the entire table of allotments.Here they are in a downloadable PDF.