§ 73.7005 Maintenance of comparative qualifications. ( a ) *Assignments/Transfers.* NCE stations awarded by use of the point system in § 73.7003 shall be subject to a holding period. From the grant of the construction permit and continuing until the facility has achieved four years of on-air operations, an applicant proposing to assign or transfer the construction permit/license to another party will be required to demonstrate the following two factors: that the proposed buyer would qualify for the same number of or greater points as the assignor or transferor originally received; and that consideration received and/or promised does not exceed the assignor's or transferor's legitimate and prudent expenses. For purposes of this section, legitimate and prudent expenses are those expenses reasonably incurred by the assignor or transferor in obtaining and constructing the station (e.g., expenses in preparing an application, in obtaining and installing broadcast equipment to be assigned or transferred, etc.). Costs incurred in operating the station are not recoverable (e.g., rent, salaries, utilities, music licensing fees, etc.). Any successive applicants proposing to assign or transfer the construction permit/license prior to the end of the aforementioned holding period will be required to make the same demonstrations.
( b ) *Technical.* In accordance with the provisions of § 73.7002, for a period of four years of on-air operations, an NCE FM applicant receiving a decisive preference for fair distribution of service is required to construct and operate technical facilities substantially as proposed. During this period, such applicant may make minor modifications to its authorized facilities, provided that either: ( 1 ) The modification does not downgrade service to the area on which the preference was based; or
( 2 ) Any potential loss of first and second NCE service is offset by at least equal first and, separately, combined first and second NCE service population gain(s).
( c ) *Point system criteria.* Any applicant selected based on the point system (§ 73.7003) must maintain the characteristics for which it received points for a period of time commencing with the grant of the construction permit and continuing until the station has achieved at least four years of on-air operations. During this time, any applicant receiving points for diversity of ownership (§ 73.7003(b)(2)) and selected through the point system, is prohibited from: ( 1 ) Acquiring any commercial or noncommercial AM, FM, or non-fill-in FM translator station which would overlap the principal community (city grade) contour of its NCE FM station received through the award of diversity points;
( 2 ) Acquiring any UHF, VHF, or Class A television station which would overlap the principal community (city grade) contour of its NCE television station received through the award of diversity points;
( 3 ) Proposing any modification to its NCE FM station received through the award of diversity points which would create overlap of the principal community (city grade) contour of such station with any attributable authorized commercial or noncommercial AM, FM, or non-fill-in FM translator station;
( 4 ) Proposing any modification to its NCE television station received through the award of diversity points which would create overlap of the principal community (city grade) contour of such station with any attributable authorized UHF, VHF, or Class A television station;
( 5 ) Proposing modifications to any attributable commercial or noncommercial AM, FM, or non-fill-in FM translator station which would create overlap with the principal community (city grade) contour of its NCE FM station received through the award of diversity points; and
( 6 ) Proposing modifications to any attributable UHF, VHF, or Class A television station which would create overlap with the principal community (city grade) contour of its NCE television station received through the award of diversity points. This restriction applies to the applicant itself, any parties to the application, and any party that acquires an attributable interest in the permittee or licensee during this time period.
( d ) *Non-comparative permits.* The holding period in this section does not apply to construction permits that are awarded on a non-comparative basis, such as those awarded to non-mutually exclusive applicants or through settlement.
[65 FR 36380, June 8, 2000, as amended at 85 FR 7891, Feb. 12, 2020]