1466 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

52354 on August 8, 2016, are effective 

January 10, 2024. 

Compliance date: Compliance with 47 

CFR 1.767 and 4.15, published at 81 FR 

52354 on August 8, 2016, began on 

October 28, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Cinnamon, Cybersecurity and 

Communications Reliability Division, 

Public Safety and Homeland Security 

Bureau, at (202) 418–2319, or email: 

scott.cinnamon@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document announces that, on March 25, 

2021, OMB approved, for a period of 

three years, the information collection 

requirements relating to mandatory 

submarine outage reporting rules 

contained in the Commission’s Order, 

FCC 16–81, published at 81 FR 52354, 

August 8, 2016. The OMB Control 

Number is 3060–1283. The Commission 

publishes this document as an 

announcement of the effective date of 

the rules. If you have any comments on 

the burden estimates listed below, or 

how the Commission can improve the 

collections and reduce any burdens 

caused thereby, please contact Nicole 

Ongele Federal Communications 

Commission, 45 L Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20554. Please include 

the OMB Control Number, 3060–1283, 

in your correspondence. The 

Commission will also accept your 

comments via email at PRA@fcc.gov. 

To request materials in accessible 

formats for people with disabilities 

(Braille, large print, electronic files, 

audio format), send an email to fcc504@

fcc.gov or call the Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 

418–0530 (voice), (202) 418–0432 

(TTY). 

Synopsis 

As required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), 

the FCC is notifying the public that it 

received final OMB approval on March 

25, 2021, for the information collection 

requirements contained in the 

modifications to the Commission’s rules 

in 47 CFR parts 1 and 4. Notice of that 

approval was published in the Federal 

Register on April 28, 2021 (see 86 FR 

22360). 

Under 5 CFR part 1320, an agency 

may not conduct or sponsor a collection 

of information unless it displays a 

current, valid OMB Control Number. 

No person shall be subject to any 

penalty for failing to comply with a 

collection of information subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act that does not 

display a current, valid OMB Control 

Number. The OMB Control Number is 

3060–1283. 

The foregoing notification is required 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, Public Law 104–13, October 1, 

1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507. 

The total annual reporting burdens 

and costs for the respondents are as 

follows: 

OMB Control Number: 3060–1283. 

OMB Approval Date: March 25, 2021. 

OMB Expiration Date: March 31, 

2024. 

Title: Improving Outage Reporting for 

Submarine Cables and Enhanced 

Submarine Outage Data. 

Form Number: N/A. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit entities. 

Total Number of Respondents and 

Responses: 74 respondents; 336 

respondents. 

Estimated Time per Response: 2 

hours. 

Frequency of Response: On-occasion 

reporting requirements. 

Obligation to Respond: The statutory 

authority for this information collection 

is contained in in 47 U.S.C. 34 through 

39, 151, 154, 155, 157, 201, 251, 254, 

301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 307, 309(a), 

309(j), 316, 332, 403, 615a–1, 615c, 

1302(a), and 1302(b); 5 U.S.C. 301, and 

Executive Order No. 10530. 

Total Annual Burden: 2,016 hours. 

Total Annual Costs: No costs. 

Needs and Uses: On July 12, 2016, the 

Commission released the Order, FCC 

16–81, published at 81 FR 52355, 

August 8, 2016, adopting final rules— 

containing information collection 

requirements—establishing mandatory 

outage reporting requirements for 

submarine cable licensees. The rules 

replaced a voluntary outage reporting 

system that was in place for submarine 

cable operators with a mandatory outage 

reporting requirement similar to the 

requirements places on other part 4 

licensees identified in 47 CFR 4.3. For 

outages of a certain scope and duration, 

a submarine cable licensee must file a 

Notification, Interim Report, and Final 

Report in the manner prescribed in 47 

CFR 4.15. The outage reports are 

submitted to the Commission through 

its Network Outage Reporting System 

(NORS). This mandatory reporting 

system provides the Commission greater 

visibility into the availability and 

resiliency of submarine cable systems. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary, Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00341 Filed 1–9–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 73 

[MB Docket No. 23–126; FCC 23–112; FR 

ID 192684] 

Low Power Protection Act 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission 

(Commission) adopts rules to 

implement the Low Power Protection 

Act (LPPA or Act), which was enacted 

on January 5, 2023. The LPPA provides 

certain low power television (LPTV) 

stations with a limited window of 

opportunity to apply for primary 

spectrum use status as Class A 

television stations. With limited 

exceptions, the rules adopted herein are 

consistent with the Commission’s 

proposals in the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NPRM) in this proceeding. 

In this Order, we further the 

implementation of the LPPA by 

establishing the period during which 

eligible stations may file applications 

for Class A status, eligibility and 

interference requirements, and the 

process for submitting applications. 

DATES: Effective February 9, 2024; 

except for 47 CFR 73.6030(c) and 

73.6030(d) which are delayed. The 

Federal Communications Commission 

will publish a document announcing 

the effective dates of the delayed 

amendments in the Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Matthews, Media Bureau, Policy 

Division, 202–418–2154, 

kim.matthews@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Report 

and Order (Report and Order), in MB 

Docket No. 23–126; FCC 23–112, 

adopted on December 11, 2023 and 

released on December 12, 2023. The full 

text of this document is available for 

download at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/ 

attachments/FCC-23-112A1.pdf. To 

request materials in accessible formats 

for people with disabilities (braille, 

large print, electronic files, audio 

format), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov 

or call the Consumer & Governmental 

Affairs Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice), 

202–418–0432 (tty). 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

Analysis 

This document contains new or 

modified information collection 

requirements. The Commission, as part 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 1467 

of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork burdens, will invite the 

general public to comment on the 

information collection requirements 

contained in this Report and Order as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13. In 

addition, pursuant to the Small 

Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 

(SBPRA), we will seek specific comment 

on how the Commission might further 

reduce the information collection 

burden for small business concerns with 

fewer than 25 employees. 

Synopsis 

I. Introduction 

1. In this Report and Order, we adopt 

rules to implement the Low Power 

Protection Act (LPPA or Act), Low 

Power Protection Act, Public Law 117– 

344, 136 Stat. 6193 (2023), which was 

enacted on January 5, 2023. With 

limited exceptions, the rules adopted 

herein are consistent with the 

Commission’s proposals in the Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), 

Implementation of the Low Power 

Protection Act, 88 FR 22980 (April 14, 

2023), in this proceeding. 

II. Background 

A. Low Power Television Service 

2. The Commission created the LPTV 

service in 1982 to bring television 

service, including local service, to 

viewers ‘‘otherwise unserved or 

underserved’’ by existing full power 

service providers. From its creation, the 

LPTV service has been a secondary 

service, meaning LPTV stations may not 

cause interference to, and must accept 

interference from, full power television 

stations as well as certain land mobile 

radio operations and other primary 

services. 

3. Currently, there are 1,889 licensed 

LPTV stations. These stations operate in 

all states and territories, and serve both 

rural and urban audiences. LPTV 

stations were required to complete a 

transition from analog to digital 

operation in 2021, and all such stations 

must now operate in digital format. 

B. Class A Television Stations 

4. In 2000, the Commission 

established a Class A television service 

to implement the Community 

Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999 

(CBPA). The CBPA allowed certain 

qualifying LPTV stations to become 

Class A stations, which provided those 

television stations primary status, and 

thereby a measure of interference 

protection from full service television 

stations. 

5. Congress sought in the CBPA to 

provide certain LPTV stations a limited 

window of opportunity to apply for 

primary status. Among other matters, 

the CBPA set out certain certification 

and application procedures for LPTV 

licensees seeking Class A designation 

and prescribed the criteria for eligibility 

for a Class A license. Specifically, under 

the CBPA, an LPTV station could 

qualify for Class A status if, during the 

90 days preceding the date of enactment 

of the statute, the station: (1) broadcast 

a minimum of 18 hours per day; (2) 

broadcast an average of at least 3 hours 

per week of programming produced 

within the market area served by the 

station, or the market area served by a 

group of commonly controlled lowpower stations that carry common local 

programming produced within the 

market area served by such group; and 

(3) was in compliance with the 

Commission’s requirements for LPTV 

stations. 

6. In addition to these qualifying 

requirements, the CBPA gave the 

Commission discretion to determine 

that the public interest, convenience, 

and necessity would be served by 

treating a station as a qualifying LPTV 

station under the CBPA, or that a station 

should be considered to qualify for such 

status for other reasons determined by 

the Commission, even if it did not meet 

the qualifying requirements in the 

statute discussed above. In 

implementing the CBPA, the 

Commission concluded, however, that it 

would not accept applications under the 

CBPA from LPTV stations that did not 

meet the statutory criteria and that did 

not file a certification of eligibility by 

the statutory deadline, absent 

compelling circumstances. 

C. Low Power Protection Act 

7. Like the CBPA, the LPPA is 

intended ‘‘to provide low power TV 

stations with a limited window of 

opportunity’’ to apply for primary status 

as a Class A television licensee. The Act 

gives LPTV stations one year to apply 

for a Class A license, from the date that 

the Commission’s rules implementing 

the LPPA become effective. 

8. The LPPA sets forth eligibility 

criteria for stations seeking Class A 

designation that are similar to the 

eligibility criteria under the CBPA, as 

discussed above. Specifically, the LPPA 

provides that the Commission ‘‘may 

approve’’ an application submitted by 

an LPTV station if the station meets the 

following eligibility criteria: 

• during the 90-day period preceding 

the date of enactment of the LPPA (i.e., 

between October 7, 2022 and January 5, 

2023), the station satisfied the same 

requirements applicable to stations that 

qualified for Class A status under the 

CBPA, ‘‘including the requirements . . . 

with respect to locally produced 

programming;’’ 

• the station satisfies the Class A 

service requirements in 47 CFR 

73.6001(b)–(d) or any successor 

regulation; 

• the station demonstrates that it will 

not cause any interference as described 

in the CBPA; 

• during that same 90-day period, the 

station complied with the Commission’s 

requirements for LPTV stations; and 

• as of January 5, 2023, the station 

operated in a Designated Market Area 

with not more than 95,000 television 

households. 

Finally, the LPPA requires that a 

station accorded Class A status must (1) 

be subject to the same license terms and 

renewal standards as a license for a full 

power television broadcast station 

(except as otherwise expressly provided 

in the LPPA) and (2) remain in 

compliance with the LPPA’s eligibility 

criteria during the term of the station’s 

license. 

III. Discussion 

9. The rules and policies we adopt 

herein to implement the LPPA are 

largely consistent with the 

Commission’s proposals in the NPRM, 

with one exception. We adopt the 

proposals regarding the application 

period, the definition of a low power TV 

station and eligibility criteria, 

applicable interference requirements, 

and use of the Nielsen Local TV Station 

Information Report (Local TV Report) to 

determine the DMA where the LPTV 

station’s transmission facilities are 

located for purposes of eligibility. We 

do not, however, adopt in full the 

proposal to require that all licensees 

that convert to Class A status pursuant 

to the LPPA remain in compliance with 

the LPPA’s DMA eligibility requirement 

for the term of their Class A license. 

Instead, we conclude that LPPA Class A 

stations will not be required to continue 

to comply with the 95,000 TV 

household threshold if the population 

in the station’s DMA later exceeds the 

threshold amount for specific reasons 

beyond the station’s control. Finally, we 

adopt the NPRM proposals regarding the 

process for applying for Class A status 

pursuant to the LPPA, decline to amend 

our rules, as requested, to give LPPA 

Class A stations must carry rights 

equivalent to full service stations, and 

decline to adopt a requested de minimis 

exception to the LPPA’s DMA eligibility 

requirement. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
1468 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

A. Application Period 

10. For the reasons discussed in the 

NPRM and described below, we adopt 

the NPRM’s proposals regarding the 

application period. In the NPRM, the 

Commission proposed to provide LPTV 

stations a period of one year to apply for 

Class A status under the LPPA. The 

Commission also tentatively concluded 

that the public interest would not be 

served by providing for conversion to 

Class A status beyond the one year 

period contemplated by the LPPA. The 

Commission proposed, however, that, 

similar to its approach in implementing 

the CPBA, if a potential applicant faces 

circumstances beyond its control that 

prevents it from filing by the application 

deadline, the Commission would 

examine those instances on a case-bycase basis to determine the potential 

applicant’s eligibility for filing. No 

commenter addressed these issues. 

11. The LPPA provides LPTV stations 

a period of one year to apply for Class 

A status. The LPPA also provides that 

the Commission may approve an 

application for Class A status if the 

application satisfies section 336(f)(2) of 

the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended (which codifies the CBPA). 

This provision sets forth the eligibility 

criteria for stations qualifying for Class 

A status, and gives the Commission 

discretion to determine whether a 

station that does not satisfy such criteria 

should otherwise qualify. In the Class A 

Order, the Commission declined either 

to expand these eligibility criteria or to 

allow ongoing conversion to Class A 

status beyond the 6 month window 

contemplated in the CBPA. Absent 

comment on this issue, we find no 

reason to deviate from these prior 

determinations and the tentative 

conclusions in the NPRM that the 

application window will be limited to 

the one-year application window 

specified in the LPPA, but that we will 

examine on a case-by-case basis a 

potential applicant’s claim that it was 

prevented from filing by the application 

deadline due to circumstances beyond 

its control. 

B. Eligibility Requirements 

1. Definition of Low Power TV Station 

12. As proposed in the NPRM, we 

apply the Commission’s recently 

updated definition of a ‘‘low power TV 

station’’ for purposes of determining 

which stations are eligible for Class A 

status under the LPPA. The LPPA 

provides that the term ‘‘low power TV 

station’’ has the meaning given the term 

‘‘digital low power TV station’’ in 

§ 74.701 of our rules, or any successor 

regulation. No commenter addressed 

this proposal. We will apply this 

recently updated definition of an LPTV 

station for purposes of determining 

which stations are eligible for Class A 

status under the LPPA. 

13. We adopt the tentative conclusion 

in the NPRM that television translator 

stations are unlikely to satisfy the 

eligibility requirements of the LPPA. As 

explained in the NPRM, translator 

stations ‘‘operate for the purpose of 

retransmitting the programs and signals 

of a television broadcast station, without 

significantly altering any characteristic 

of the original signal other than its 

frequency and amplitude,’’ and thus, are 

not permitted to ‘‘originate 

programming’’ as defined in the rules. 

The sole commenter to address this 

issue, News-Press & Gazette 

Broadcasting (NPG), agrees that 

excluding television translator stations 

from eligibility under the LPPA ‘‘is a 

practical approach for most translators’’ 

but argues that ‘‘additional flexibility is 

warranted’’ for TV translator stations 

such as NPG’s translator. 

14. KXPI–LD, Pocatello, Idaho, 

retransmits the signal of full power 

station KIDK, (Fox), Idaho Falls, Idaho. 

According to NPG, ‘‘KXPI–LD is 

classified in the Commission’s records 

as a digital TV translator station, but it 

functions more like an originator of 

programming than a translator; it is a 

primary Fox Network affiliate providing 

local news, weather, and information to 

the Pocatello community. . . .’’ NPG 

argues that KXPI–LD meets all of the 

LPPA’s eligibility requirements, ‘‘except 

its ministerial technical classification as 

a digital TV translator.’’ NPG also argues 

that ‘‘the FCC’s ‘low power TV station’ 

definition, Rule 74.701(k), encompasses 

stations like KXPI–LD that retransmit 

the signal of a TV broadcast station, and 

does not require program origination.’’ 

NPG urges that the Commission permit 

stations like KXPI–LD to be eligible for 

the Class A filing opportunity afforded 

by the LPPA. 

15. We affirm our tentative conclusion 

that translator stations are unlikely to 

satisfy the eligibility requirements of the 

LPPA. NPG’s argument that the 

Commission’s definition of a low power 

TV station encompasses stations like 

KXPI–LD that retransmit the signal of a 

TV broadcast station, and does not 

require program origination, is 

misplaced. LPAA section 2(c)(2)(B)(i)(I) 

requires that, during the 90-day 

eligibility period, an LPTV station must 

broadcast an average of at least three 

hours per week of programming 

produced within the market area served 

by the station. As a translator station, 

KXPI–LD retransmits the programming 

feed it obtains from full-power station 

KIDK. NPG does not demonstrate that 

the KIDK programming that KXPI–LD is 

retransmitting was produced in KXPI– 

LD’s own noise limited contour. Thus, 

NPG has failed to demonstrate how a 

translator station like KXPI–LD can 

satisfy the requirement of LPAA section 

2(c)(2)(B)(i)(I) to broadcast an average of 

at least three hours per week of 

programming produced within the 

market area served by the translator 

station. 

2. Eligibility Criteria 

16. As noted above, the LPPA sets 

forth eligibility criteria for stations 

seeking Class A designation that are 

similar to the eligibility criteria under 

the CBPA. Specifically, the LPPA 

provides that the Commission ‘‘may 

approve’’ an application submitted by 

an LPTV station if the station, during 

the 90-day period preceding the date of 

enactment of the LPPA, meets the same 

requirements in section 336(f)(2) of the 

Communications Act applicable to 

stations that qualified for Class A status 

under the CBPA, ‘‘including the 

requirements . . . with respect to 

locally produced programming.’’ Thus, 

to qualify for Class A status, in the 90 

days preceding the LPPA’s January 5, 

2023 effective date (between October 7, 

2022 and January 5, 2023) an LPTV 

station must have met the following 

requirements: (1) the station must have 

broadcast a minimum of 18 hours per 

day; (2) the station must have broadcast 

an average of at least 3 hours per week 

of programming that was produced 

within the market area served by such 

station, or the market area served by a 

group of commonly controlled LPTV 

stations that carry common local 

programming produced within the 

market area served by such group; and 

(3) the station must have been in 

compliance with the Commission’s 

requirements applicable to LPTV 

stations. In addition, from and after the 

date of its application for a Class A 

license, the station must be in 

compliance with the Commission’s 

operating rules for full power television 

stations. 

17. Locally Produced Programming. 

We will define locally produced 

programming for purposes of the LPPA 

as that ‘‘produced within the predicted 

noise-limited contour (see § 73.619(c)) 

of a Class A station broadcasting the 

program or within the contiguous 

predicted noise-limited contours of any 

of the Class A stations in a commonly 

owned group.’’ Block supports this 

proposed definition of ‘‘locally 

produced programming,’’ and with the 

exception of REC’s request for 

clarification addressed below, no other 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 1469 

commenter addressed this issue. As 

proposed in the NPRM, we will apply 

this definition to define ‘‘programming 

produced within the market area served 

by the station’’ for purposes of 

determining eligibility for Class A status 

under section 2(c)(2)(B)(i)(I) of the 

LPPA. 

18. We decline at this time to adopt 

REC’s proposal that we clarify the 

definition of ‘‘locally produced 

programming’’ for purposes of the 

LPPA. REC advocates that the 

Commission (1) clarify that local 

programming may not be repeated 

within the same week to satisfy the 

weekly locally produced programming 

requirement; (2) require that local 

programming be aired on the same 

programming stream and not aggregated 

among multiple streams to meet the 

minimum requirement; (3) clarify that 

the local programming requirement 

need only be satisfied on one 

programming stream of simultaneous 

video and related audio programming; 

and (4) require that the programming 

must be simultaneous video and audio 

programming where the audio portion 

of the programming directly relates to 

the video portion of the programming. 

We note that the concerns underlying 

REC’s proposed clarifications are 

equally applicable to existing Class A 

stations under the CBPA. Any change to 

the definition of ‘‘locally produced 

programming’’ to address such concerns 

should be considered with respect to all 

Class A stations, not just those stations 

that convert to Class A status pursuant 

to the LPPA. Because the Commission 

did not propose to revise the definition 

of locally produced programming for 

purposes of Class A stations generally, 

we find REC’s proposals to be outside 

the scope of this proceeding. 

Accordingly, we decline to pursue 

REC’s proposals at this time. 

19. Operating Requirements. For the 

reasons contained in the NPRM and 

discussed below, we adopt the NPRM’s 

proposals related to operating 

requirements. The NPRM tentatively 

concluded that all applicants seeking to 

convert to Class A status under the 

LPPA must certify that they have 

complied with the Commission’s 

requirements for LPTV stations during 

the 90-day eligibility period. The NPRM 

also proposed that a station applying to 

convert to Class A status must comply, 

beginning on the date of its application 

for a Class A license and thereafter, with 

the same Commission Part 73 operating 

rules that apply to Class A stations that 

converted pursuant to the CBPA. This 

includes the requirement that existing 

Class A stations comply with children’s 

programming and online public 

inspection file (OPIF) regulations. No 

commenter opposed this approach. 

Absent objection, we adopt these 

proposals. Regarding our requirement 

that Class A TV applicants and licensees 

maintain an OPIF, NPG notes that LPTV 

stations have no OPIF and are therefore 

unable to upload records to the system. 

The Commission will activate an OPIF 

for LPTV stations that apply to convert 

to Class A status pursuant to the LPPA 

and inform applicants when that 

station’s OPIF is ready for the applicant 

to upload documents required to be 

maintained in OPIF. 

20. We also require that all stations 

that receive a Class A license under the 

LPPA comply with all Class A 

regulations, as proposed in the NPRM. 

As discussed in the NPRM, the LPPA 

requires that LPPA Class A stations 

‘‘remain in compliance’’ with the Act’s 

eligibility criteria ‘‘during the term of 

the license.’’ This includes, among other 

things, the requirements to broadcast a 

minimum of 18 hours per day and to 

broadcast an average of at least three 

hours per week of locally produced 

programming each quarter. In addition, 

the station must continue to comply 

with the interference requirements 

adopted herein. Further, we adopt the 

tentative conclusion in the NPRM that 

there is no reason to exempt LPTV 

stations converting to Class A status 

under the LPPA from other rules 

applicable to LPTV stations that 

converted to Class A status under the 

CBPA, given that the service 

requirements in the LPPA closely track 

those in the CBPA and thus it makes 

sense for Class A rules generally to 

apply. No commenter addressed these 

issues. 

21. Finally, we conclude that the 

requirement to comply with the Class A 

eligibility requirements begins when an 

LPTV station’s Class A application is 

submitted. The LPPA states that the 

‘‘Commission may approve an 

application [for Class A status] if the 

low power TV station submitting the 

application—satisfies—paragraphs (b), 

(c), and (d) of 73.6001,’’ which contains 

the requirements that Class A stations 

broadcast a minimum of 18 hours per 

day and broadcast an average of at least 

three hours per week of locally 

produced programming each quarter. 

This requirement is distinct from the 

separate statutory obligation to meet the 

eligibility requirements during the 90- 

day eligibility period of October 7, 2022 

to January 5, 2023. No commenter 

addressed this issue. As discussed 

above, the LPPA requires that applicants 

continue to broadcast a minimum of 18 

hours per day and to broadcast an 

average of at least three hours per week 

of locally produced programming each 

quarter after a Class A license is granted. 

We conclude that the language quoted 

above would be rendered superfluous if 

we did not interpret it to apply these 

requirements from the time the Class A 

application is submitted. Thus, the 

requirement to broadcast a minimum of 

18 hours per day and broadcast an 

average of at least three hours per week 

of locally produced programming each 

quarter begins when a station submits 

an application to convert to Class A 

status pursuant to the LPPA and 

continues for the term of the Class A 

license. 

22. License Application and 

Documentation. As proposed in the 

NPRM, we will require an applicant to 

certify in its application that its station 

meets the operating and programming 

requirements of the LPPA. No 

commenter objected to these proposals. 

We believe these certification 

requirements will assist us with the 

orderly processing of applications 

received under the LPPA, and thus we 

adopt the proposals. Finally, we also 

require that an applicant certify that it 

was in compliance with the 

Commission’s requirements applicable 

to LPTV stations. 

23. Consistent with the tentative 

conclusion in the NPRM, we require an 

applicant to submit, as part of its 

application, documents to support its 

certification that it meets the operating 

and programming requirements of the 

LPPA. As noted in the NPRM, the 

Commission staff may later determine 

that additional documentation is needed 

to evaluate an application and may at 

that time require an applicant to submit 

additional, specific documentation 

during consideration of the application. 

We believe this approach will ensure 

eligibility while preserving flexibility 

for applicants. We decline to permit 

applicants to certify that they meet 

operating and programming 

requirements without submission of 

supporting documentation, as Block 

suggests. We believe such an approach 

would lack the information necessary 

for the Commission staff to undertake a 

sufficient review of the application in 

these circumstances. NAB suggests that 

we require stations to provide ‘‘a 

statement concerning the station’s 

operating schedule and a list of locally 

produced programs’’ at the application 

stage. We will adopt NAB’s suggestion 

and require applicants to provide with 

their application a statement concerning 

the station’s operating schedule during 

the 90 days preceding January 5, 2023 

as well as a list of locally produced 

programs aired during that time period. 

We believe that requiring applicants to 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
1470 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

submit this basic information in support 

of their certification that they meet the 

LPPA’s eligibility criteria will assist us 

in processing applications. In addition, 

an applicant should submit whatever 

additional documents available to the 

applicant that it believes best support its 

certification that it meets the operating 

and programming requirements of the 

Act. For example, to support its 

certification that the station was on the 

air at least 18 hours each day during the 

eligibility period, a station could 

provide electric power bills from a third 

party vendor that specify the station’s 

broadcast facility location for the 

designated period, and/or copies of any 

program guides, EAS logs, or 

agreements to purchase and air 

programming on the specified station 

during the times of operation in an 

amount sufficient to satisfy this 

operating requirement. If the station was 

silent during any portion of the 

eligibility period, the station must 

identify any silent periods and the 

reasons why the station was silent. To 

support its certification that a station 

aired an average of at least three hours 

of locally produced programming each 

week, the station could, for example, 

submit copies of any agreements to 

purchase and air such programming 

and/or identify the producer of any 

programming it claims is locally 

produced, the location where the 

programming was produced, and 

records of advertisements aired during 

locally produced programming showing 

that the programming was in fact aired. 

24. Apart from a statement regarding 

the station’s operating schedule and a 

list of locally produced programming 

aired during the 90 days preceding 

January 5, 2023, we decline to mandate 

the form of the additional documents 

that applicants submit to support their 

applications. We recognize that some 

applicants may not have specific types 

of documentation, or that a specific 

document may not be in a form that 

supports the applicant’s certification. In 

light of that, we permit each applicant 

to provide with the station’s 

application, documents that it has that 

best support its certification that it met 

the operational and programming 

requirements of the LPPA during the 

eligibility period. The Commission staff 

will review the documentation on a 

case-by-case basis and determine if it 

will need to request additional 

documentation before it can make a 

determination whether to grant a Class 

A license application. 

25. Alternative Eligibility Criteria. As 

proposed in the NPRM, we will allow 

deviation from the strict statutory 

eligibility criteria under the LPPA only 

where deviations are insignificant or 

where there are compelling 

circumstances such that equity 

mandates a deviation. No commenter 

disagreed with this approach. 

26. We conclude that, similar to the 

Commission’s approach in 

implementing the CBPA, we will allow 

deviation from the strict statutory 

eligibility criteria in the LPPA only 

where such deviations are insignificant 

or where there are compelling 

circumstances such that equity 

mandates a deviation. We will consider 

any such requests on a case-by-case 

basis. As the Commission tentatively 

concluded in the NPRM, we believe that 

the LPPA provides precise and limited 

eligibility criteria and, except in very 

limited circumstances, we are not 

inclined to expand the specific 

qualifying criteria beyond that 

identified in the statute. 

3. Interference Requirements 

27. We adopt the tentative 

conclusions in the NPRM that our 

interference rules applicable to existing 

Class A stations, including requirements 

that were adopted subsequent to 

enactment of the CBPA in 1999, will 

apply to stations that convert to Class A 

status pursuant to the LPPA. This 

approach will ensure that LPTV stations 

converting to Class A status under the 

LPPA will not cause interference to the 

licensed or previously proposed 

facilities of digital broadcast stations, 

including full power, Class A, LPTV and 

TV translator stations. 

28. NPG generally supports that the 

current interference rule rather than the 

old analog rule should be applied. 

However, NPG would have us provide 

flexibility to permit interference beyond 

what is permitted in our current rules. 

NPG states that the Commission should 

adopt a ‘‘flexible approach’’ granting 

applications that would violate the rule 

‘‘if the applicant is able to demonstrate 

no actual interference, acceptance by 

the licensee subject to such interference, 

or other showing that the public interest 

is served by the applicant obtaining 

Class A status.’’ We are not persuaded 

to grant this request. First, we do not 

anticipate any scenarios where 

interference is predicted, but the 

applicant is able to demonstrate a lack 

of actual interference. The TVStudy 

software used to prepare and process 

applications already considers the 

elements likely to cause actual 

interference. Specifically, TVStudy 

makes full use of terrain shielding and 

Longley-Rice terrain propagation 

methods to determine whether a 

proposed facility is predicted to cause 

impermissible interference consistent 

with OET Bulletin No. 69, accounting 

for unique characteristics such as 

terrain. For this reason, we do not 

believe there would be merit in 

accepting other methods of determining 

interference. Second, the Commission’s 

rules already allow applicants and 

licensees to accept interference subject 

to Commission approval, and the Media 

Bureau will continue to consider and 

accept interference agreements in 

processing Class A license applications 

filed pursuant to the LPPA without the 

need to adopt additional flexibility. 

Finally, we reject NPG’s suggestion that 

waiver of television broadcast 

interference protection rules should be 

considered upon undefined public 

interest arguments. NPG provides no 

example—and we can imagine none— 

where we have granted an LPTV station 

primary status that caused interference 

to a licensed (or previously proposed) 

broadcast facility entitled to protection. 

Congress clearly intended the LPPA to 

apply to a discrete number of LPTV 

stations that satisfy specific eligibility 

requirements and protect existing 

stations and previously proposed 

facilities. We decline to adopt an 

exception that would contravene this 

careful balance. 

29. Protection of Land Mobile 

Stations. The LPPA provides that the 

Commission may approve an 

application by an LPTV station if it 

‘‘demonstrates to the Commission that 

the Class A station for which the license 

is sought will not cause any interference 

described in section 336(f)(7) of the 

Communications Act of 1934. . . .’’ 

Section 336(f)(7)(C) of the CBPA 

provides that the Commission may not 

grant a Class A license or modification 

of license where the Class A station will 

cause interference within the protected 

contour of land mobile stations. We 

adopt the proposal in the NPRM that 

Class A applications will not be 

grantable where the Class A station will 

cause interference within the protected 

contour of land mobile stations which 

have been allocated the use of TV 

channels 14–20 in certain urban areas of 

the country, as well as channel 16 in the 

New York City metropolitan area. We 

received no specific objection to this 

proposal. We note that in implementing 

the CBPA, the Commission 

implemented the same interference 

protections and procedures which are 

prescribed in § 74.709 of the rules, and 

these rules have not changed. 

30. We decline to adopt as both 

unnecessary and outside the scope of 

this proceeding, the County of Los 

Angeles, California’s request that we 

incorporate by reference comments in a 

proceeding requested by the Land 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 1471 

Mobile Communications Council 

regarding rules governing separation 

between land mobile stations and 

television stations located in the TBand. Unless and until there is a change 

in the applicable rules, we will apply 

our existing land mobile protection 

requirements in considering 

applications to convert to Class A status 

pursuant to the LPPA. We note that in 

limiting eligibility to LPTV stations 

operating in a DMA or an equivalent 

with not more than 95,000 television 

households, Congress intended to 

convey the benefits of Class A status 

under the LPPA to LPTV stations 

operating in smaller DMAs. T-band 

radio systems, which are used for public 

safety and industrial/business land 

mobile communications, operate on 

470–512 MHz (television channels 14 

through 20) in 13 large cities, located in 

the largest DMAs with more than 

1,000,000 television households. LPTV 

stations operating in larger DMAs or an 

equivalent television market are not 

eligible for Class A status under the 

LPPA and thus, it is unlikely that land 

mobile operations in the T-band will be 

affected by the LPPA. 

4. Designated Market Area 

31. The LPPA requires that an LPTV 

station must demonstrate that as of 

January 5, 2023, the station ‘‘operates in 

a Designated Market Area with not more 

than 95,000 television households.’’ The 

LPPA further states that DMA means 

‘‘(A) a [DMA] determined by Nielsen 

Media Research or any successor entity; 

or (B) a [DMA] under a system of 

dividing television broadcast station 

licensees into local markets using a 

system that the Commission determines 

is equivalent to the system established 

by Nielsen Media Research . . .’’ The 

Commission sought comment in the 

NPRM on (1) the meaning of the word 

‘‘operates’’ in the LPPA, and (2) whether 

to adopt the Nielsen Local TV Station 

Information Report (Local TV Report) 

for determining DMAs or an equivalent 

alternative local market system. We 

address each of these issues below. 

32. ‘‘Operates’’ in the DMA. As 

proposed in the NPRM, we conclude 

that ‘‘operates’’ means that the LPTV 

station applying for Class A status under 

the LPPA must demonstrate that its 

transmission facilities, which include 

the structure on which its antenna is 

mounted, are located within the 

qualifying DMA. No commenters 

addressed this issue. We find that this 

requirement is consistent with 

Congress’s intent to limit Class A status 

to stations located in small DMAs, as 

evidenced by its limiting eligibility for 

Class A status under the LPPA to LPTV 

stations operating in a DMA or an 

equivalent with not more than 95,000 

television households. To make the 

necessary demonstration, we will 

require applicants to provide the 

following information as it existed on 

January 5, 2023, as proposed in the 

NPRM: (1) the coordinates of the 

station’s transmission facilities (i.e., the 

structure on which its antenna is 

mounted); (2) the city/town/village/or 

other municipality and county in which 

the transmission facilities are located; 

and (3) the qualifying DMA in which 

the station’s transmission facilities are 

located. 

33. Use of Nielsen to Determine 

DMAs. We also adopt the proposal in 

the NPRM to use the Nielsen Local TV 

Report in determining the DMA where 

the LPTV station’s transmission 

facilities were located as of January 5, 

2023. First, the decision is fully 

consistent with the LPPA which 

contemplates the use of Nielsen. 

Furthermore, as explained in the NPRM, 

use of the Nielsen Local TV Report is 

consistent with the Commission’s 

Nielsen DMA Determination Update 

Order, which adopted Nielsen’s 

monthly Local TV Report as the 

successor publication to Nielsen’s 

Annual Station Index and Household 

Estimates and determined that the Local 

TV Report should be used to define 

‘‘local market’’ as stated in other 

statutory provisions and rules relating to 

carriage, including retransmission 

consent, distant signals, significantly 

viewed, and field strength contour. 

When the Commission sought comment 

on what publication to use for DMA 

determinations in that proceeding, 

commenters unanimously supported 

use the Local TV Report. Thus, we note 

that the record in that proceeding 

indicated that the Local TV Report was 

the sole source of information regarding 

DMA determinations and that there was 

no company currently accredited to 

determine the local market area of 

broadcast television stations. In 

addition, some commenters in this 

proceeding support our decision to use 

the Nielsen Local TV Report for 

purposes of implementing the LPPA. As 

NAB points out, the Commission and 

the television industry have long relied 

on Nielsen DMA data to define 

television markets. REC notes that the 

Nielsen Local TV Report provides a 

‘‘cut-and-dry’’ determination of a 

station’s DMA, and that the ‘‘debate and 

development of any alternative system 

would further delay the process.’’ 

34. While the LPPA defines a DMA as 

‘‘a [DMA] determined by Nielsen Media 

Research or any successor entity,’’ it 

also provides that a DMA may be ‘‘a 

[DMA] under a system of dividing 

television broadcast station licensees 

into local markets using a system that 

the Commission determines is 

equivalent to the system established by 

Nielsen Media Research. . . .’’ The 

NPRM sought comment on alternatives 

to the Nielsen Local TV Report that 

would be ‘‘equivalent to the system 

established by Nielsen Media 

Research.’’ For the reasons discussed 

below, we decline to adopt any of the 

alternatives proposed. The NPRM 

specifically sought comment on the 

LPTV Broadcasters’ Association 

(LPTVBA) requests that the Commission 

use Metropolitan Statistical Areas 

(MSAs) and Rural Service Areas (RSAs) 

as defined by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) using census data to 

implement the LPPA. Some commenters 

support the suggestion. Flood contends 

that MSA market definitions ‘‘more 

accurately reflect the characteristics of 

the LPTV station’s service area that are 

pertinent to determining eligibility’’ 

under the LPPA. Flood also argues that 

the Nielsen DMAs are ‘‘geographically 

overbroad’’ and group some of the most 

rural areas in the U.S. with distant 

major cities, rendering some stations in 

rural areas ineligible for Class A status. 

Flood also notes that, under a DMA 

approach, similarly situated LPTV 

stations in immediately adjacent 

counties would receive inconsistent 

eligibility determinations, and, in some 

situations, stations in densely 

populated, larger counties would be 

eligible while those in adjacent, smaller, 

less densely populated counties would 

be ineligible. The Identical Commenters 

urge the Commission to ‘‘create a TV 

market definition system that relies on 

. . . MSAs as the primary criteria for 

determining a set of geographic areas 

equivalent to the Nielsen DMA metric of 

95,000 households or fewer.’’ They also 

note that the Nielsen DMA system does 

not include LPTV stations in its 

assessments and that ‘‘Nielsen’s data is 

private and requires costly fees for 

access.’’ 

35. We decline to use market 

classifications based on Census data, 

such as MSAs or RSAs, for purposes of 

implementing the LPPA. The LPPA 

specifically directs that the Commission 

use either Nielsen DMAs or a ‘‘system 

of dividing television broadcast station 

licensees into local markets’’ that is 

‘‘equivalent’’ to the system established 

by Nielsen. Census classifications are 

not a ‘‘system of dividing television 

broadcast station licensees into local 

markets,’’ and thus cannot be 

considered ‘‘equivalent’’ to the system 

established by Nielsen. Such 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
1472 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

classifications do not reflect television 

stations in the market, the reach of those 

local stations, the location of the 

populations they serve, or local viewing 

patterns. On the other hand, a Nielsen 

DMA is an ‘‘exclusive geographic area 

in which the home market television 

stations hold a dominance of total hours 

viewed’’ and ties specifically to 

television viewing markets. Thus, we 

conclude census-based categories are 

not ‘‘equivalent’’ to the system 

established by Nielsen. In addition, we 

note that classifications based on 

Census data are based on population 

and group urban areas (the population 

‘‘nucleus’’) with outlying counties ‘‘that 

have a high degree of integration’’ with 

the population nucleus based on 

commuting trends. OMB itself warns 

that such classifications do not 

themselves adequately differentiate 

between urban and rural areas. Thus, 

these census classifications do not 

address the concerns raised by those 

commenters who argue that Nielsen 

DMAs are geographically overbroad. We 

also note that the kind of inconsistent 

eligibility results that some commenters 

argue would occur using Nielsen DMAs 

are inevitable with any system that 

divides the country into geographic 

markets, and are not unique to Nielsen. 

Furthermore, we decline Identical 

Commenters’ invitation that the 

Commission fabricate a new 

classification system based on Census 

data because we find that such an 

exercise is unnecessary due to the 

availability of Nielsen data which is 

appropriate for this purpose. We also 

believe that such an exercise would 

significantly delay our ability to 

implement the LPPA. We also do not 

believe the failure of Nielsen to assign 

LPTV stations to DMAs is relevant 

because the eligibility requirement is 

that the station ‘‘operate’’ in the DMA 

(that is, its transmission facilities are 

located within the qualifying DMA), not 

that it be assigned to the DMA. Finally, 

reference to the fact that Nielsen is a 

private company that charges for some 

of its materials is not a barrier to our 

decision here. Nielsen has represented 

that it will provide to stations at no 

charge information about the DMA to 

which the station is assigned, and 

information about the number of TV 

households in each DMA is publicly 

available. 

36. We also reject RCC’s argument 

that our proposed adoption of an 

approach that limits eligibility under 

the LPPA to LPTV stations in DMAs 

with no more than 95,000 TV 

households is ‘‘nonsensical.’’ This 

commenter points out that, under this 

approach, only thirty-three Nielsen 

DMAs would qualify under the LPPA 

(in other words, only 33 out of 210 

DMAs), amounting to only 1.6% of TV 

households. As a result, RCC argues that 

Congress could not have intended for 

use of Nielsen DMAs. We disagree. 

Congress clearly intended that eligibility 

under the LPPA be limited, as the Act 

expressly provides that eligibility is 

limited to DMAs with no more than 

95,000 TV households. As NAB notes, 

elevating LPTV stations from secondary 

to primary Class A status comes at the 

cost of ‘‘effectively block[ing] coverage 

and service improvements by fullservice stations.’’ In turn, Congress 

sought to allow certain LPTV stations in 

only smaller DMAs (not all small LPTV 

stations or all LPTV stations in rural 

areas) to elevate to primary status. We 

decline to read the LPPA as promoting 

maximum elevation of LPTV stations to 

primary status; rather, Congress adopted 

a much more balanced approach. 

37. We also decline to use Comscore 

data as an alternative to the Nielsen 

Local TV Report for purposes of the 

LPPA, as advocated by several 

commenters. Like Nielsen, Comscore is 

a media analytics company that 

produces a list of television market 

areas and a calculation of the number of 

television households in each market. 

Because Comscore, like Nielsen, has a 

proprietary market system and requires 

payment for access, LPTVBA opposes 

adoption of Comscore data as an 

alternative local market system. REC 

comments that ‘‘the debate and 

development of any alternate system’’ to 

Nielsen ‘‘would further delay the 

process and could defeat the purpose of 

limiting’’ Class A conversions to rural 

areas, but also noted that Comscore 

markets ‘‘could be’’ comparable to 

Nielsen DMAs and should be 

considered. While it is possible that 

Comscore could qualify as a ‘‘system of 

dividing television broadcast station 

licensees into local markets’’ that is 

‘‘equivalent’’ to the system established 

by Nielsen, we find that the record here 

does not establish any material benefits 

from use of Comscore either in addition 

to or in place of Nielsen for purposes of 

the LPPA, nor that any such benefits 

would outweigh the uncertainty and 

delay that use of Comscore would have 

in issuing Class A licenses. In 

particular, we are concerned about 

introducing uncertainty into the 

application review process, in the 

instance where Comscore’s market 

classifications may differ from Nielsen. 

The lack of a compelling reason to select 

a different classification system instead 

of Nielsen weighs in favor of our 

decision to use Nielsen Local TV Report 

for purposes of implementing the LPPA. 

38. Finally, we decline the requests of 

three other commenters who argue in 

favor of other alternatives to Nielsen 

DMAs. One Ministries advocates that 

the Commission should allow LPTV 

stations to demonstrate that the 

geographic area covered by the station is 

a subset of a larger DMA, such as when 

the station is in a hyphenated DMA, i.e., 

Chico-Redding. One Ministries argues 

that Nielsen identifies Chico and 

Redding separately for purposes of radio 

markets, that LPTV stations cover 

roughly the same area as radio stations, 

and that no LPTV station in ChicoRedding covers both of those cities. The 

LPPA directs that the Commission 

define DMA using Nielsen or an 

‘‘equivalent’’ system of local TV 

markets, and dividing Nielsen 

hyphenated markets into separate 

markets for purposes of the LPPA would 

not be ‘‘equivalent’’ to the system 

established by Nielsen. As NAB notes, 

more than 40 percent of Nielsen markets 

are hyphenated, and allowing these 

markets to be treated as separate 

markets would create a system that is 

dramatically different from the current 

Nielsen DMA market definitions. JB 

Media Group argues that Nielsen DMAs 

do not account for variables such as 

interference that ‘‘can significantly 

impact viewership’’ and urges ‘‘an 

alternative approach that takes into 

account interference, actual households, 

and signal power under different 

weather conditions.’’ We find that it 

would be impractical and lead to delay 

in implementing the LPPA for 

Commission staff to define markets 

based on factors such as weather and 

actual viewership, and JB Media Group 

does not offer an existing alternative 

market definition based on these factors. 

Finally, RCC argues that the 

Commission should allow all LPTV 

stations whose ‘‘Section 307(b) 

community of license has fewer than 

95,000 TV households’’ to convert to 

Class A status. We conclude that such 

a system of defining local TV markets 

would be very different than the one 

required by the LPPA to be ‘‘equivalent’’ 

to the system established by Nielsen, 

which defines larger geographic regions 

than community of license. 

5. License Standards (Ongoing 

Eligibility Requirements) 

39. We will not require LPPA Class A 

stations to continue to comply with the 

95,000 TV household threshold if the 

population in the station’s DMA later 

exceeds the threshold amount as a result 

of changes beyond the station’s control. 

In the NPRM, the Commission stated its 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 1473 

belief that the LPPA requirement that 

stations remain in compliance with the 

Act’s eligibility requirements for the 

term of the Class A license means that 

stations that convert to Class A status 

must continue to operate in DMAs with 

not more than 95,000 television 

households in order to maintain their 

Class A status. The Commission noted 

that, under this interpretation of the 

Act, a station that converted to Class A 

status pursuant to the LPPA would no 

longer be eligible to retain Class A status 

if the population in its DMA later grows 

to more than 95,000 television 

households. 

40. All of the commenters that 

addressed this interpretation of the Act 

oppose requiring LPPA Class A stations 

to remain in DMAs that meet the 

threshold population restriction, at least 

without some exceptions. Commenters 

argue that if the Commission were to 

require continued compliance with this 

restriction, licensees would lack 

regulatory certainty to pursue Class A 

status, which would undermine the 

economic viability of Class A stations, 

and thus fewer stations would likely 

apply. Commenters also contend that it 

would be unfair to mandate that a 

station lose rights through no fault of its 

own if the population rose above the 

95,000 threshold, that the proposal 

would limit a licensee’s ability to 

modify its facilities in the future (e.g., 

by relocating), and that the proposal 

would impose different license terms for 

LPPA Class A stations than for existing 

Class A stations, which face no similar 

possible loss of their Class A status. 

41. Commenters also argue that the 

Commission proposal is not required by 

the statute. Section 2(c)(2)(B)(iii) of the 

LPPA states that the Commission may 

approve conversion to Class A status for 

a station that ‘‘as of the date of 

enactment of this Act, operates in a 

Designated Market Area with not more 

than 95,000 television households.’’ 

While section 2(c)(3)(B) directs that a 

converted station is to remain in 

compliance with paragraph (2)(B)’s 

eligibility requirements during the term 

of the license, commenters argue that 

this language is properly interpreted to 

require only that a station be in 

compliance with the DMA requirement 

‘‘as of’’ the date of enactment of the 

LPPA (January 5, 2023), not that it 

remain in compliance going forward. 

42. We are persuaded by commenters 

who argue that a station, once it 

converts to Class A status pursuant to 

the LPPA, should not later lose 

eligibility and therefore be required to 

revert back to an LPTV station with 

secondary spectrum use status as a 

result of changes beyond the station’s 

control. We conclude that Congress did 

not intend for LPPA Class A stations to 

subsequently lose Class A status 

through DMA changes that are not 

under the control of the station because 

Congress intended that the communities 

served by these stations should be able 

to rely on uninterrupted service from 

the stations. Accordingly, we will not 

require LPPA Class A stations to 

continue to comply with the 95,000 TV 

household threshold if the population 

in the station’s DMA later exceeds the 

threshold amount as a result of changes 

beyond the station’s control. We find 

that the reasons that a station may no 

longer comply with the 95,000 TV 

household threshold that are beyond the 

station’s control are a change in the 

market size through (1) population 

growth, (2) a change in the boundaries 

of a qualifying DMA such that the 

population of the DMA exceeds 95,000 

television households, or (3) the merger 

of a qualifying DMA into another DMA 

such that the combined DMA exceeds 

the threshold amount. 

43. We will not, however, permit an 

LPPA Class A station to maintain its 

Class A status if the size of the market 

it serves increases beyond 95,000 

television households due to a change 

within the control of the station. For 

instance, we will not permit an LPPA 

Class A station to initiate a move to a 

different DMA that does not meet the 

LPPA population threshold at the time 

of the move and still retain the station’s 

Class A status. We interpret the LPPA’s 

continuing compliance mandate to 

preclude changes under the station’s 

control that would result in the station’s 

failure to continue to comply with the 

Act’s eligibility requirements. We 

disagree with those commenters who 

argue that the Act requires only that the 

station be in compliance with the DMA 

requirement as of January 5, 2023. This 

reading of section 2(c)(2)(B)(iii) of the 

Act is contrary to the language of 

section 2(c)(3)(B), which does not carve 

out the 95,000 TV household threshold 

requirement from the continuing 

compliance mandate. Such an 

interpretation would also undercut the 

purpose of the LPPA to strengthen 

protections for TV stations located in 

smaller DMAs, as it would allow LPPA 

Class A stations to move to DMAs with 

larger populations, depriving smaller 

DMAs of the service these stations 

provide. We also disagree with those 

commenters who argue that stations that 

convert to Class A status pursuant to the 

LPPA should be able to initiate later site 

changes that would move the station to 

a non-qualifying DMA. The language of 

the Act requires that LPPA Class A 

licensees remain in compliance with the 

LPPA’s eligibility requirements for the 

term of their Class A license, including 

the requirement that they operate in a 

DMA with no more than 95,000 TV 

households. Apart from changes to a 

DMA that are beyond the station’s 

control, we will require that LPPA Class 

A licensees remain in compliance with 

the 95,000 TV household threshold 

DMA requirement for the term of the 

Class A license. Stations that choose to 

pursue a non-compliant modification 

may do so, but will have to surrender 

their Class A status. 

C. Application Process 

44. As proposed in the NPRM, we will 

evaluate applications to convert to Class 

A status pursuant to the LPPA as a 

modification of the LPTV station’s 

existing license. No commenters 

addressed this issue. For purposes of the 

LPPA, applications to convert to Class A 

status will be limited to the conversion 

of existing LPTV facilities as they exist 

at the time of application, without 

consideration of any pending 

modifications to those facilities or 

unbuilt construction permits. This 

approach will allow for expeditious 

consideration of all applications, and 

will eliminate delays that could arise 

from the possibility of mutual 

exclusivity between a Class A 

conversion application and other 

licensed full power or Class A facilities, 

were we to entertain license 

modifications during the application 

window. A licensed LPTV station 

holding a construction permit to modify 

its facilities will either need to license 

those permitted facilities before 

applying to convert to Class A status, or 

may apply for a new modification after 

the Commission has processed the 

applications from the window. 

45. When implementing the CBPA, 

the Commission required stations 

applying for Class A status to provide 

local public notice of applications for 

Class A status ‘‘since the nature of the 

underlying service is changing from 

secondary to primary service.’’ We 

adopt the tentative conclusion in the 

NPRM, that for the same reason we will 

require an applicant seeking Class A 

status pursuant to the LPPA to provide 

local public notice of the application. 

No commenters addressed this issue. 

46. Application Form. As proposed in 

the NPRM, we will require that 

applications for modification of an 

LPTV station’s existing license to 

convert to Class A status pursuant to the 

LPPA be filed using FCC Form 2100, 

Schedule F. Such applications must be 

filed electronically and must include 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
1474 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

the required filing fee. No commenters 

addressed these issues. 

D. TV Broadcast Incentive Auction, 

Post-Auction Transition, and 

Reimbursement 

47. We affirm the tentative conclusion 

in the NPRM that nothing in the LPPA 

or in our implementation of the Act can 

or will affect the Commission’s work 

related to the Broadcast Incentive 

Auction. No commenters addressed this 

issue. 

E. Digital Equity and Inclusion 

48. The Commission sought comment 

in the NPRM on how its proposals may 

promote or inhibit advances in 

diversity, equity, inclusion, and 

accessibility. Only one commenter, REC, 

addressed this issue. In REC’s view, the 

overall impact to digital equity and 

inclusion of the LPPA ‘‘is slightly 

negative’’ as some LPTV stations on 

channels 5 and 6 could obtain primary 

status, thus limiting the ability in some 

areas to implement full-service FM 

broadcasting as a part of REC’s WIDE– 

FM proposal, which REC asserts would 

increase the number of radio voices. 

While REC notes that the language of 

the Act is outside the Commission’s 

control, REC asserts that its proposals in 

response to the NPRM will help ensure 

that rural LPTV stations that provide a 

minimal level of locally originated 

programming will be given ‘‘a level of 

expectation of longevity’’ as a result of 

changing from secondary to primary 

status, which ‘‘could help persons who 

live in rural or Tribal areas’’ to continue 

to receive local TV service. In addition, 

REC comments that requiring LPPA 

Class A stations to comply with full 

service rules will allow the Commission 

to better measure diversity in broadcast 

ownership and, through the public file 

process, require stations to be more 

accountable to their local audiences. 

49. We appreciate receiving REC’s 

views and have considered them fully 

in reaching our conclusions herein 

regarding implementation of the LPPA. 

We acknowledge the importance of 

advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, 

and accessibility, and we believe that 

the LPPA itself, and the rules we adopt 

herein implementing the Act, will 

advance those aims. 

F. Other Issues 

50. Must Carry Rights. Two 

commenters, RCC and Dockins, argue 

that the Commission should amend its 

rules to give Class A stations must carry 

status. RCC argues that the Commission 

should ‘‘clarify’’ that Class A stations 

are incorrectly classified as ‘‘low power 

stations,’’ whose carriage is limited as 

provided in § 76.55(d) of our rules, but 

should instead be classified as ‘‘local 

commercial television stations’’ which 

are entitled to more expansive carriage 

rights as provided in § 76.555(c). 

Dockins asserts that ‘‘there is no logical 

reason why the Commission cannot 

amend the rules to allow must-carry 

status for Class A stations’’ and that the 

‘‘historic failure’’ of the Commission to 

give Class A stations must-carry rights 

‘‘appears to be an oversight’’ that should 

be corrected. 

51. Consistent with the Commission’s 

conclusion in the Class A MO&O with 

respect to LPTV stations that converted 

to Class A status pursuant to the CBPA, 

we conclude that LPPA Class A stations 

have the same limited must carry rights 

as LPTV stations, and do not have the 

same must carry rights as full service 

commercial television stations under 

§ 76.55(c) of our rules. In the Class A 

MO&O, the Commission noted that both 

the language of the CBPA and the 

accompanying legislative history were 

silent with respect to the issue of must 

carry rights for Class A stations, and 

concluded that it is unlikely that 

Congress intended to grant Class A 

stations full must carry rights, 

equivalent to those of full-service 

stations, without addressing the issue 

directly. The LPPA is also silent with 

respect to the issue of must carry rights, 

and we similarly conclude therefore that 

Congress did not intend to confer full 

must carry rights on LPPA Class A 

stations equivalent to full-service 

stations, and different from the rights of 

CBPA Class A stations, without 

addressing the issue in the statute. 

Instead, we find that Congress intended 

LPPA Class A stations to have the same 

limited must carry rights as LPTV 

stations and existing Class A stations. 

We thus decline to revise our rules as 

RCC and Dockins request. 

52. De Minimis Exception to the 

95,000 TV Household Requirement. We 

also decline to adopt a de minimis 

exception to the LPPA’s 95,000 TV 

household eligibility requirement, as 

proposed by Lockwood. Lockwood 

argues that the Commission should 

adopt an exception of up to 5 percent 

to the 95,000 TV household amount to 

‘‘further the underlying purpose’’ of the 

LPPA to afford eligibility for Class A 

protection to LPTV stations serving 

smaller DMAs. Lockwood also argues 

that such an exception would afford 

flexibility in the case of fluctuations in 

the number of TV households in the 

DMA due to the methodology used to 

make the calculation or changes related 

to seasonal tourism or college/university 

populations. Finally, Lockwood argues 

that the Commission has implemented 

de minimis exceptions to other of its 

regulatory requirements and has 

discretion to do so with respect to the 

LPPA as the Act expressly permits the 

Commission to select the appropriate 

system for determining DMAs. 

53. The language of the Act clearly 

requires that, to be eligible for Class A 

status, a station must operate in a DMA 

with no more than 95,000 TV 

households. The Act also requires that 

LPPA Class A licensees remain in 

compliance with the LPPA’s eligibility 

requirements for the term of their Class 

A license. With respect to the Act’s 

DMA limit, as discussed above we 

interpret this continuing compliance 

mandate to preclude changes under the 

station’s control that would result in the 

station’s failure to continue to comply 

with the 95,000 TV household 

threshold. 

54. As discussed above, while the 

LPPA provides the Commission with 

additional discretion in evaluating 

applicants for Class A status to treat a 

station as qualifying for Class A status 

if ‘‘the Commission determines that the 

public interest, convenience, and 

necessity would be served’’ or ‘‘for other 

reasons determined by the 

Commission,’’ we are not inclined to 

expand the specific qualifying criteria 

beyond that identified in the statute. 

The LPPA provides precise and limited 

eligibility criteria and, except in very 

limited circumstances, we are not 

inclined to expand the specific 

qualifying criteria beyond that 

identified in the statute. Accordingly, 

we decline to adopt a blanket de 

minimis exception to the DMA 

eligibility requirement. As discussed 

above, we will allow deviation from the 

strict statutory eligibility criteria in the 

LPPA only on a case-by-case basis 

where such deviations are insignificant 

or where there are compelling 

circumstances such that equity 

mandates a deviation. 

IV. Procedural Matters 

55. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 

(RFA), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Act Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated 

into the NPRM released March 30, 2023. 

The Federal Communications 

Commission (Commission) sought 

written public comment on the 

proposals in the NPRM, including 

comment on the IRFA. No comments 

were filed addressing the IRFA. This 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(FRFA) conforms to the RFA. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 1475 

A. Need for, and Objectives of, the 

Report and Order 

56. The Report and Order adopts rules 

to implement the Low Power Protection 

Act (LPPA or Act), which was enacted 

on January 5, 2023. The LPPA provides 

certain low power television (LPTV) 

stations with a ‘‘limited window of 

opportunity’’ to apply for primary 

spectrum use status as Class A 

television stations. The rules adopted 

herein reflect most of the Commission’s 

proposals in the NPRM in this 

proceeding, with limited exceptions. We 

establish herein the period during 

which eligible stations may file 

applications for Class A status pursuant 

to the LPPA, clarify eligibility and 

interference requirements, and establish 

the process for submitting applications 

for Class A status pursuant to the Act. 

Our rules provide eligible LPTV stations 

with a limited opportunity to apply for 

primary spectrum use status as Class A 

television stations, consistent with 

Congress’s directive in the LPPA. 

57. We conclude that the application 

window will be limited to the one year 

application window contemplated by 

the Act, and that an application filed for 

Class A status must demonstrate that the 

LPTV station operated in a Designated 

Market Area (DMA) with not more than 

95,000 television households on January 

5, 2023. We also conclude that LPTV 

stations that convert to Class A status 

under the LPPA must comply with the 

interference protection standards set 

forth in section 336(f)(7) of the 

Communications Act of 1934, with the 

exception of those provisions that are 

now obsolete given the transition of all 

television stations from analog to digital 

operations. We apply the Commission’s 

recently updated definition of an LPTV 

station for purposes of determining 

which stations are eligible for Class A 

status under the LPPA and codify in our 

rules the eligibility criteria set forth in 

the LPPA. We also implement 

provisions of the LPPA which provide 

that licenses issued to stations that 

convert to Class A status are subject to 

full power television station license 

terms and renewal standards, with 

certain exceptions. We conclude that 

LPPA Class A licensees are required to 

remain in compliance with the LPPA’s 

eligibility requirements for the term of 

their Class A license, except for changes 

to the station’s DMA that are beyond the 

control of the station. We conclude that 

we will evaluate Class A status to 

eligible LPTV stations as a modification 

of the station’s existing license, and that 

nothing in the LPPA, or our rules 

implementing the Act, affects the 

Commission’s work related to the 

Broadcast Incentive Auction. We 

address how our actions implementing 

the LPPA advance diversity, equity, 

inclusion, and accessibility and, lastly, 

decline to amend our rules to afford 

Class A stations must carry rights 

equivalent to full service stations and 

decline to adopt a de minimis exception 

to the LPPA’s DMA eligibility 

requirement. 

B. Summary of Significant Issues Raised 

by Public Comments in Response to the 

IRFA 

58. There were no comments filed 

that specifically addressed the rules and 

policies proposed in the IRFA. 

C. Response to Comments by the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration 

59. Pursuant to the Small Business 

Jobs Act of 2010, which amended the 

RFA, the Commission is required to 

respond to any comments filed by the 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration (SBA), and to 

provide a detailed statement of any 

change made to the proposed rules as a 

result of those comments. 

60. The Chief Counsel did not file any 

comments in response to the proposed 

rules in this proceeding. 

D. Description and Estimate of the 

Number of Small Entities to Which the 

Proposed Rules Will Apply 

61. The RFA directs agencies to 

provide a description of, and where 

feasible, an estimate of the number of 

small entities that may be affected by 

the proposed rules, if adopted. The RFA 

generally defines the term ‘‘small 

entity’’ as having the same meaning as 

the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small 

organization,’’ and ‘‘small governmental 

jurisdiction.’’ In addition, the term 

‘‘small business’’ has the same meaning 

as the term ‘‘small business concern’’ 

under the Small Business Act. A small 

business concern is one which: (1) is 

independently owned and operated; (2) 

is not dominant in its field of operation; 

and (3) satisfies any additional criteria 

established by the SBA. Below, we 

provide a description of such small 

entities, as well as an estimate of the 

number of such small entities, where 

feasible. 

62. Television Broadcasting. This 

industry is comprised of 

‘‘establishments primarily engaged in 

broadcasting images together with 

sound.’’ These establishments operate 

television broadcast studios and 

facilities for the programming and 

transmission of programs to the public. 

These establishments also produce or 

transmit visual programming to 

affiliated broadcast television stations, 

which in turn broadcast the programs to 

the public on a predetermined schedule. 

Programming may originate in their own 

studio, from an affiliated network, or 

from external sources. The SBA small 

business size standard for this industry 

classifies businesses having $41.5 

million or less in annual receipts as 

small. 2017 U.S. Census Bureau data 

indicate that 744 firms in this industry 

operated for the entire year. Of that 

number, 657 firms had revenue of less 

than $25,000,000. Based on this data we 

estimate that the majority of television 

broadcasters are small entities under the 

SBA small business size standard. 

63. As of September 30, 2023, there 

were 1,377 licensed commercial 

television stations. Of this total, 1,258 

stations (or 91.4%) had revenues of 

$41.5 million or less in 2022, according 

to Commission staff review of the BIA 

Kelsey Inc. Media Access Pro Television 

Database (BIA) on October 4, 2023, and 

therefore these licensees qualify as 

small entities under the SBA definition. 

In addition, the Commission estimates 

as of September 30, 2023, there were 

383 licensed noncommercial 

educational (NCE) television stations, 

380 Class A TV stations, 1,889 LPTV 

stations and 3,127 TV translator 

stations. The Commission, however, 

does not compile and otherwise does 

not have access to financial information 

for these television broadcast stations 

that would permit it to determine how 

many of these stations qualify as small 

entities under the SBA small business 

size standard. Nevertheless, given the 

SBA’s large annual receipts threshold 

for this industry and the nature of these 

television station licensees, we presume 

that all of these entities qualify as small 

entities under the above SBA small 

business size standard. 

E. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements for Small Entities 

64. In implementing the LPPA, the 

Report and Order adopts new or 

additional reporting, recordkeeping or 

other compliance requirements for small 

and other entities. For example, the 

LPPA requires that, to be eligible for 

Class A status, during the 90 days 

preceding the date of enactment of the 

LPPA an LPTV station must have 

broadcast a minimum of 18 hours/day 

and an average of at least 3 hours per 

week of programming produced within 

the ‘‘market area’’ served by the station 

and have been in compliance with the 

Commission’s requirements for LPTV 

stations. The rules also require that 

small and other applicants seeking to 

convert to Class A status under the 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
1476 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

LPPA certify in their application for 

Class A status that they have complied 

with these eligibility requirements 

during the 90 days preceding the 

January 5, 2023 enactment of the statute. 

An applicant must submit, as part of its 

application, a statement concerning the 

station’s operating schedule during the 

90 days preceding January 5, 2023 and 

a list of locally produced programs aired 

during that time period. The applicant 

may also submit other documentation to 

support its certification that the licensee 

meets the eligibility requirements for a 

Class A license under the Low Power 

Protection Act. In addition, the 

Commission staff may also request 

additional documentation if necessary 

during consideration of the application. 

65. Beginning on the date of its 

application for a Class A license and 

thereafter, a station ‘‘must be in 

compliance with the Commission’s 

operating rules for full-power stations.’’ 

We will apply to small and other 

applicants for Class A status under the 

LPPA, and to stations that are awarded 

Class A licenses under that statute, all 

Part 73 regulations except for those that 

cannot apply for technical or other 

reasons. For example, Class A stations 

must comply with the requirements for 

informational and educational 

children’s programming, the political 

programming and political file rules, 

and the public inspection file rule. 

66. The LPPA requires that a station 

that converts to Class A status pursuant 

to the statute continue to meet the 

eligibility requirements of the LPPA 

during the term of the station’s Class A 

license. To be eligible under the LPPA, 

in addition to other eligibility 

requirements, section 2(c)(2)(B)(iii) of 

the Act requires an LPTV station must 

‘‘as of the date of enactment’’ of the 

LPPA operate in a DMA with not more 

than 95,000 television households. 

Section 2(c)(3)(B) of the Act, however, 

requires that stations that convert to 

Class A status under the LPPA ‘‘remain 

in compliance’’ with paragraph (2)(B) 

‘‘during the term of the license.’’ We 

interpret section 2(c)(3)(B) to require 

that stations that convert to Class A 

status, including small entities, remain 

in DMAs with not more than 95,000 

television households in order to 

maintain their Class A status except for 

situations in which the population in 

the station’s DMA later exceeds the 

threshold amount through (1) 

population growth, (2) a change in the 

boundaries of a qualifying DMA such 

that the population of the DMA exceeds 

95,000 television households, or (3) the 

merger of a qualifying DMA into another 

DMA such that the combined DMA 

exceeds the threshold amount. LPPA 

Class A stations will not be permitted to 

initiate a move to a different DMA with 

more than 95,000 television households 

at the time of the move and still retain 

their Class A status. In addition, 

licensed Class A stations must also 

continue to meet the minimum 

operating requirements for Class A 

stations. Licensees unable to continue to 

meet the minimum operating 

requirements for Class A television 

stations, or that elect to revert to low 

power television status, must promptly 

notify the Commission, in writing, and 

request a change in status. The Report 

and Order also requires that stations 

that convert to Class A status pursuant 

to the LPPA comply with all rules 

applicable to existing Class A stations, 

including interference requirements. 

67. The Report and Order requires 

small and other stations seeking to 

convert to Class A designation pursuant 

to the LPPA to submit an application to 

the Commission within one year of the 

effective date of the rules adopted in 

this proceeding. The Report and Order 

concludes that the Commission will not 

continue to accept applications to 

convert to Class A status under the 

LPPA beyond the one-year application 

period set forth in the statute. In 

addition, we will allow deviation from 

the strict statutory eligibility criteria 

under the LPPA only where deviations 

are insignificant or where there are 

compelling circumstances such that 

equity mandates a deviation. In the 

NPRM, we noted that one example of 

such compelling circumstances might 

be ‘‘a natural disaster or interference 

conflict which forced the station off the 

air’’ during the 90-day period preceding 

enactment of the statute. 

68. We expect the actions we have 

taken in the Report and Order achieve 

the goals of implementing the LPPA 

without placing significant additional 

costs and burdens on small entities. At 

present, there is not sufficient 

information on the record to quantify 

the cost of compliance for small entities, 

or to determine whether it will be 

necessary for small entities to hire 

professionals to comply with the 

adopted rules. However, we anticipate 

that the compliance obligations for 

small stations will be outweighed by the 

benefits provided through the LPPA’s 

granting of a limited opportunity for 

LPTV stations to apply for primary 

status as a Class A television licensee. 

F. Steps Taken To Minimize the 

Significant Economic Impact on Small 

Entities and Significant Alternatives 

Considered 

69. The RFA requires an agency to 

provide, ‘‘a description of the steps the 

agency has taken to minimize the 

significant economic impact on small 

entities . . . including a statement of 

the factual, policy, and legal reasons for 

selecting the alternative adopted in the 

final rule and why each one of the other 

significant alternatives to the rule 

considered by the agency which affect 

the impact on small entities was 

rejected.’’ 

70. Through comments provided by 

interested parties during the rulemaking 

proceeding, the Commission considered 

various proposals from small and other 

entities. The adopted rules reflect the 

Commission’s efforts to implement the 

LPPA by balancing the Commission’s 

proposals in the NPRM with alternative 

proposals provided by the commenters 

and weighing their benefits against their 

potential costs to small and other 

entities. As discussed above, the LPPA 

provides a limited window of 

opportunity for an LPTV station to 

attain primary status as a Class A TV 

station, if the LPTV station meets the 

eligibility criteria set forth in the LPPA. 

The Report and Order adopts most of 

the Commission’s proposals in the 

NPRM, with one significant exception. 

We do not adopt the proposal to require 

that all licensees that convert to Class A 

status pursuant to the LPPA remain in 

compliance with the LPPA’s 

requirement that the station be in a 

DMA with no more than 95,000 TV 

households for the term of their Class A 

license. Instead, we conclude that LPPA 

Class A stations will not be required to 

continue to comply with the 95,000 TV 

household threshold if the population 

in the station’s DMA later exceeds the 

threshold amount either through (1) 

population growth, (2) a change in the 

boundaries of a qualifying DMA such 

that the population of the DMA exceeds 

95,000 television households, or (3) the 

merger of a qualifying DMA into another 

DMA such that the combined DMA 

exceeds the threshold amount. This one 

change to our approach in 

implementing the LPPA may minimize 

a potentially significant impact on a 

small entity in circumstances where the 

station is in a DMA that later exceeds 

the threshold TV household eligibility 

amount for reasons beyond the station’s 

control. We also considered but did not, 

however, permit an LPPA Class A 

station to initiate a move to a DMA that 

does not meet the 95,000 TV household 

eligibility requirement and still retain 

its status as a Class A station. 

71. Additionally, in the Report and 

Order the Commission adopted a 

simplified license application approach 

regarding the documentation stations 

are required to submit as part of their 

application for a Class A license. Rather 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 1477 

than mandating that an applicant 

provide specific additional documents 

to support its application, the Report 

and Order permits an applicant to 

provide whatever additional 

documentation the applicant has that 

best support its certification that it met 

the operational and programming 

requirements of the LPPA during the 

eligibility period. This flexibility 

minimizes the impact on small LPTV 

stations, some of which may have 

difficulty providing specific mandated 

documents because they do not have the 

necessary documents or lack the 

resources necessary to provide the 

document in a form that supports their 

certification. We also took the step of 

reducing a potential economic burden to 

small LPTV stations by adopting the 

proposal to use data from the Nielsen 

Local TV Station Information Report 

(Nielsen Local TV Report) in order to 

determine the DMA where the LPTV 

station’s transmission facilities are 

located for purposes of eligibility. The 

Commission considered proposed 

alternatives such as using census data 

for Metropolitan Statistical Areas 

(MSAs) and Rural Service Areas (RSAs), 

or Comscore data. However, we have 

determined that using the Nielsen Local 

TV Report would be less burdensome to 

small and other LPTV stations based on 

current industry practices and because 

certain data, such as DMA station 

assignment information, can be 

provided to stations at no cost. 

G. Report to Congress 

72. The Commission will send a copy 

of the Report and Order, including this 

FRFA, in a report to Congress pursuant 

to the Congressional Review Act. In 

addition, the Commission will send a 

copy of the Report and Order, including 

this FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for 

Advocacy of the SBA. A copy of the 

Report and Order, and FRFA (or 

summaries thereof) will also be 

published in the Federal Register. 

73. Final Paperwork Reduction Act 

Analysis. This document contains new 

information collection requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995 (PRA). The requirements will be 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for review under 

Section 3507(d) of the PRA. OMB, the 

general public, and other Federal 

agencies will be invited to comment on 

the information collection requirements 

contained in this proceeding. The 

Commission will publish a separate 

document in the Federal Register at a 

later date seeking these comments. In 

addition, we note that, pursuant to the 

Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 

2002 (SBPRA), we will seek specific 

comment on how the Commission might 

further reduce the information 

collection burden for small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 employees. 

74. Congressional Review Act. The 

Commission has determined, and the 

Administrator of the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

concurs, that these rules are non-major 

under the Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. 804(2). The Commission will 

send a copy of the Report and Order to 

Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). 

V. Ordering Clauses 

75. Accordingly, it is ordered that, 

pursuant to the authority found in 

sections 1, 2, 4(i), 4(j), 303, 307, 309, 

311, and 336(f) of the Communications 

Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 

152, 154(i), 154(j), 303, 307, 309, 311, 

336(f), and the Low Power Protection 

Act, Public Law 117–344, 136 Stat. 6193 

(2023), this Report and Order is 

adopted, effective thirty (30) days after 

the date of publication in the Federal 

Register. 

76. It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s rules are hereby amended 

as set forth in Appendix B of the Report 

and Order and such amendments will 

be effective 30 days after publication in 

the Federal Register, except for 47 CFR 

73.6030(c) and 73.6030(d) which 

contain new or modified information 

collection requirements that require 

review by OMB under the PRA. The 

Commission directs the Media Bureau 

to announce the effective date of that 

information collection in a document 

published in the Federal Register after 

the Commission receives OMB 

approval. 

77. It is further ordered that, pursuant 

to 47 U.S.C. 155(c), the Media Bureau is 

granted delegated authority for the 

purpose of amending FCC Form 2100 as 

necessary to implement the licensing 

process adopted herein and to establish 

the one-year application filing window 

once the revised form is available for 

use by applicants, and for the purpose 

of submitting the report to Congress 

required pursuant to the Low Power 

Protection Act, Public Law 117–344, 

136 Stat. 6193, Sec. 2(d) (2023). 

78. It is further ordered that the Media 

Bureau is granted delegated authority 

for the purpose of activating an OPIF for 

LPTV stations that apply to convert to 

Class A status pursuant to the LPPA and 

of informing applicants when their OPIF 

is ready for the applicant to upload 

documents required to be maintained in 

OPIF. 

79. It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s Office of the Secretary 

shall send a copy of this Report and 

Order, including the Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration. 

80. It is further ordered that Office of 

the Managing Director, Performance 

Program Management, shall send a copy 

of this Report and Order in a report to 

be sent to Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A). 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73 

Television. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary. 

Final Rules 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as 

follows: 

PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST 

SERVICES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 73 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303, 

307, 309, 310, 334, 336, 339. 

■ 2. Amend § 73.3580 by revising 

paragraphs (c) introductory text and 

adding paragraph (c)(7) to read as 

follows: 

§ 73.3580 Local public notice of filing of 

broadcast applications. 

* * * * * 

(c) Applications requiring local public 

notice. The following applications filed 

by licensees or permittees of the 

following types of stations must provide 

public notice in the manner set forth in 

paragraphs (c)(1) through (7) of this 

section: 

* * * * * 

(7) Applications by LPTV stations to 

convert to Class A status pursuant to the 

Low Power Protection Act. The 

applicant shall both broadcast on-air 

announcements and give online notice. 

■ 3. Add § 73.6030 to read as follows: 

§ 73.6030 Low Power Protection Act. 

(a) Definitions. For purposes of the 

Low Power Protection Act, a low power 

television station’s Designated Market 

Area (DMA) shall be defined as the 

DMA where its transmission facilities 

(i.e., the structure on which its antenna 

is mounted) are located. DMAs are 

determined by Nielsen Media Research. 

A low power television station shall be 

defined in accordance with § 74.701(k). 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
1478 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

(b) Eligibility requirements. In order to 

be eligible for Class A status under the 

Low Power Television Protection Act, 

low power television licensees must: 

(1) Have been operating in a DMA 

with not more than 95,000 television 

households as of January 5, 2023; 

(2) Have been broadcasting a 

minimum of 18 hours per day between 

October 7, 2022 and January 5, 2023; 

(3) Have been broadcasting a 

minimum of at least three hours per 

week of locally produced programming 

between October 7, 2022 and January 5, 

2023; 

(4) Have been operating in 

compliance with the Commission’s 

requirements applicable to low power 

television stations between October 7, 

2022 and January 5, 2023; 

(5) Be in compliance with the 

Commission’s operating rules for fullpower television stations from and after 

the date of its application for a Class A 

license; and 

(6) Demonstrate that the Class A 

station for which the license is sought 

will not cause any interference 

described in 47 U.S.C. 336(f)(7). 

(c) Application requirements. 

Applications for conversion to Class A 

status must be submitted using FCC 

Form 2100, Schedule F within one year 

beginning on the date on which the 

Commission issues notice that the rules 

implementing the Low Power Protection 

Act takes effect. The licensee will be 

required to submit, as part of its 

application, a statement concerning the 

station’s operating schedule during the 

90 days preceding January 5, 2023 and 

a list of locally produced programs aired 

during that time period. The applicant 

may also submit other documentation, 

or may be requested by Commission 

staff to submit other documentation, to 

support its certification that the licensee 

meets the eligibility requirements for a 

Class A license under the Low Power 

Protection Act. 

(d) Licensing requirements. A Class A 

television broadcast license will only be 

issued under the Low Power Protection 

Act to a low power television licensee 

that files an application for a Class A 

Television license (FCC Form 2100, 

Schedule F), which is granted by the 

Commission. 

(e) Service requirements. Stations that 

convert to Class A status pursuant to the 

Low Power Protection Act are required 

to meet the service requirements 

specified in § 73.6001(b) through (d) of 

this chapter for the term of their Class 

A license. In addition, such stations 

must remain in compliance with the 

programming and operational standards 

set forth in the Low Power Protection 

Act for the term of their Class A license. 

In addition, such stations must continue 

to operate in DMAs with not more than 

95,000 television households in order to 

maintain their Class A status unless the 

population in the station’s DMA later 

exceeds 95,000 television households 

through population growth, a change in 

the boundaries of a qualifying DMA 

such that the population of the DMA 

exceeds 95,000 television households, 

or the merger of a qualifying DMA into 

another DMA such that the combined 

DMA exceeds 95,000 television 

households. LPPA Class A stations will 

not be permitted to initiate a move to a 

different DMA with more than 95,000 

television households at the time of the 

move and still retain their Class A 

status. 

(f) Other regulations. From and after 

the date of applying for Class A status 

under the Low Power Protection Act, 

stations must comply with the 

requirements applicable to Class A 

stations specified in subpart J of this 

part (§§ 73.6000 through 73.6029) and 

must continue to comply with such 

requirements for the term of their Class 

A license. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28619 Filed 1–9–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1