February 14, 2003

President Proposes Spectrum Fee

Lost in all of the conversation about Iraq, Wall Street, etc., there has been little discussion of the budget the President presented to the Congress. Hidden in that huge document is a provision calling for a spectrum fee for over the air TV stations. The proposal would cost the average TV station $370,000 dollars per year.  Further, the proposal would allow the FCC to impose other spectrum fees and extend the FCC’s auction authority.

This proposal, should it become law, would break the over 80 year tradition of exchange of spectrum space for stations for adhering to a public interest standard. The problem seems to be that the President is unhappy with the digital TV rollout. Congress mandated that the analog TV spectrum would be returned to the government after 85% of the households could receive HDTV. The problem is not with broadcasters, who have spent millions converting to HDTV, it’s with the cable companies that have until now refused to pass the digital signal through their systems to their customers, and the lack of plug in digital TV sets.

 Z Morning Zoo

Programmers attending the NJBA Conference in Atlantic City at Caesars, June 2 and 3, will learn from the creators and performers exactly how this highly acclaimed morning drive show is put together and executed every morning. In addition, programmers will hear from a group of former programmers, who are now major corporation executives, what career steps to the future are for today’s program directors. All attendees will be invited to take a stroll down an Italian Street Festival, eat authentic Italian food, enjoy Italian drinks and desserts and conceivably win an all expense paid trip to Italy, along with lots of lira in our money machine.

 Translators Anyone

The FCC has announced the opening of a filing window for stations that want an FM translator. The window opens in early March for a week. There is no charge to apply, however, the $600.00 filing fee will be due for stations whose applications are unopposed. If you have an interest, contact your FCC attorney.

 NY FM Station Fined For Indecent Material

A New York FM station was fined $21,000 by the FCC for broadcasting Indecent Material on three different occasions. A tape did not accompany one of the two complaints. However, the Enforcement Branch fined the station anyway. The material had to do with a song containing dialogue between a man and a little girl.  Until recently, all complaints had to be accompanied by a tape of the offense. Political pressure from the Hill caused the FCC to change that requirement. Now, if the FCC thinks a complainant has made the case, without a tape, that is okay.

The Best of The Best and Michael Libretti Scholarship Application soon in the mail. 

     Get QuickNews via E-mail. It’s Fast and Free. E-mail njba@njba.com and in the subject line put the words “subscribe QuickNews”. That’s all there is to it.