Elective Payment of Applicable Credits, 26786 [C1-2024-04604]
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26786
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 16, 2024 / Rules and Regulations
By direction of the Commission.
Joel Christie,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024–07180 Filed 4–15–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
26 CFR Parts 1 and 301
[TD 9988]
RIN 1545–BQ63
Elective Payment of Applicable Credits
Correction
In rule document 2024–04604,
beginning on page 17546, in the issue of
Monday, March 11, 2024, the title is
corrected to read as set for above.
[FR Doc. C1–2024–04604 Filed 4–15–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 0099–10–D
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 11, 73, and 74
[MB Docket No. 20–401; FCC 24–35; FR ID
213398]
Program Originating FM Broadcast
Booster Stations
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
In a Report and Order, the
Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) finds that allowing FM
booster stations to originate content on
a limited basis would serve the public
interest. The Report and Order adopts
rules to allow for the voluntary
implementation of program originating
FM booster stations, subject to future
adoption of processing, licensing, and
service rules proposed concurrently in a
further notice of proposed rulemaking,
published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register. The rule changes in
this document are needed to expand the
potential uses of FM booster stations,
which currently may not originate
programming. The intended effect is to
allow radio broadcasters to provide
more relevant localized programming
and information to different zones
within their service areas.
DATES: Effective date: May 16, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Albert Shuldiner, Chief, Media Bureau,
Audio Division, (202) 418–2721,
Albert.Shuldiner@fcc.gov; Irene
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:18 Apr 15, 2024
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Bleiweiss, Attorney, Media Bureau,
Audio Division, (202) 418–2785,
Irene.Bleiweiss@fcc.gov. For additional
information concerning the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) information
collection requirements contained in
this document, contact Cathy Williams
at (202) 418–2918, Cathy.Williams@
fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Commission’s Report
and Order (R&O), MB Docket No. 20–
401; FCC 24–35, adopted on March 27,
2024, and released on April 2, 2024. The
full text of this document will be
available via the FCC’s Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS), https://
www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Documents will
be available electronically in ASCII,
Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat.
Alternative formats are available for
people with disabilities (braille, large
print, electronic files, audio format), by
sending an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or
calling the Commission’s Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202)
418–0530 (voice), (202) 418–0432
(TTY). The Commission published the
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM)
at 86 FR 1909 on January 11, 2021.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
Analysis
This document does not contain new
or modified information collection
requirements subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public
Law 104–13. In addition, therefore, it
does not contain any new or modified
information collection burdens for small
business concerns with fewer than 25
employees, pursuant to the Small
Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002,
Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(4).
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 R&O to Congress and
the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
Synopsis
1. Introduction. In the R&O, the
Commission expands the potential uses
of FM boosters, which are low power,
secondary stations that operate in the
FM broadcast band. As a secondary
service, FM booster stations are not
permitted to cause adjacent-channel
interference to other primary services or
previously-authorized secondary
stations. They must operate on the same
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frequency as the primary station, and
have been limited to rebroadcasting the
primary station’s signal in its entirety
(i.e., no transmission of original
content). Historically, the sole use of FM
boosters has been to improve signal
strength of primary FM stations in areas
where reception is poor due to terrain
or distance from the transmitter. The
R&O amends the Commission’s rules to
allow FM and low power FM (LPFM)
broadcasters to employ FM booster
stations to originate programming for up
to three minutes per hour. This
represents a change from current
requirements of 47 CFR 74.1201(f) and
74.1231 which, respectively, define FM
booster stations as not altering the signal
they receive from their primary FM
station and prohibit FM boosters from
making independent transmissions.
2. GeoBroadcast Solutions, LLC
(GBS), the proponent of the rule
changes, has developed technology
designed to allow licensees of primary
FM and LPFM broadcast stations to
‘‘geo-target’’ a portion of their
programming by using FM boosters to
originate different content for different
parts of their service areas. Prior to
proposing rule changes, GBS tested its
technology under different conditions in
three radio markets and concluded that
the technology could be deployed for
limited periods of time within the
primary station’s protected service
contour without causing any adjacentchannel interference, and that any
resulting co-channel interference (selfinterference to the licensee’s own
signal) would be manageable and not
detrimental to listeners. GBS filed a
Petition for Rulemaking (Petition)
seeking to allow FM boosters to
originate programming. The Petition
suggested that geo-targeted broadcasting
can deliver significant value to
broadcasters, advertisers, and listeners
in distinct communities by broadcasting
more relevant localized information and
advancing diversity. Stations might, for
example, air hyper-local news and
weather reports most relevant to a
particular community. Stations also
might air advertisements or
underwriting acknowledgements from
businesses that are only interested in
reaching small geographic areas, thereby
enhancing the stations’ ability to
compete for local support. GBS pointed
out that many other types of media,
such as online content providers, cable
companies, and newspapers are able to
differentiate their content
geographically, but that no such option
has existed for radio broadcasting. On
April 2, 2020, the Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a
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16APR1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 16, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 26786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: C1-2024-04604]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
26 CFR Parts 1 and 301
[TD 9988]
RIN 1545-BQ63
Elective Payment of Applicable Credits
Correction
In rule document 2024-04604, beginning on page 17546, in the issue
of Monday, March 11, 2024, the title is corrected to read as set for
above.
[FR Doc. C1-2024-04604 Filed 4-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 0099-10-D