Television Broadcasting Services Missoula, Montana., 36718-36719 [2024-09658]
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36718
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 2024 / Rules and Regulations
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
and the Government Accountability
Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
Final Regulatory Flexibility
Certification Analysis (Order on
Reconsideration)
81. For the reasons described below,
we now certify that the policies and
rules adopted in the Order on
Reconsideration will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
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.
82. In this Order on Reconsideration,
we make certain changes to the language
of § 73.3612 to clarify our collection and
use of Form 395–B data. We add
language to the rule confirming that the
collection of Form 395–B data, and
restrictions on the use of the data, also
applies to broadcast permittees. The
Order on Reconsideration adds an
explicit statement to its rules that it will
not use Form 395–B data to assess
compliance with both the equal
employment opportunity requirements
and nondiscrimination requirements of
§ 73.2080. We find that this statement is
consistent with our statements in the
Fourth Report and Order and other
previous statements made by the
Commission over the past two decades.
83. The changes from the Order on
Reconsideration will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
because such changes do not alter the
type or extent of information collected
under Form 395–B. Rather, the Order on
Reconsideration does nothing more than
memorialize in another form a
prohibition that the Commission has
had in place for more than 20 years.
Therefore, we certify that the changes
provided in the Order on
Reconsideration will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The Commission will send a copy of
this Order on Reconsideration,
including a copy of this Final
Regulatory Flexibility Certification, in a
report to Congress and the Government
Accountability Office pursuant to the
Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act
of 1996.
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Ordering Clauses
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73
84. Accordingly, it is ordered that,
pursuant to the authority contained in
sections 1, 4(i), 4(k), 303(r), 307, 308,
309, 310, 334, 403, and 634 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(k),
303(r), 307, 308, 309, 310, 334, 403, and
554, this Fourth Report and Order and
Order on Reconsideration is adopted.
85. It is further ordered that this
Fourth Report and Order and Order on
Reconsideration shall be effective 30
days after publication in the Federal
Register. Compliance with § 73.3612 of
the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR
73.3612, which may contain new or
modified information collection
requirements, will not be required until
the Office of Management and Budget
completes review of any information
collection requirements that the Office
of Management and Budget determines
is required under the Paperwork
Reduction Act. The Commission directs
the Media Bureau to announce the
compliance date for the Fourth Report
and Order and Order on
Reconsideration by subsequent Public
Notice.
86. It is further ordered that the Joint
Petition of the State Broadcasters
Associations for Reconsideration and/or
Clarification of the Third Report and
Order and Fourth NPRM, MM Docket
No. 98–204 (filed July 23, 2004), is
granted in part, denied in part,
dismissed in part, and deferred in part.
87. It is further ordered that the Media
Bureau is hereby directed to make the
necessary changes to Form 395–B to
provide for inclusion of gender nonbinary information.
88. It is further ordered that the
Commission’s Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference
Information Center, shall send a copy of
the Fourth Report and Order and Order
on Reconsideration, including the Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis and the
Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Certification, to the Chief Counsel for
Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration.
89. It is further ordered that the Office
of the Managing Director, Performance
Program Management, shall send a copy
of this Fourth Report and Order and
Order on Reconsideration 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).
Radio, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Television.
Federal Communications Commission.
PO 00000
Frm 00048
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
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. Revise § 73.3612 to read as follows:
§ 73.3612
Annual employment report.
Each licensee or permittee of a
commercially or noncommercially
operated AM, FM, TV, Class A TV or
International Broadcast station with five
or more full-time employees shall file an
annual employment report with the FCC
on or before September 30 of each year
on FCC Form 395–B. Data concerning
the gender, race and ethnicity of a
broadcast station’s workforce collected
in the annual employment report will be
used only for purposes of analyzing
industry trends and making reports to
Congress. Such data will not be used for
the purpose of assessing any aspect of
an individual broadcast licensee’s or
permittee’s compliance with the
nondiscrimination or equal employment
opportunity requirements of § 73.2080.
Compliance with this section will not be
required until this sentence is removed
or contains a compliance date, which
will not occur until after the Office of
Management and Budget completes
review of any information collection
requirements pursuant to the Paperwork
Reduction Act or until after the Office
of Management and Budget determines
that such review is not required.
[FR Doc. 2024–09468 Filed 5–2–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 73
[MB Docket No. 23–380; RM–11968; DA 24–
381; FR ID 216242]
Television Broadcasting Services
Missoula, Montana.
Federal Communications
Commission.
AGENCY:
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36719
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 2024 / Rules and Regulations
ACTION:
Final rule.
The Video Division, Media
Bureau (Bureau), has before it a Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking issued in
response to a Petition for Rulemaking
filed by Sinclair Media Licensee, LLC
(Petitioner or Sinclair), the licensee of
KECI–TV (Station or KECI–TV), channel
13, Missoula, Montana (Missoula). The
Station is currently operating on
channel 13, and in 2021, the Bureau
granted Sinclair’s request to substitute
UHF channel 20 for VHF channel 13 at
Missoula in the Table of TV Allotments
(Table). Sinclair currently holds a
construction permit to modify its
facility to operate on channel 20 and has
petitioned for the substitution of
channel 21 for channel 20 at Missoula
in the Table. Sinclair filed comments in
support of the petition, as required by
the Commission’s rules (rules),
reaffirming its present intention to
apply for a construction permit to build
the Station’s facilities on channel 21
and to promptly construct such
facilities.
DATES: Effective May 3, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at (202)
418–1647 or Joyce.Bernstein@fcc.gov, or
Mark Colombo, Media Bureau, at (202)
418–7611 or Mark.Colombo@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
proposed rule was published at 88 FR
80256 on November 17, 2023. The
Petitioner filed comments in support of
the petition reaffirming its commitment
to apply for channel 21. No other
comments were filed.
The Bureau believes the public
interest would be served by substituting
channel 21 for channel 20 at Missoula.
As explained in the Petition, at the same
time Sinclair requested and was granted
the substitution of channel 20 for
channel 13 at Missoula, it also requested
and was granted the substitution of UHF
channel 20 for VHF channel 6 for coowned station KTVM–TV, Butte,
Montana (Butte). As a result, both
KTVM–TV and KECI–TV would operate
on a co-channel basis, and Sinclair had
determined that predicted interference
from both stations operating on channel
20 would affect less than 1 percent of
the populations within the noise limited
service contours (NLSC) of each station.
When the Bureau granted the
substitution of channel 20 for channel
13 at Missoula, it also found that the
proposed channel 20 facility had a
predicted service population of 227,295
persons, a net gain of potential viewers
over the existing KECI–TV channel 13
facility. Sinclair now explains, however,
that in preparing to construct the new
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
SUMMARY:
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16:11 May 02, 2024
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facilities on channel 20 for both
stations, its local engineering staff
determined that despite the predictions,
the actual interference consequences of
both stations operating on channel 20 at
Missoula and Butte would result in a
more significant number of persons
receiving interference, and that the
interference would not be localized but
spread throughout large portions of the
KTVM–TV and KECI–TV service areas.
An analysis provided by the Petitioner
indicates that operation of KECI–TV on
channel 21 instead of channel 13 would
result in a net gain in persons within the
Station’s NLSC receiving interferencefree service, as well as an increase in the
population that would receive
interference-free service if the Station
were to remain on the currently-allotted
channel 20.
We also find that the proposal
complies with all relevant technical
requirements for amendment of the
Table of TV Allotments, including the
interference protection requirements of
§ 73.622(a) of the rules, and further
demonstrates that the proposed channel
21 facility will provide full principal
community coverage to Missoula as
required by § 73.618 of the rules.
Moreover, the proposed channel
substitution would not cause any
additional loss of service, which we
have already found to be de minimis,
will increase the population within both
KECI–TV’s and KTVM–TV’s NLSCs that
will receive interference-free service,
and resolve co-channel interference
issues caused by the stations’ approved
co-channel operation.
As proposed, channel 21 can be
substituted for channel 20 at Missoula
in compliance with the principal
community coverage requirements of
§ 73.618(a) of the rules, at coordinates
47–01′–04.0″ N and 114–00′–50.0″ W.
The proposed facility is located within
the Canadian coordination zone and
concurrence from the Canadian
government has been obtained for this
allotment.
In addition, we find that this channel
change meets the technical
requirements set forth in § 73.622(a) of
the rules.
This is a synopsis of the
Commission’s Report and Order, MB
Docket No. 23–380; RM–11968; DA 24–
381, adopted April 23, 2024, and
released April 23, 2024. The full text of
this document is available for download
at https://www.fcc.gov/edocs. 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
PO 00000
Frm 00049
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 9990
Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice), 202–
418–0432 (tty).
This document does not contain
information collection requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995, Public Law 104–13. In addition,
therefore, it does not contain any
proposed information collection burden
‘‘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). Provisions of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601–
612, do not apply to this proceeding.
The Commission will 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, see 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73
Television.
Federal Communications Commission.
Thomas Horan,
Chief of Staff, Media Bureau.
Final Rule
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Federal Communications
Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as
follows:
PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST
SERVICE
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. In § 73.622, in paragraph (j), amend
the Table of TV Allotments, under
Montana, by revising the entry for
Missoula to read as follows:
■
§ 73.622 Digital television table of
allotments.
*
*
*
(j) * * *
*
*
Community
*
*
Channel No.
*
*
*
*
*
Montana
*
*
*
Missoula ....................
*
*
*
*11, 21, 23, 25
*
*
[FR Doc. 2024–09658 Filed 5–2–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
E:\FR\FM\03MYR1.SGM
03MYR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 87 (Friday, May 3, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36718-36719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09658]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 73
[MB Docket No. 23-380; RM-11968; DA 24-381; FR ID 216242]
Television Broadcasting Services Missoula, Montana.
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
[[Page 36719]]
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Video Division, Media Bureau (Bureau), has before it a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in response to a Petition for
Rulemaking filed by Sinclair Media Licensee, LLC (Petitioner or
Sinclair), the licensee of KECI-TV (Station or KECI-TV), channel 13,
Missoula, Montana (Missoula). The Station is currently operating on
channel 13, and in 2021, the Bureau granted Sinclair's request to
substitute UHF channel 20 for VHF channel 13 at Missoula in the Table
of TV Allotments (Table). Sinclair currently holds a construction
permit to modify its facility to operate on channel 20 and has
petitioned for the substitution of channel 21 for channel 20 at
Missoula in the Table. Sinclair filed comments in support of the
petition, as required by the Commission's rules (rules), reaffirming
its present intention to apply for a construction permit to build the
Station's facilities on channel 21 and to promptly construct such
facilities.
DATES: Effective May 3, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at
(202) 418-1647 or [email protected], or Mark Colombo, Media
Bureau, at (202) 418-7611 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed rule was published at 88 FR
80256 on November 17, 2023. The Petitioner filed comments in support of
the petition reaffirming its commitment to apply for channel 21. No
other comments were filed.
The Bureau believes the public interest would be served by
substituting channel 21 for channel 20 at Missoula. As explained in the
Petition, at the same time Sinclair requested and was granted the
substitution of channel 20 for channel 13 at Missoula, it also
requested and was granted the substitution of UHF channel 20 for VHF
channel 6 for co-owned station KTVM-TV, Butte, Montana (Butte). As a
result, both KTVM-TV and KECI-TV would operate on a co-channel basis,
and Sinclair had determined that predicted interference from both
stations operating on channel 20 would affect less than 1 percent of
the populations within the noise limited service contours (NLSC) of
each station. When the Bureau granted the substitution of channel 20
for channel 13 at Missoula, it also found that the proposed channel 20
facility had a predicted service population of 227,295 persons, a net
gain of potential viewers over the existing KECI-TV channel 13
facility. Sinclair now explains, however, that in preparing to
construct the new facilities on channel 20 for both stations, its local
engineering staff determined that despite the predictions, the actual
interference consequences of both stations operating on channel 20 at
Missoula and Butte would result in a more significant number of persons
receiving interference, and that the interference would not be
localized but spread throughout large portions of the KTVM-TV and KECI-
TV service areas. An analysis provided by the Petitioner indicates that
operation of KECI-TV on channel 21 instead of channel 13 would result
in a net gain in persons within the Station's NLSC receiving
interference-free service, as well as an increase in the population
that would receive interference-free service if the Station were to
remain on the currently-allotted channel 20.
We also find that the proposal complies with all relevant technical
requirements for amendment of the Table of TV Allotments, including the
interference protection requirements of Sec. 73.622(a) of the rules,
and further demonstrates that the proposed channel 21 facility will
provide full principal community coverage to Missoula as required by
Sec. 73.618 of the rules. Moreover, the proposed channel substitution
would not cause any additional loss of service, which we have already
found to be de minimis, will increase the population within both KECI-
TV's and KTVM-TV's NLSCs that will receive interference-free service,
and resolve co-channel interference issues caused by the stations'
approved co-channel operation.
As proposed, channel 21 can be substituted for channel 20 at
Missoula in compliance with the principal community coverage
requirements of Sec. 73.618(a) of the rules, at coordinates 47-01'-
04.0'' N and 114-00'-50.0'' W. The proposed facility is located within
the Canadian coordination zone and concurrence from the Canadian
government has been obtained for this allotment.
In addition, we find that this channel change meets the technical
requirements set forth in Sec. 73.622(a) of the rules.
This is a synopsis of the Commission's Report and Order, MB Docket
No. 23-380; RM-11968; DA 24-381, adopted April 23, 2024, and released
April 23, 2024. The full text of this document is available for
download at https://www.fcc.gov/edocs. To request materials in
accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print,
electronic files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] or
call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530
(voice), 202-418-0432 (tty).
This document does not contain information collection requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. In
addition, therefore, it does not contain any proposed information
collection burden ``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). Provisions of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, do not apply to
this proceeding.
The Commission will 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, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73
Television.
Federal Communications Commission.
Thomas Horan,
Chief of Staff, Media Bureau.
Final Rule
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as follows:
PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICE
0
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.
0
2. In Sec. 73.622, in paragraph (j), amend the Table of TV Allotments,
under Montana, by revising the entry for Missoula to read as follows:
Sec. 73.622 Digital television table of allotments.
* * * * *
(j) * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community Channel No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montana
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
Missoula.................................. *11, 21, 23, 25
* * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[FR Doc. 2024-09658 Filed 5-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
