[Federal Register: August 27, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 167)]
[Notices]
[Page 50616-50618]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27au08-41]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Approved by the Office
of Management and Budget
August 20, 2008.
SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission has received Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the following public
information collection(s) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). An agency may not conduct or sponsor a
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number, and no person is required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Comments concerning the accuracy of the burden estimate(s) and any
suggestions for reducing the burden should be directed to the person
listed in the ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT'' section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information contact
Cathy Williams, Performance and Evaluation Records Management Division,
Office of the Managing Director, at (202) 418-2918 or at
Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 3060-0027.
OMB Approval Date: August 8, 2008.
Expiration Date: August 31, 2011.
Title: Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast
Station.
Form Number: FCC Form 301.
Estimated Annual Burden: 4,278 responses; 2-5 hours per response;
11,072 hours total per year.
Annual Cost Burden: $51,802,197.
Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The
statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in
154(i), 303
[[Page 50617]]
and 308 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for
confidentiality.
Needs and Uses: On December 18, 2007, the Commission adopted a
Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration (``Quadrennial Order'')
in its 2006 Quadrennial Regulatory Review of the Commission's Broadcast
Ownership Rules pursuant to Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996, MB Docket No. 06-121, FCC 07-216. Section 202 requires the
Commission to review its broadcast ownership rules every four years and
determine whether any of such rules are necessary in the public
interest. Further, Section 202 requires the Commission to repeal or
modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the public
interest.
FCC Form 301 and the applicable exhibits/explanations are required
to be filed when applying for authority to construct a new commercial
AM, FM, or TV broadcast station or to make changes in the existing
facilities of such a station. The instructions and a worksheet included
with Form 301 have been revised to reflect the changes to the daily
newspaper cross-ownership rule, 47 CFR 73.3555(d) that the Commission
adopted in the Quadrennial Order. The rule change to section 73.3555(d)
of the Commission's rules was published in the Federal Register on
February 21, 2008 (73 FR 9481) and became effective on July 9, 2008 (73
FR 39269).
The instructions for Section II (Legal Information) to Form 301
have been revised to include a reference to the Quadrennial Order as a
source of information regarding the Commission's multiple ownership
rules and attribution rules in order for applicants to determine
relevant parties to the application. Worksheet 2, Section
A.IV. (Cross Ownership) and Section B (Family Relationships), which
applicants use to respond to Section II, Item 4 (Multiple Ownership) of
Form 301, have been revised to incorporate the new newspaper/broadcast
cross-ownership rule, 47 CFR 73.3555(d) and the revised definition of a
```Daily Newspaper,'' Note 6 to 47 CFR 73.3555, that the Commission
adopted in the Quadrennial Order. An applicant uses Worksheet
2 to determine the circumstances under which an entity may own
a daily newspaper and a broadcast station in the same local market.
47 CFR 73.3555(d) (daily newspaper cross-ownership rule) states:
(1) No license for an AM, FM or TV broadcast station shall be
granted to any party (including all parties under common control) if
such party directly or indirectly owns, operates or controls a daily
newspaper and the grant of such license will result in: (i) The
predicted or measured 2 mV/m contour of an AM station, computed in
accordance with Sec. 73.183 or Sec. 73.186, encompassing the entire
community in which such newspaper is published; or (ii) The predicted 1
mV/m contour for an FM station, computed in accordance with Sec.
73.313, encompassing the entire community in which such newspaper is
published; or (iii) The Grade A contour of a TV station, computed in
accordance with Sec. 73.684, encompassing the entire community in which
such newspaper is published.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in cases where the Commission
makes a finding pursuant to Section 310(d) of the Communications Act
that the public interest, convenience, and necessity would be served by
permitting an entity that owns, operates or controls a daily newspaper
to own, operate or control an AM, FM, or TV broadcast station whose
relevant contour encompasses the entire community in which such
newspaper is published as set forth in paragraph (1).
(3) In making a finding under paragraph (2), there shall be a
presumption that it is not inconsistent with the public interest,
convenience, and necessity for an entity to own, operate or control a
daily newspaper in a top 20 Nielsen DMA and one commercial AM, FM or TV
broadcast station whose relevant contour encompasses the entire
community in which such newspaper is published as set forth in
paragraph (1), provided that, with respect to a combination including a
commercial TV station: (i) The station is not ranked among the top four
TV stations in the DMA, based on the most recent all-day (9 a.m.-
midnight) audience share, as measured by Nielsen Media Research or by
any comparable professional, accepted audience ratings service; and
(ii) At least 8 independently owned and operated major media voices
would remain in the DMA in which the community of license of the TV
station in question is located (for purposes of this provision major
media voices include full-power TV broadcast stations and major
newspapers).
(4) In making a finding under paragraph (2), there shall be a
presumption that it is inconsistent with the public interest,
convenience, and necessity for an entity to own, operate or control a
daily newspaper and an AM, FM or TV broadcast station whose relevant
contour encompasses the entire community in which such newspaper is
published as set forth in paragraph (1) in a DMA other than the top 20
Nielsen DMAs or in any circumstance not covered under paragraph (3).
(5) In making a finding under paragraph (2), the Commission shall
consider: (i) Whether the combined entity will significantly increase
the amount of local news in the market; (ii) whether the newspaper and
the broadcast outlets each will continue to employ its own staff and
each will exercise its own independent news judgment; (iii) the level
of concentration in the Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA); and (iv)
the financial condition of the newspaper or broadcast station, and if
the newspaper or broadcast station is in financial distress, the
proposed owner's commitment to invest significantly in newsroom
operations.
(6) In order to overcome the negative presumption set forth in
paragraph (4) with respect to the combination of a major newspaper and
a television station, the applicant must show by clear and convincing
evidence that the co-owned major newspaper and station will increase
the diversity of independent news outlets and increase competition
among independent news sources in the market, and the factors set forth
above in paragraph (5) will inform this decision.
(7) The negative presumption set forth in paragraph (4) shall be
reversed under the following two circumstances: (i) the newspaper or
broadcast station is failed or failing; or (ii) the combination is with
a broadcast station that was not offering local newscasts prior to the
combination, and the station will initiate at least seven hours per
week of local news programming after the combination. Note 6 to 47 CFR
73.3555 states: For purposes of this section a daily newspaper is one
which is published four or more days per week, which is in the dominant
language in the market, and which is circulated generally in the
community of publication. A college newspaper is not considered as
being circulated generally.
47 CFR 73.3580 requires that applicants for construction permits
for new broadcast stations and for major change in existing broadcast
facilities (as defined in 47 CFR 73.3571(a)(1) (for AM applicants),
73.3572(a)(1) (for television applicants), or 73.3573(a)(1) (for FM
applicants)) give local notice in a newspaper of general circulation in
the community to which the station is licensed. This publication
requirement also applies with respect to major amendments as defined in
47 CFR 73.3571(b) (AM), 73.3772(b) (television), and 73.3573(b) (FM).
This publication
[[Page 50618]]
requirement also applies with respect to applications for minor
modification to existing AM and FM facilities in which the applicant
seeks to change the existing facility's community of license. Local
notice is also required to be broadcast over the station, if operating.
However, if the station is the only operating station in its broadcast
service licensed to the community involved, publication of the notice
in a newspaper is not required. Completion of publication may occur
within 30 days before or after the tender of the application to the
Commission.
This notice must be published at least twice a week for two
consecutive weeks in a three-week period. A copy of this notice must be
placed in a broadcast station's public inspection file along with the
application. The Commission's actions in this proceeding did not revise
this requirement.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-19886 Filed 8-26-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P