ATBA Tells Pai Vacant Channel Proceeding Must Be Terminated, Seeks Quick ATSC 3.0 OK

The FCC’s vacant channel proceeding hangs over low-power TV “like the Sword of Damocles” and should be terminated, said the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance in a meeting with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 12-268. LPTV stations and translators are now “on the verge” of deciding whether to make “very substantial investments” to survive the repacking, ATBA said. “The vacant channel proceeding enormously compounds the difficulty of those decisions.” The FCC also should provide a path to permanent status for LPTV stations that survive the repacking, quickly approve ATSC 3.0 for all licensed TV broadcasters, open a second displacement window for unbuilt LPTV broadcasters, and “liberally” waive rules that require forfeiture if LPTV stations go dark for more than a year because of the repacking. “ATBA members understand that some of the conditions of repacking are beyond the FCC’s control,” the group said. “But there are a number of targeted steps the Commission can take that would materially improve the prospects for low power broadcasters through the repacking process.”