Public TV Groups: FCC Should Maintain Definition of Localism

The FCC shouldn’t “shift the long-standing understanding of localism” in its proceeding on prioritizing locally originated programming (see 2403120071), said America’s Public Television Stations and PBS in a teleconference meeting Tuesday with Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer and an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, according to an ex parte filing in docket 24-14. Public TV programming is local because it's issue-responsive, the filing said. “The definitions established in this rulemaking could have implications for what is considered ‘local’ broadcast programming in future regulations,” said the public TV groups. The FCC should adopt a “qualified” noncommercial educational broadcast station definition that would allow NCE applications to be prioritized without meeting the agency’s proposed requirements that programming be originated locally. The public TV groups also said the FCC shouldn’t expand rules governing TV translators. Rather than requiring translators to designate communities of license, the agency should “grandfather in existing COLs for public television translators until the station requests to change their community of license.” Doing otherwise could “create a burdensome engineering and administrative scramble for some public television stations,” the public TV groups said.