\n\tWASHINGTON, D.C.: The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals challenging certain parts of the Federal Communications Commission's broadcast spectrum incentive auction order.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe NAB is challenging, among other elements, the FCC's decision to change the methodology used to predict local TV coverage areas and population served. It is arguing that this could result in significant loss of viewership of broadcast TV stations after the FCC "repacks" TV stations into a "shrunken TV band."<\/p>\n
\n\tThe lawsuit stated: "Under this new methodology, many broadcast licensees, including NAB's members, will lose coverage area and population served during the auction's repacking and reassignment process, or be forced to participated in the auction (and relinquish broadcast spectrum rights)."<\/p>\n
\n\tThe petition also argues that the FCC failed to take steps to preserve licensees' coverage areas in repacking, and that the FCC made an error in failing to ensure proper protections for broadcast translators, which are transmitters that help boost the coverage of broadcast TV programming to more rural, remote viewers.<\/p>\n
\n\tRick Kaplan, NAB's executive VP of strategic planning, commented: "NAB has engaged with the FCC throughout the incentive auction rulemaking to implement a successful auction that adheres to Congressional statute, is truly voluntary, and holds harmless the millions of viewers who are reliant on local TV. Unfortunately, the FCC order oversteps congressional mandate and is likely to cause significant harm to broadcast television. We are not looking to delay the auction. We merely hope that, if the FCC does not change course on its own, the Court will help put the auction back on the track Congress envisioned so that we can quickly achieve a balanced auction that benefits all stakeholders."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals challenging certain parts of the Federal Communications Commission's broadcast spectrum incentive auction order. The NAB is challenging, among other elements, the FCC's decision to change the methodology used to predict local TV coverage areas and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-top-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n