Television Broadcasting Stations, Silver City and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

• Published date: 21 February 2025
• FR Document: 2025-02869
• Citation: 90 FR 10044
• Pages: 10044-10045
• Section: Proposed rules
• Issuer: Federal Communications Commission

Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 34 (Friday, February 21, 2025)

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 34 (Friday, February 21, 2025)]
                [Proposed Rules]
                [Pages 10044-10045]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2025-02869]
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                FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                47 CFR Part 73
                [MB Docket No. 25-84; RM-11995; DA 25-122; FR ID 280225]
                Television Broadcasting Stations, Silver City and Truth or
                Consequences, New Mexico
                AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
                ACTION: Proposed rule.
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                SUMMARY: In this document, the Video Division, Media Bureau (Bureau) of
                the Federal Communications Commission (Commission), has before it a
                petition for rulemaking filed by TV-49, Inc. (TV-49 or Petitioner), the
                permittee of an unbuilt full power television station KKAB, channel 12,
                Silver City, New Mexico (Station or KKAB). Petitioner requests an
                amendment of the Table of TV Allotments (table) to delete channel 12 at
                Silver City and substitute channel 12 at Truth or Consequences, New
                Mexico (Truth or Consequences), consistent with the technical
                parameters set forth in the Petition, as amended. The Petitioner
                further requests modification of its construction permit to specify
                Truth or Consequences as its community of license.
                DATES: Comments must be filed on or before March 24, 2025, and reply
                comments on or before April 7, 2025.
                ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by MB Docket No. 25-84,
                by any of the following methods:
                 Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically
                using the internet by accessing the ECFS: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs.
                 Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
                file an original and one copy of each filing.
                 Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by
                commercial courier, or by the U.S. Postal Service. All filings must be
                addressed to the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
                 Hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for
                the Commission's Secretary are accepted between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. by
                the FCC's mailing contractor at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis
                Junction, MD 20701. All hand deliveries must be held together with
                rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of
                before entering the building.
                 Commercial courier deliveries (any deliveries not by the
                U.S. Postal Service) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis
                Junction, MD 20701.
                 Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service First-Class Mail,
                Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express must be sent to 45 L Street
                NE, Washington, DC 20554.
                 People with Disabilities: 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.
                 In addition to filing comments with the FCC, interested parties
                should serve counsel for the Petitioner as follows: Matthew DelNero,
                Esq., Covington & Burling LLP, 850 Tenth Street NW, Washington, DC
                20001.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Harrison, Media Bureau, at
                [email protected], (202) 418-1665, or Mark Colombo, Media Bureau,
                at [email protected], (202) 418-7611.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's
                Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MB Docket No. 25-84; RM-11995; DA 25-
                122, adopted February 11, 2025, and released February 11, 2025. The
                full text of this document is available for download at https://www.fcc.gov/edocs. To request materials in accessible formats (braille,
                large print, computer diskettes, or audio recordings), please send an
                email to [email protected] or call the Consumer & Government 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.
                 Members of the public should note that all ex parte contacts are
                prohibited from the time a notice of proposed rulemaking is issued to
                the time the matter is no longer subject to Commission consideration or
                court review, see 47 CFR 1.1208. There are, however, exceptions to this
                prohibition, which can be found in Sec. 1.1204(a) of the Commission's
                rules, 47 CFR 1.1204(a). See Sec. Sec. 1.415 and 1.420 of the
                Commission's rules for information regarding the proper filing
                procedures for comments, 47 CFR 1.415 and 1.420.
                 Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act: The Providing
                Accountability Through Transparency Act, Public Law 118-9, requires
                each agency, in providing notice of a rulemaking, to post online a
                brief plain-language summary of the proposed rule. The required summary
                of the notice of proposed rulemaking is available at https://www.fcc.gov/proposed-rulemakings.
                Synopsis
                 Section 1.420(i) of the rules provides that the Commission, during
                a rulemaking proceeding to amend the table, may also modify a station's
                license or permit to specify a new community of license without
                affording other interested parties an opportunity to file competing
                expressions of interest. The Commission has stated that it will apply
                the modification procedure in Sec. 1.420(i) of the rules in the
                limited circumstances in which: (1) the new allotment will be mutually
                exclusive with a station's existing allotment; (2) the new allotment
                will result in a preferential arrangement of the allotments according
                to the Commission's television allotment priorities; and (3) the new
                allotment will not deprive a community of its sole local transmission
                outlet.
                 The Technical Exhibit submitted with the Petition demonstrates that
                the proposed allotment of channel 12 at Truth or Consequences is
                mutually exclusive with the current allotment at Silver City, and is
                otherwise in compliance with all of the Commission's technical rules.
                The
                [[Page 10045]]
                Petitioner emphasizes that Silver City will not lose any existing
                service because as a permittee, TV-49 has not commenced operations in
                Silver City, and thus no viewers have come to rely on any existing
                service, a factor the Commission has found to be mitigating in the
                context of whether a proposal to modify a station's community of
                license would deprive viewers of existing service. Moreover, the
                Petitioner states that Silver City will continue to be served by KKAB's
                sister station KKAD, which is also licensed to Silver City.
                 The Petitioner asserts that Truth or Consequences, the county seat
                of Sierra County, with a 2020 Census population of 6,053 people, is a
                community deserving of an allotment. Truth or Consequences does not
                presently have a television broadcast allotment and thus the allotment
                would deliver a first reception service to Truth or Consequences and
                provide service to over 10,000 people who currently reside within a
                broadcast television white area (i.e., persons who do not have access
                to any over-the-air broadcast television signals). Truth or
                Consequences is governed by an elected City Commission which consists
                of a set of commissioners who select a Commission member to act as
                Mayor. In addition, Petitioner states that Truth or Consequences
                Municipal Schools operates three elementary, one middle, and one high
                school serving the entirety of Sierra County. Located approximately
                twenty miles southeast of Truth or Consequences, is the ``world's first
                purpose-built commercial spaceport,'' Spaceport America. Petitioner
                also notes that Truth or Consequences offers a range of municipal
                services, including a police department, public utilities, a public
                library, an animal shelter, and a municipal airport. Petitioner states
                that given the foregoing, it is clear that Truth or Consequences has
                the population and public services indicative of a community deserving
                of its own television station allotment. In comparison, Silver City has
                a 2020 Census population of 9,704 persons. Like Truth or Consequences,
                Silver City is also a County seat (Grant County) and the local
                government provides a range of municipal services, including a fire
                department, police department, schools (four elementary, one middle,
                and two high schools) and public works. Silver City is also home of the
                Western New Mexico University.
                 We believe that the Petitioner's proposal warrants consideration.
                Based on an analysis by Bureau staff it appears channel 12 can be
                allotted to Truth or Consequences, as proposed, in compliance with the
                principal community coverage requirements of Sec. 73.618 of the rules
                at coordinates 33-19-38.0 N and 107-18-49.0 W. The change in community
                of license from Silver City to Truth or Consequences would add a first
                local service to Truth or Consequences, including first service to over
                10,000 people that currently reside in areas without any full power
                over-the-air television service. This meets the first and second
                criteria under the Commission's allotment priorities. While it would
                remove a second allotted service from Silver City, Silver City would
                continue to be served by KKAD, which is allotted to the community. In
                addition, since KKAB has yet to commence operation, no viewers would
                lose existing service as a result of this proposal. Although the
                population of Truth or Consequences (6,053) is less than that of Silver
                City (9,704), it has numerous community elements, including public
                services and being the home of the County seat for Sierra County, that
                warrant consideration. Accordingly, we seek comment on whether
                Petitioner's proposal to amend the table in Sec. 73.622(j) of the
                rules from channel 12 at Silver City to Truth or Consequences, as shown
                below, is consistent with the public interest.
                List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73
                 Television.
                Federal Communications Commission.
                Thomas Horan,
                Chief of Staff, Media Bureau.
                Proposed Rule
                 For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
                Communications Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR part 73 as follows:
                PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES
                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. Amend Sec. 73.622, in the table in paragraph (j), under New Mexico,
                by revising the entry for ``Silver City'' and adding the entry ``Truth
                or Consequences'' in alphabetical order to read as follows:
                Sec. 73.622 Digital television table of allotments.
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                 (j) * * *
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                 Community Channel No.
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                 New Mexico
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                Silver City................................................ ...........
                Truth or Consequences...................................... 12
                
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                [FR Doc. 2025-02869 Filed 2-20-25; 8:45 am]
                BILLING CODE 6712-01-P