Harry Cole

[Commentary] As we have observed more than once, the Federal Communications Commission’s quadrennial media ownership review process is Sisyphean in nature: even before the Commission can complete one review, the next begins, and previously completed reviews return thanks to court remands. Now, with the release of a Second Report and Order (2d R&O), the boulder has reached the top of the mountain again. How long it will stay there this time is anybody’s guess. The 2d R&O sprawls across more than 160 pages. The following are some of the highlights.

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commmission takes steps in anticipation of extensive auxiliary operation at upcoming conventions, inauguration. It looks like Louis Libin won’t be getting much time off in August, or next January either, for that matter. That’s because he has been designated as the single point of contact for frequency coordination operations under Section 74.24 at (deep breath, please) the Republican National Convention, and the Democratic National Convention, and the Presidential Inauguration.

Coverage of confabs like the conventions and the inauguration generally entails extensive use of frequencies licensed for the broadcast auxiliary services (BAS) under Part 74 of the FCC’s rules. Use of all those licensed devices has got to be coordinated in any event. But coordination is further complicated by the fact that the BAS rules (Section 74.24, to be exact) permit the temporary, unlicensed use of BAS frequencies by eligible broadcasters for up to 720 hours per year. That gives rise to the possibility of scads of short-term unlicensed operations vying for scarce BAS spectrum with scads of licensed operations. Hence, the importance of identifying a single authority in charge of insuring that all unlicensed, short-term operations play nicely with one another and with their licensed confrères in the high-pressure, congested-spectrum environment of these three high-profile events.

[Commentary] When it comes to emergency alerts, a broadcaster’s lot is not enviable. It is often difficult simply to marshal, in very short order, the important details and reduce them to reliable words and images that can be grasped quickly and accurately by the audience.

There are regulatory concerns: even the best-intentioned broadcaster doing his or her utmost to get the word out to the public can be unpleasantly whacked after the fact by the Federal Communications Commission for an inadvertent failure to comply 100% with certain regulatory requirements. And let’s not forget members of the audience, occasionally ungracious and unappreciative, who call to complain when emergency reports interrupt their favorite program.

In other words, broadcasters might have considerable reason not to jump at the opportunity to break into their programming with bad news about bad weather. Still, emergency alerts save lives and property. It is difficult to conceive of a public service of greater importance. And despite the difficulties and risks to their own operations, broadcasters have historically stepped up to the plate over and over again to serve their audiences in this valuable way.