The LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition is gearing up for a court fight to delay the repack. The group is comprised of Low-Power TV station and TV translator owners.
“The auction winning bidders need to hear loud and clear that LPTV will not be moving when they want to start testing in a Partial Economic Area, but when we are ready,” says Coalition Director Mike Gravino.
“We will be offering engineering services to counter any of the claims of testing in a PEA, and those companies had better have engineering proof they need us to shut down. If tower crews and equipment are not available, then too bad, we all will have to wait,” he says in a newsletter for members.
The group is concerned about 4,000 such stations will be bumped off the air during the repack because they are secondary services and not as protected as primary services. The group fights this notion too, saying their viewers are not secondary.
The coalition has appealed to the FCC for help, Inside Towers reported; Commission officials have said they would work with the group to ameliorate their concerns.
The coalition is raising money for legal fees; It’s “putting NAB on notice” that if the broadcast lobby goes back to Congress for more repack reimbursement money and does not include LPTV and translators, “well, this is also what legal funds are raised for.” The coalition plans a rally at the upcoming NAB show starting at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, in the Westgate Hotel ballroom B.
April 18, 2017
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