Radio May Be On $50M Repack Hook

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UPDATE NAB estimates the impact of the broadcast repack could cost radio stations a total of some $50 million. Reps. Bill Flores (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) said this in a letter to the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee this week, asking that funds for radio repack reimbursement be included in the FY2018 appropriations bill. NAB EVP/General Counsel Rick Kaplan told lawmakers last fall, that 678 TV towers affected by the repack are shared with FMs, Inside Towers reported.

The repack “may have an unintended yet significant impact on the hundreds of radio stations that have transmitters co-located on TV towers. These stations, to accommodate the work necessary to accomplish the repack, must shift, cease or dramatically scale back their stations’ operations while tower crews carry out the necessary work on impacted TV transmitters,” write Reps. Flores and Green.

The stations need to make these accommodations, they add, “to ensure the health and safety of tower workers.” Even under the best circumstances, the work will take weeks or even months to complete. “Potential shortages of tower crews, inclement weather, and delayed equipment shipments” could impact the repack schedule, they say.  

On February 14, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed H.R. 4986, the FCC reauthorization bill; it contains language to create an FM Broadcast Station Relocation fund so the FCC can reimburse radio stations, Inside Towers reported. In addition to full-power TV stations, TV translators and low-power TV stations would be reimbursed for the first time from the $1.75 billion earmarked for the repack reimbursement.

The full House could vote on the item next week, Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), told Politico. If passed by the Senate, and signed by the president, the funds would be available after April 13, 2020.

March 1, 2018

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