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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  04-  363 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of 
 Amendment  of  Section  73.  202(  b),  Table  of  Allotments, 
 FM  Broadcast  Stations.  (Emmetsburg,  Sanborn  and  Sibley,  Iowa, 
 and  Brandon,  South  Dakota) 


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 MM  Docket  No.  01-  65  RM-  10078 
 RM-  10188  RM-  10189 


 MEMORANDUM  OPINION  AND  ORDER  (Proceeding  Terminated) 
 Adopted:  February  25,  2004  Released:  February  27,  2004 
 By  the  Assistant  Chief,  Audio  Division: 
 1.  The  Audio  Division  has  before  it  a  Petition  for  Reconsideration  filed  by  Saga  Communications  of  Iowa,  LLC  (“  Saga  Communications)  directed  to  the  Report  and  Order  this  proceeding.  1  Eisert 
 Enterprises,  Inc.  filed  an  Opposition  to  Petition  for  Reconsideration  and  Saga  Communications  filed  a  Reply  to  Opposition.  For  the  reasons  discussed  below,  we  deny  the  Petition  for  Reconsideration 


 Background 
 2.  At  the  request  of  Eisert  Enterprises,  Inc.,  licensee  of  Station  KDWD  (formerly  KEMB),  Channel  261A,  Emmetsburg,  Iowa,  the  Notice  of  Proposed  Rule  Making  proposed  the  substitution  of 
 Channel  261C3  for  Channel  261A  at  Emmetsburg,  Iowa,  and  modification  of  the  Station  KDWD  license  to  specify  operation  on  Channel  261C3.  2  In  order  to  accommodate  Channel  261C3  at  Emmetsburg,  the 
 Notice  also  proposed  the  deletion  of  Channel  262A  at  Sibley,  Iowa.  In  response  to  the  Notice,  Saga  Communications  filed  a  Counterproposal  proposing  the  substitution  of  Channel  261C3  for  vacant 
 Channel  261A  at  Brandon,  South  Dakota.  This  proposal  also  required  the  deletion  of  Channel  262A  at  Sibley,  Iowa.  Eisert  Enterprises,  Inc.  filed  a  Counterproposal  adding  Channel  264A  at  Sanborn,  Iowa,  to 
 its  original  proposal.  3  In  addition  to  allotting  Channel  264A  to  Sanborn,  Iowa,  the  Report  and  Order  substituted  Channel  261C3  for  Channel  261A  at  Emmetsburg  and  modified  the  Station  KDWD  license  to 
 specify  operation  on  Channel  261C3.  That  action  was  premised  on  the  fact  that  this  upgrade  would  provide  additional  service  to  28,607  persons  while  upgrading  the  vacant  Brandon  allotment  would 
 provide  additional  service  to  26,223  persons. 
 1  Emmetsburg,  Sanborn  and  Sibley,  Iowa,  and  Brandon,  South  Dakota,  17  FCC  Rcd  18308  (MMB  2002). 
 2  Emmetsburg  and  Sibley,  Iowa,  16  FCC  Rcd  4932  (MMB  2001). 
 3  In  Taccoa,  Sugar  Hill  and  Lawrenceville,  Georgia,  16  FCC  Rcd  21191  (MMB  2001),  we  announced  that  we 
 would  not  routinely  permit  a  party  to  file  a  counterproposal  to  its  own  proposal  in  the  absence  of  an  explanation  as  to  why  the  counterproposal  could  not  have  been  advanced  as  part  of  the  original  petition  for  rule  making.  In  this 


 instance,  the  Counterproposal  was  filed  prior  to  our  decision  in  Taccoa  and  consideration  of  the  Channel  264A  proposal  for  Sanborn  did  not  prejudice  Saga  Communications. 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  04-  363 
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 3.  In  support  of  its  Petition  for  Reconsideration,  Saga  Communications  contends  that  upgrading  the  Brandon  allotment  would,  using  2000  U.  S.  Census  data,  result  in  additional  service  to  27,  274  persons 
 while  upgrading  the  Emmetsburg  allotment  would  provide  additional  service  to  24,939  persons.  As  such,  the  Brandon  upgrade  should  have  been  the  preferred  allotment.  4 


 4.  We  deny  the  Petition  for  Reconsideration.  We  have  conducted  our  own  engineering  review  of  the  respective  proposals  using  the  block  centroid  data  available  from  the  2000  U.  S.  Census.  Based  on  this 
 data,  we  have  determined  that  the  proposed  upgrade  at  Emmetsburg  will  now  result  in  additional  service  to  28,929  persons.  This  calculation  is  based  upon  existing  service  to  24,961  persons  and  a  proposed 
 service  to  a  total  of  53,990  persons.  In  comparison,  the  proposed  upgrade  at  Brandon  would  result  in  additional  service  to  24,614  persons.  This  calculation  is  based  upon  the  current  allotment  at  Brandon 
 serving  159,139  persons  and  the  proposed  Class  C3  allotment  serving  183,753  persons.  The  calculations  for  both  Emmetsburg  and  Brandon  are  consistent  with  our  earlier  calculations  in  this  proceeding  and 
 support  our  decision  favoring  the  upgrade  at  Emmetsburg. 
 5.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  That  the  aforementioned  Petition  for  Reconsideration  filed  by  saga  Communications  of  Iowa,  LLC  IS  DENIED. 


 6.  IT  IS  FURTHER  ORDERED,  That  this  proceeding  IS  TERMINATED. 
 7.  For  further  information  concerning  this  proceeding,  contact  Robert  Hayne,  Media  Bureau,  (202)  418-  2177. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 
 John  A.  Karousos  Assistant  Chief,  Audio  Division 
 Media  Bureau 


 4  See  Revision  of  FM  Allotment  Policies  and  Procedures,  90  FCC  2d  88  (1982);  see  also  Greenup,  Kentucky,  and 
 Athens,  Ohio,  6  FCC  Rcd  1493  (1991). 
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