*Pages 1--2 from Microsoft Word - 59324.doc* PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S. W. Washington, D. C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418- 0500 Internet: http:// www. fcc. gov TTY: 1- 888- 835- 5322 DA 06- 1675 Released: August 29, 2006 Third Round of the DTV Channel Election Process: Tentative Channel Designations In the Second DTV Periodic Report and Order, 1 the Commission adopted a multi- step channel election process for full- power television broadcast licensees and permittees (hereinafter “licensees”) to select their ultimate DTV channel inside the core TV spectrum (i. e., channels 2- 51). At the completion of the first two channel election rounds, 1,789 licensees received tentative channel designations (“ TCDs”). 2 Licensees were eligible to participate in the third and final round of the channel election process (1) if they had not received a TCD, (2) if they received a TCD in an earlier round on a low- VHF channel (i. e., channels 2- 6), or (3) if they received a TCD in an earlier round on a channel for which the Commission has been unable to resolve international coordination issues with the Canadian or Mexican government. The deadline for eligible licensees to make third round elections (via FCC Form 386) was May 26, 2006. Twenty- two eligible licensees elected channels in the third round. 3 In this Public Notice, we announce 20 additional TCDs, including one designation we have made on behalf of a licensee that did not file. 4 These include licensees (a) that elected channels that would not result in impermissible interference to other stations, (b) whose interference conflicts 1 Second Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television, 19 FCC Rcd 18279 (2004) (“ Second DTV Periodic Report and Order”). 2 Public Notice, “Tentative Digital Channel Designations for Stations Participating in the First and Second Rounds of the DTV Channel Election Process,” DA 06- 1082 (MB rel. May 23, 2006). 3 In addition, three other stations submitted FCC Form 386. Two of those stations – WHRE- TV, NTSC channel 21, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and WMBF- TV, NTSC channel 32, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – were authorized after the completion of the first round, and therefore were not eligible to participate in the channel election process. See Second DTV Periodic Report and Order, 19 FCC at 18307, ¶ 66 (noting that “[ o] nly Commission licensees and permittees will participate in the channel election process” and that “[ a] pplicants for new stations and petitioners for new allotments will not make elections”). The third station – KKAI, NTSC channel 50, Kailua, Hawaii – elected in the third round channel 50, for which it received a TCD in the first round. 4 KTGM, Tamuning, GU, analog channel 14 and DTV channel 17, did not submit an election form during the channel election process. Consistent with our announced procedure of designating a post- transition channel for any station that did not participate in the channel election process, we are designating channel 14 on KTGM’s behalf. See Second DTV Periodic Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd at 18296, ¶ 42. 1 2 were resolved by reducing their effective radiated power (“ ERP”), 5 (c) that were given a “best available” channel for post- transition use because their elected channels had interference conflicts, and (d) that asked the Commission to select a “best available” channel. 6 The call sign and TCD for each of these licensees is set forth in Attachment I. TCDs in the relevant border zones are subject to appropriate international coordination. Unresolved Channel Elections. At the end of the channel election process, the following licensees still do not have a TCD: WABC- TV, NTSC channel 7, New York, New York; WEDH- TV, NTSC channel *24, Hartford, Connecticut; KTFK( TV), NTSC channel 64, Stockton, California; and KVIE( TV), NTSC channel *6, Sacramento, California. These situations will be resolved in a subsequent proceeding. For additional information, contact Nazifa Sawez of the Video Division, Media Bureau, at (202) 418- 7059, nazifa. sawez@ fcc. gov or Gordon Godfrey of the Engineering Division, Media Bureau, at (202) 418- 2193, gordon. godfrey@ fcc. gov. TTY: (202) 418- 7172. -- FCC-- 5 By reducing their ERP to meet the 0.1 percent interference standard, we were able to grant the following five licensees TCDs on their elected channels: WWMT, channel 8, Kalamazoo, Michigan, ERP reduced to 20 kW; WTVA, channel 8, Tupelo, Mississippi, ERP reduced to 9 kW; WSKY- TV, channel 9, Manteo, North Carolina, ERP reduced to 21. 3 kW; WSWP- TV, channel 10, Grandview, West Virginia, ERP reduced to 2.5 kW; and WNYI, channel 20, Ithaca, New York, ERP reduced to 15 W. 6 As in the second round election and conflict rounds, in order to choose a “best available” channel for these stations, we performed engineering analyses with two objectives in mind: (1) providing each station with at least full replication facilities, and (2) minimizing interference to other DTV TCDs. The “best available” TCDs announced herein all are based upon the licensees’ certified facilities, as we were able to identify a channel for each licensee that complies with the 0.1 percent interference standard on that basis. 2