*Pages 1--2 from  Microsoft Word - 55412.doc*
 Federal  Communications  Commission  Washington,  D.  C.  20554 
 March  3,  2006 
 DA  06-  519  Released:  March  3,  2006 


 Christian  Faith  Broadcast,  Inc.  c/  o  Joseph  M.  Di  Scipio 
 Fletcher,  Heald  &  Hildreth,  P.  L.  C.  1300  North  17  th  Street,  11  th  Floor 
 Arlington,  VA  22209 
 Gentlemen: 
 This  grants  your  Petition  To  Accept  Late-  Filed  FCC  Form  381  for  digital  television  stations  WGGN-  TV,  Sandusky,  Ohio,  and  WLLA  (TV),  Kalamazoo,  Michigan  to  the  extent 
 described  below. 
 All  digital  television  licensees  were  required  to  file  FCC  Form  381  certifying  to  final  technical  standards  (replication  or  maximization  facilities)  by  November  5,  2004.  Stations 
 failing  to  file  the  appropriate  form  were  assigned  replication  facilities.  Because  you  did  not  file  the  appropriate  certifications  for  Stations  WGGN-  TV  and  WLLA  (TV),  the  stations  were 
 assigned  replication  facilities.  On  March  29,  2005,  you  filed  a  petition  to  accept  late-  filed  FCC  Form  381  for  Station  WGGN-  TV.  Your  petition  was  supplemented  on  October  31,  2005  to 
 include  station  WLLA  (TV). 
 The  certification  process  is  a  critical  part  of  the  DTV  election  process.  Licensees  electing  their  final  digital  channels  must  be  able  to  identify  facilities  requiring  protection  and  make 
 informed  decisions.  Licensees  relied  on  the  Commission’s  assignment  of  replication  facilities  to  WGGN-  TV  and  WLLA  (TV)  in  making  their  channel  elections  during  the  first  two  rounds  of 
 DTV  channel  elections.  We  do  not  believe  it  would  serve  the  public  interest  to  require  stations  that  properly  participated  in  the  DTV  election  process  and  relied  upon  the  default  election 
 assigned  to  the  stations  by  the  Commission  to  protect  the  maximized  facilities  of  WGGN-  TV  and  WLLA  (TV).  Nor  would  it  serve  the  public  interest  to  require  such  protection  but  delay  the 
 election  process  to  permit  other  stations  to  reevaluate  the  elections  they  made. 
 We  have  reviewed  your  petition,  as  supplemented,  and  attached  engineering  exhibits,  however,  and  conclude  that  some  limited  relief  would  be  consistent  with  the  public  interest.  We 
 have  concluded  that  the  public  interest  would  be  served  by  allowing  you  to  construct  authorized  maximized  facilities  for  Stations  WLLA  (TV)  and  WGGN-  TV  and  by  protecting  those  facilities 
 to  the  extent  that  they  do  not  create  interference  to  stations  that  have  received  DTV  channel  designations  in  rounds  1  and  2  of  the  DTV  election  process.  Please  note  that,  in  order  to  avoid 
 the  risk  of  being  required  to  reduce  constructed  facilities  at  the  end  of  the  transition,  you  must 
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 complete  an  engineering  analysis  for  both  stations  to  determine  the  impact,  if  any,  on  all  channel  designations  from  the  completed  election  rounds.  Further,  you  will  be  required  to  accept 
 interference  from  any  of  these  channel  designations  and  inform  the  Commission  of  any  service  loss. 


 We  also  will  protect  your  maximized  facilities  in  connection  with  the  channel  elections  made  by  other  licensees  during  round  3  of  the  process.  To  accomplish  this,  within  10  days  after 
 the  round  3  channel  election  date,  you  are  required  to  notify  the  Video  Division  staff  by  letter,  accompanied  by  applicable  engineering  studies,  if  any  licensees  participating  in  the  third  round 
 of  the  channel  election  process  will  receive  impermissible  interference  from  your  maximized  facilities,  or  if  your  facilities  will  receive  impermissible  interference  from  another  station.  Should 
 interference  be  predicted,  we  will  work  with  WLLA  (TV),  WGGN-  TV  and  similarly  situated  stations  to  reach  an  equitable  solution  to  assign  them  a  channel  consistent  with  the  Second  DTV 
 periodic  review.  Additionally,  upon  completion  of  the  third  round  DTV  election  process,  we  will  review  the  maximized  facilities  for  both  WLLA  (TV)  and  WGGN-  TV  to  determine  whether 
 there  is  an  impact  on  the  facilities  to  be  proposed  in  the  final  list  of  DTV  channel  designations.  If  WLLA  (TV)  and  WGGN-  TV  maximized  facilities  protect  all  stations  associated  with  round  1 
 and  2  channel  elections,  we  propose  to  include  your  maximized  facilities  in  the  final  DTV  Table  of  Allotments. 


 We  believe  that  the  approach  outlined  above  allows  Stations  WLLA  (TV)  and  WGGN-TV  to  construct  maximized  facilities  and,  at  the  same  time,  protects  the  integrity  of  the  digital 
 channel  election  process.  Accordingly,  your  petition  is  GRANTED  to  the  extent  indicated  herein. 
 Sincerely, 


 Barbara  A.  Kreisman  Chief,  Video  Division 
 Media  Bureau 
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