Federal Communications Commission FCC 18-60 STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI Re: Amendment of Part 74 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding FM Translator Interference, MB Docket No. 18-119 Our efforts to revitalize AM radio have been going well. Most notably, we’ve held four windows through which AM broadcasters have been able to obtain FM translators. These translators help AM stations improve their programming, expand their listenership and stabilize their financial position. Indeed, just last week during my trip along the Gulf Coast, I visited WGCM-AM in Gulfport, Mississippi, where the station owner told me that the translator his station had acquired through our AM radio revitalization initiative had been enormously helpful in reaching new listeners and growing revenue. But with the success of the translator program has come an uptick in interference complaints from primary FM stations due to the increasing number of translators on the air. Our current process for resolving such interference complaints can be nasty, brutish, and long (to put a twist on Hobbes). That’s why we aim to streamline and expedite it. Among other things, we propose to allow FM translators that are causing interference to or receiving interference from a primary FM station to apply for any other available same-band frequency. We also propose an outer signal contour beyond which we will not take action on interference complaints. These measures would provide more certainty to translator stations and full-service FM stations alike. And in many cases, they would eliminate the need for further remediation measures, resolving interference complaints more quickly. I’d like to thank the staff who worked on this Notice: Jim Bradshaw, Michelle Carey, Christine Goepp, Tom Horan, Holly Saurer, Lisa Scanlan, and Al Shuldiner from the Media Bureau, and Dave Konczal from the Office of General Counsel. And I’d like to give special recognition to Peter Doyle. This is the last item that Peter will present to the Commission. After 23 years at the FCC, including almost 17 years as Chief of the Audio Division, he will be retiring next month. And while I’ll reserve most of my remarks about Peter for a later date, the quality and thoroughness of this Notice is a fitting capstone to the excellent work he produced throughout his time at the Commission.