Sure, the Commission’s been sitting on the petitions for months (in one proceeding) and years (in another), but so what? You’ve got two weeks (including Christmas and New Year’s) to check them out and respond to them.
Got your 2012 calendar yet? Better get on it, because deadlines for the new year are starting to pile up.
For instance, remember the rural radio proceeding, which (among other things) established new, and considerably more rigorous, criteria for radio station “move-in” applications? You could be forgiven if that particular item has been swept out of your short-term memory, because the Commission’s Second Report and Order there was released back in early March. In any event, the FCC has now announced that six petitions for reconsideration of that decision have been filed. Apparently time is not of the essence here, because the petitions were filed back in late April and early May, right around the time the new rules became effective. Never you mind about that, though, because the clock is now ticking if you want to respond to any or all of the petitions. Oppositions to the petitions are due by January 5, 2012, and replies to oppositions are due by January 17, 2012.
In case you want to check out the petitions yourself, here are links to each:
Entravision Communications Corporation
Educational Media Foundation/the Kent Frandsen Radio Companies
You may as well keep your calendar opened to January 5 and January 17, because the Commission has also announced that two petitions for reconsideration were filed with respect to the FCC’s Report and Order permitting FM translators to rebroadcast the signals of AM stations.
That decision was released in (are you sitting down?) June, 2009. The petitions have been hanging around since July-August, 2009, a tad over two years ago. In the meantime, of course, Congress enacted the Local Community Radio Act and the Commission has taken a giant step or two toward resolving many of the thorny issues relative to the ever-prickly translator/LPFM relationship – including some tweaks relating to carriage of AM stations by translators. As a result, who knows whether the issues raised way back in 2009 are still hot and happening? Whatever the case may be, if you want to oppose either of these two petitions, you’ve got until January 5, 2012. Replies are due (no big surprise here) by January 17. You can find the two petitions here:
