Congress has mandated that after
February 17, 2009, full-power television broadcast stations must
transmit only in digital signals, and may no longer transmit analog
signals. On December 22, 2007, the Commission adopted a Report and
Order, In the Matter of the Third Periodic Review of the
Commissions Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital
Television, MB Docket No. 07-91, FCC 07-228, to establish the
rules, policies and procedures necessary to complete the nation's
transition to Digital TV (DTV). With the DTV transition deadline
less than one year away, the Commission must ensure that
broadcasters meet their statutory responsibilities and complete
construction of, and begin operations on, the facility on their
final, post-transition (digital) channel that will reach viewers in
their authorized service areas by the statutory transition
deadline, when they must cease broadcasting in analog. The
Commission wants to ensure that no consumers are left behind in the
DTV transition. The Report and Order required all full-power
television stations to file a DTV Transition Status Report using
FCC Form 387 on or before February 19, 2008. All full-power
television stations should have now made this initial filing,
meaning this filing requirement is now complete. As of April 10,
2008, a number of stations have reported completion of their
transition, meaning that these stations will not need to make
additional Form 387 updates/filings. The Report and Order also
requires stations to update their Form 387 as events warrant and,
by October 20, 2008, if they have not by that date reported the
completion of their transition, i.e., that they have begun
operating their full facility as authorized by the post-transition
DTV Table Appendix B. Stations must provide the specific details of
their current transition status, any additional steps necessary for
digital-only operation upon expiration of the February 17, 2009
transition deadline, and a timeline for making those
steps.
The Commission had the
following changes to this information collection that resulted in
program changes in the total annual burden hours and total annual
cost burden since the Commissions last submission to OMB: (1) the
number of respondents is reduced from 1,812 to 781 because many
stations no longer need to make additional Form 387 filings; (2)
the total number of responses/filings is increased from 1,812 to
1,953 because the collection is being modified to cover the second
filing deadline (i.e., October 20, 2008) that will apply only to
781 stations and to reflect that these stations may need to make
more than one update filing before reporting completion of their
transition; (3) the total annual burden hours is increased from
3,624 hours to 3,906 hours because of the increase in the number of
responses/filings; and, for this same reason, (4) the total annual
cost burden is increased from $1,268,400 to $1,367,100.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.