OMB Control Number: 3060-1086 October 2024
Title: Section 74.787, Digital Licensing; Section 74.790, Permissible Service of Digital TV Translator and LPTV Stations; Section 74.794, Digital Emissions, Section 74.796, Modification of Digital Transmission Systems and Analog Transmission Systems for Digital Operation
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A. Justification
Information Collection Requirements:
On April 17, 2023, the Commission released a Report and Order wherein it adopted several revisions to its Part 74 rules.1 As a result of these rule revisions, a number of collections and burdens were eliminated altogether as reflected in this revised supporting statement. Sections 74.787(a)(2)(iii), 74.787(a)(5)(i) and 74.798 of the rules were eliminated and therefore the corresponding collections and burdens for these rules have been eliminated. Also, the requirement that low power television and TV translator stations protected analog facilities has been eliminated and therefore the corresponding collection and burden for this requirement has been eliminated as well.
1. The information collection requirements that are covered under this collection are as follows:
47 CFR Section 74.787(a)(3) provides that mutually exclusive applicants applying for construction permits for new digital stations and for major changes to existing stations in the LPTV service will similarly be allowed to submit in writing to the Commission, settlements and engineering solutions to rectify the problem.
47 CFR Section 74.787(a)(4) provides that mutually exclusive displacement relief applicants filing applications2 for digital LPTV and TV translator stations may be resolved by submitting settlements and engineering solutions in writing to the Commission.
47 CFR Section 74.787(a)(5)(v) states that a license for a digital-to-digital replacement television translator will be issued only to a full-power television broadcast station licensee that demonstrates in its application a loss in the station’s pre-auction digital service area as a result of the broadcast television spectrum incentive auction, including the repacking process, conducted under section 6403 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Pub. L. No. 112-96). “Pre-auction digital service area” is defined as the geographic area within the full power station’s noise-limited contour (as set forth in Public Notice, DA 15-1296, released November 12, 2015). The service area of the digital-to-digital replacement translator shall be limited to only the demonstrated loss area within the full power station’s pre-auction digital service area, provided that an applicant for a digital-to-digital replacement television translator may propose a de minimis expansion of its full power pre-auction digital service area upon demonstrating that the expansion is necessary to replace a loss in its pre-auction digital service area.
47 CFR Section 74.790(f) permits digital TV translator stations to originate emergency warnings over the air deemed necessary to protect and safeguard life and property, and to originate local public service announcements (PSAs) or messages seeking or acknowledging financial support necessary for its continued operation. These announcements or messages shall not exceed 30 seconds each, and be broadcast no more than once per hour.
47 CFR Section 74.790(e) requires that a digital TV translator station shall not retransmit the programs and signal of any TV broadcast or DTV broadcast station(s) without prior written consent of such station(s). A digital TV translator operator electing to multiplex3 signals must negotiate arrangements and obtain written consent of involved DTV station licensee(s).
47 CFR Section 74.790(g) requires a digital LPTV station who transmits the programming of a TV broadcast or DTV broadcast station received prior written consent of the station whose signal is being transmitted.
47 CFR Section 74.794 mandates that digital LPTV and TV translator stations operating on TV channels 22-24, 32-36 and 38 with a digital transmitter not specifically FCC-certificated for the channel purchase and utilize a low pass filter4 or equivalent device rated by its manufacturer to have an attenuation 5 of at least 85 dB in the GPS6 band. The licensees must retain with their station license a description of the low pass filter or equivalent device with the manufacturer’s rating or a report of measurements by a qualified individual.
47 CFR Section 74.796(b)(5) requires digital LPTV or TV translator station licensees that modify their existing transmitter by use of a manufacturer-provided modification kit would need to purchase the kit and must notify the Commission upon completion of the transmitter modifications. In addition, a digital LPTV or TV translator station licensees that modify their existing transmitter and do not use a manufacturer-provided modification kit, but instead perform custom modification (those not related to installation of manufacturer-supplied and FCC-certified equipment) must notify the Commission upon completion of the transmitter modifications and shall certify compliance with all applicable transmission system requirements.
47 CFR Section 74.796(b)(6) provides that operators who modify their existing transmitter by use of a manufacturer-provided modification kit must maintain with the station’s records for a period of not less than two years, and will make available to the Commission upon request, a description of the nature of the modifications, installation and test instructions, and other material provided by the manufacturer, the results of performance-tests and measurements on the modified transmitter, and copies of related correspondence with the Commission. In addition, digital LPTV and TV translator operators who custom modify their transmitter must maintain with the station’s records for a period of not less than two years, and will make available to the Commission upon request, a description of the modifications performed and performance tests, the results of performance-tests and measurements on the modified transmitter, and copies of related correspondence with the Commission.
The Commission is requesting a three-year extension for this collection from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
This information collection does not affect individuals or households; thus, there are no impacts under the Privacy Act.
Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C. 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
2. Most of the collections of information involved, whether reporting, recordkeeping, will be used by licensees and by the Commission to ensure the opportunity for harmful interference between licensees, broadcast and wireless, will be kept to a minimum. Other rules in this submission offer certain digital services, such as programming public service announcements for the purpose of educating the public about the digital transition.
3. The Commission expects that automatic information technology will be used where appropriate in this collection of information.
4. The Commission does not impose a similar information collection on the respondents. There is no similar data available.
5. In conformance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Commission is making an effort to minimize burdens on all respondents, regardless of size. The Commission is aware that many licensees are small entities who operate with limited budgets and has provided such smaller entities with as much flexibility and minimum increased burden as possible. For example, low power broadcasters have been given additional time (as compared to full-service broadcasters) to transition from analog to digital service. Small broadcasters rely completely on their viewing audiences for their revenue stream, so this benefit should far outweigh any costs for this temporary requirement.
6. DTV is a new service which potentially offers many benefits to licensees and prospective licensees and to the viewing public.
7. No special circumstances exist with this collection of information.
8. The Commission published a Notice in the Federal Register on July , 2024 (89 FR ) to seek public comment on the information collections contained in this supporting statement. No comments on the information collection requirements have been received from the public.
9. Respondents will not receive any payments.
10. There is no need for confidentiality with this collection of information.
11. This collection of information does not address any private matters of a sensitive nature.
12. The Commission estimates the burdens as follows:7
Requirements or Number of Respondent’s Total Hrly. Total
Rule Sections Responses Burden Hour Burden Hrs Cost In-House Cost
a. Sec. 74.787(a)(3) 1,000 3 3,000 $50 $ 150,000
b. Sec. 74.787(a)(4) 1,000 3 3,000 $50 $ 150,000
c. Sec. 74.787(a)(5)(v) 100 1 100 $50 $ 5,000
d. Sec. 74.790(f) 4,000 1 4,000 $50 $ 200,000
e. Sec. 74.790(e) 4,000 1.75 7,000 $50 $ 350,000
f. Sec. 74.790(g) 4,236 1 4,236 $50 $ 211,800
g. Sec. 74.794 750 0.50 375 $50 $ 18,750
h. Sec. 74.796(b)(5) 3,000 1.5 4,500 $50 $ 225,000
i. Sec. 74.796(b)(6) 1,500 1 1,500 $50 $ 75,000
TOTALS: 19,586 27,711 $1,385,550
(responses) (Burden Hours) (In-house Cost)
Total Number of Respondents: 8,445
200 Full Power TV Stations
2,451 LPTV Stations
5,359 Translator Stations
435 Class A Stations
8,445 Full Power TV Stations, LPTV, TV Translator, and Class A Stations
Total Number of Responses: 19,586
Total Annual Burden Hours: 27,711 hours
Total “In-house” Cost: $1,385,550
13. Annual Cost Burden: We assume that the respondent would use a consulting engineer ($250/hour) to conduct the study under 47 CFR Section 74.787(a)(5)(v). In addition, we have also listed start-up costs associated with this information collection that are associated with the low power DTV transition, which is still on-going to this date. Some of the requirements contained in this collection do not have costs associated with them.
1. Section 74.787(a)(5)(v) 220 engineering hours x $250/hour = $ 55,000
2. Section 74.790(e) 1,000 purchases x $15,000/purchase = $15,000,000
3. Section 74.790(f) 4,000 purchases x $8,000/purchase = $32,000,000
4. Section 74.794 7,250 purchases x $1,248/purchase = $ 9,048,000
5. Section 74.796(b)(6) 1,125 purchases x $5,000/purchase = $ 5,625,000
Total Annual Cost Burden: $61,728,000
14. Cost to the Federal Government: The Commission will use engineering staff, GS-14, step 5 ($75.70/hour) to review attachments to FCC Form 346 pursuant to Section 74.787, settlement agreements, and technical issues. Industry Analysts, GS-13, step 5 ($64.06/hour) will review certain notification issues. The average processing time for this work is 0.5 to 2 hours.
280 settlement agreements x 2 hours x $75.70/hour = $42,392.00
200 attachments pursuant to Section 74.787 x 1 hour x $75.70/hour = $15,140.00
10 attachments pursuant to Section 74.787 x 0.5 hours x $75.70/hour = $ 378.50
1,520 submissions with notification issues x 0.50 hours x $64.06/hour = $48,685.60
Total Cost to the Federal Government: $106,569.10
15. There are program changes to this collection as follows: -7,800 to the annual number of responses, -28,675 to the annual burden hours and -$7,305,0000 to the annual cost. These program changes are due to the elimination of the information collection requirements contained in FCC 23-25.
There are no adjustments to this information collection.
16. The data will not be published for statistical use.
17. The expiration date of OMB approval for this information collection will be displayed at on OMB’s website.
18. There are no other exceptions to the Certification Statement.
B. Collections of Information employing statistical methods:
No statistical methods are employed.
1 Update of Parts 74 of the Commission's Rules Related to Low Power Television and Television Translator Stations, MB Docket No. 03-185, Report and Order, FCC 23-25 (rel. Apr. 17, 2023).
2 This refers to two or more applications for displacement relief that cannot both be granted because of potential interference.
3 Multiplex or multi-casting is a feature of DTV that will allow broadcasters to offer multiple standard definition TV programs in a single digital signal.
4 A Low Pass Filter is an electronic filter used to block unwanted high frequency signals while allowing lower frequency signals to pass through.
5 Signal strength over a certain distance.
6 This is a Global Positioning Service.
7 These estimates are based on FCC staff's knowledge and familiarity with the availability of the data required.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Rita.McDonald |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2024-10-07 |