Got TV Repack Funds?  The FCC May Be Visiting You.

In a recent Public Notice providing an update on the post-2017 auction of television spectrum and repacking of stations into channels 2-36, the FCC addressed the status of allocations based upon remaining funds and reminded full power and Class A TV stations assigned to repack phases 6-10 to file for final expenses by the previously-announced March 22, 2022 deadline.

The FCC also announced a post-implementation site visit program, something it has long contemplated but had yet to announce or begin.  Through a third-party contractor, the FCC will begin making post-implementation site visits to facilities of certain Reimbursement Fund participants to validate the existence and operational status of post-transition equipment for which the entity received reimbursement, and to ensure that such equipment is being used by the fund participant for its intended purpose.  The sites will be selected from a statistically valid sample of Fund participants located in the contiguous United States.

Site visits will consist of one or two contractor staff who will spend one or two days onsite to physically inspect the facility and equipment. While onsite, the contractor staff also will verify the existence and functionality of equipment listed in the entity’s Reimbursement Form. The contractor will report its findings to the FCC.

The FCC will contact each station’s repack reimbursement contact person to notify entities selected for site visits.  Letters will be sent by both overnight mail and email to the entity’s reimbursement point of contact and will be copies to a station’s counsel of record, if any. The contractor will provide stations an opportunity to participate in a pre-visit teleconference to coordinate timing and other details of the visit.  Pre-visit teleconferences will be set at mutually convenient times thereafter.  Site visits are expected to begin in March 2022 and continue through the end of the year.