The Second FM Translator Window for AM Stations: Filing Deadline Explained

For those AM stations that have just encountered an opportunity to acquire and relocate an FM translator up to 250 miles for use with the station, there is still a little time remaining to file a modification application in the current filing window. But time is running very short. The window closes on October 31, 2016, but be careful – it closes at 5:59 p.m. EDT on that day, not at midnight. So plan accordingly.

All classes of AM stations are eligible to file applications in the window seeking to relocate non-reserved band translators up to 250 miles for use with an AM station.

For AM stations that have not participated in either of the two 2016 filing windows, a filing window for new FM translators has been projected for 2017, but has not yet been scheduled. That window will be an auction window, meaning that applications that are mutually exclusive will either have to file technical amendments to become grantable, or head to an auction where the highest bidder wins and pays for a permit. Applications filed in that window that are not mutually exclusive with another application will be grantable without any payment, presuming that the application is in accordance with the FCC’s rules. When the FCC gets set for that process, it will issue an announcement and we’ll cover it in this newsletter.