The FCC’s new Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake says his department is “paid to make decisions and not put them off.” In a session Thursday at the NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia, Lake said the bureau, in concert with the Audio Division, has been working to make some decisions about radio items that have been languishing.
The commission is now taking public comments on the so-called Radio Rescue Petition submitted in July by the Minority Media Telecommunications Council. The 17 proposals in the petition would modernize “archaic broadcast engineering rules” that “operate as market entry barriers, effectively stifling diversity and impeding competition,” according to MMTC in its petition.
The group believes the changes would make it easier for women and minorities to buy their first stations. MMTC supports the broadcast Maximization Committee proposal to re-purpose analog TV Channel 5 and 6 and expand the NCE service, reallocate LPFMs and allow all interest AMs to migrate to between 76 to 88 MHz.
Comments on Report # 2899 are due 30 days from Sept. 23.
