§ 73.6028 - xxx

§ 73.6028 Class A television channel sharing outside the incentive auction.

(a) Eligibility. Subject to the provisions of this section, Class A television stations may voluntarily seek Commission approval to share a single six megahertz channel with other Class A, full power, low power, or TV translator television stations.

(b) Licensing of channel sharing stations.

(1) Each station sharing a single channel pursuant to this section shall continue to be licensed and operated separately, have its own call sign, and be separately subject to all of the Commission's obligations, rules, and policies.

(2) A station relinquishing its channel must file an application for a construction permit, include a copy of the Channel Sharing Agreement (CSA) as an exhibit, and cross reference the other sharing station(s). Any engineering changes necessitated by the CSA may be included in the station's application. Upon initiation of shared operations, the station relinquishing its channel must notify the Commission that it has terminated operation pursuant to § 73.1750 and each sharing station must file an application for license.

(c) Channel sharing between Class A television stations and full power, low power television, and TV translator stations.

(1) A Class A television sharee station (defined as a station relinquishing a channel in order to share) that is a party to a CSA with a full power television sharer station (defined as the station hosting a sharee pursuant to a CSA) must comply with the rules of this part governing power levels and interference, and must comply in all other respects with the rules and policies applicable to Class A television stations, as set forth in §§ 73.6000 through 73.6027.

(2) A Class A television sharee station that is a party to a CSA with a low power television or TV translator sharer station must comply with the rules of part 74 of this chapter governing power levels and interference that are applicable to low power television or TV translator stations, and must comply in all other respects with the rules and policies applicable to Class A television stations, as set forth in §§ 73.6000 through 73.6027.

(d) Deadline for implementing CSAs. CSAs submitted pursuant to this section must be implemented within three years of the grant of the initial channel sharing construction permit.

(e) Channel sharing agreements (CSAs).

(1) CSAs submitted under this section must contain provisions outlining each licensee's rights and responsibilities regarding:

(i) Access to facilities, including whether each licensee will have unrestrained access to the shared transmission facilities;

(ii) Allocation of bandwidth within the shared channel;

(iii) Operation, maintenance, repair, and modification of facilities, including a list of all relevant equipment, a description of each party's financial obligations, and any relevant notice provisions;

(iv) Transfer/assignment of a shared license, including the ability of a new licensee to assume the existing CSA; and

(v) Termination of the license of a party to the CSA, including reversion of spectrum usage rights to the remaining parties to the CSA.

(2) CSAs must include provisions:

(i) Affirming compliance with the channel sharing requirements in this section and all relevant Commission rules and policies; and

(ii) Requiring that each channel sharing licensee shall retain spectrum usage rights adequate to ensure a sufficient amount of the shared channel capacity to allow it to provide at least one Standard Definition program stream at all times.

(f) Termination and assignment/transfer of shared channel.

(1) Upon termination of the license of a party to a CSA, the spectrum usage rights covered by that license may revert to the remaining parties to the CSA. Such reversion shall be governed by the terms of the CSA in accordance with paragraph (e)(1)(v) of this section. If upon termination of the license of a party to a CSA only one party to the CSA remains, the remaining licensee may file an application for license to change its status to non-shared.

(2) If the rights under a CSA are transferred or assigned, the assignee or the transferee must comply with the terms of the CSA in accordance with paragraph (e)(1)(iv) of this section. If the transferee or assignee and the licensees of the remaining channel sharing station or stations agree to amend the terms of the existing CSA, the agreement may be amended, subject to Commission approval.

(g) Notice to cable systems.

(1) Stations participating in channel sharing agreements must provide notice to cable systems that:

(i) No longer will be required to carry the station because of the relocation of the station;

(ii) Currently carry and will continue to be obligated to carry a station that will change channels; or

(iii) Will become obligated to carry the station due to a channel sharing relocation.

(2) The notice required by this section must contain the following information:

(i) Date and time of any channel changes;

(ii) The channel occupied by the station before and after implementation of the CSA;

(iii) Modification, if any, to antenna position, location, or power levels;

(iv) Stream identification information; and

(v) Engineering staff contact information.

(3) Should any of the information in paragraph (g)(2) of this section change, an amended notification must be sent.

(4) Sharee stations must provide notice as required by this section at least 90 days prior to terminating operations on the sharee's channel. Sharer stations and sharee stations must provide notice as required by this section at least 90 days prior to initiation of operations on the sharer channel. Should the anticipated date to either cease operations or commence channel sharing operations change, the stations must send a further notice to affected cable systems informing them of the new anticipated date(s).

(5) Notifications provided to cable systems pursuant to this section must be either mailed to the system's official address of record provided in the cable system's most recent filing in the FCC's Cable Operations and Licensing System (COALS) Form 322, or emailed to the system if the system has provided an email address.

[82 FR 18250, Apr. 18, 2017]

Effective Date Note

Effective Date Note:

At 82 FR 18250, Apr. 18, 2017, § 73.6028 was added. This section contains information collection and recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective until approval has been given by the Office of Management and Budget.