Broadcast license

A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the
radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally
include restrictions, which vary from band to band.[1]

Spectrum may be divided according to use. As indicated in a graph from the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration (NTIA), frequency allocations may be represented by different types of
services which vary in size.[2] Many options exist when applying for a broadcast license; the FCC
determines how much spectrum to allot to licensees in a given band,[3] according to what is needed for the
service in question.[1]

The determination of frequencies used by licensees is done through frequency allocation, which in the
United States is specified by the FCC in a table of allotments. The FCC is authorized to regulate spectrum
access for private and government uses; however, the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration of the Commerce Department allocates spectrum for use by the federal government
(including the military).

In some cases (e.g. CB radio), the public may use spectrum without a license. Commercial users (such as
television, AM/FM radio, and some types of two-way communications) will receive an FCC assignment to a
portion of spectrum, which may be a single frequency or a band of frequencies. In issuing broadcast licenses
the FCC relies on "comparative hearings", whereby the most qualified user will be granted use of the
spectrum to best serve the public interest; researchers have pointed out that this procedure favors
incumbents.[4]

Violation of the terms of a license (due to technical fault or illegal content) may result in fines or revocation
of the license. Licenses have also been jeopardized by misrepresentation on the part of the holder or failure
to keep a public file (in the U.S. and Canada). Unlicensed broadcasting refers to legal devices allowed to
transmit at low power without a license and pirate stations, which violate the law.

Contents
Economics
Process
Technical specifications
Sharing
Renewal
See also
References
External links

Economics
In the U.S. broadcast licenses were issued for only a nominal payment, but economist Ronald Coase
challenged the FCC's approach. Coase proposed that, as for other resources (land, metal, etc.), the market
should regulate the use of radio spectrum. This proposition is based on the Coase theorem: with well-
defined property rights, the free market will allocate resources to their most efficient use if transaction costs
are low. Coase's theory indicated that broadcast licenses in a spectrum that was limited had high economic
value, which should be paid on the open market. Licenses are increasingly offered via spectrum auctions;
however, this fails to consider non-commercial educational users (who are shut out of the process for
economic reasons).

Licensing is conducted by a broadcasting authority (a government agency) to manage the radio-frequency

spectrum and implement public policy, such as that regarding the concentration of media ownership. In the
U.S. the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not assign licenses to exclusive users, instead
permitting qualified users to apply for a license.[1] The Radio Act of 1927 established the regulatory premise
that the spectrum belongs to the public, and licensees have no property rights to use it.[5] Although the
spectrum is licensed to bidders, its purchase does not entail ownership or rights but the privilege of using
that portion of the spectrum.

Process
The process of obtaining a new broadcast license may be lengthy. A broadcast engineer first determines an
available frequency, which may be unavailable in a crowded media market (such as a metropolitan area). If a
frequency is available, an engineering study is submitted with an application to the broadcasting authority, to
demonstrate that the licensee will not cause RF interference to existing stations. There is a limited term for
the license, once acquired. According to the United States Government Printing Office in 1997, the term
could exceed 8 years;[6] however, this has been shortened to five years or less (depending on whether the
FCC requires further evaluation).[7]

A construction permit is first issued, with the license receiving approval when the station certifies that the
permit has been executed (after testing to ensure that all parameters are within allowable tolerances). Once a
facility is built and operational, it may be allowed to operate under program test authority until the license is
issued (or denied). Where a station is close to an international border, a license may also need to be
approved by the foreign country's broadcasting authority for frequency coordination. This is done even if the
border is outside of a station's predicted broadcast range, since radio propagation sometimes causes stations
to be heard outside their service area.

Existing stations apply for permits and license amendments when making changes to their facilities (such as
relocation to another site, changing the radio antenna height, making changes to a directional antenna's
radiation pattern, or when adding—or converting to—digital broadcasting). Other situations (such as a
change in the city of license) are covered in rulemaking proceedings in the U.S., which may be a
prerequisite to moving a station a significant distance (leaving its original community outside its new
coverage area). Temporary situations are covered by special temporary authority (STA) to operate at a
variance from the license or permit or a Restricted Service Licence (RSL) to operate for a fixed period at
reduced power. While these are FCC and Ofcom terms, respectively, other countries have similar
regulations.

In the U.S., court cases can prolong the process when mutually exclusive applications are received. The
FCC opens application window periods of about a week. Some applications have been pending for years;
others end up in administrative law courts or arbitration, sometimes with one applicant seeking a buyout of
another.

Technical specifications
Management of technical specifications (such as those in broadcast television systems) is normally
undertaken as a part of broadcast licensing in each country. Radio bands carry signals (such as video and
audio, digital and analog, narrowband, broadband and content), and are licensed differently.

The broadcast license typically specifies the following minimum information:

Geographic coordinates, with exact latitude and longitude

Carrier frequency and bandwidth
Modulation type[s]
Effective radiated power (ERP)
Height above average terrain (HAAT)
Directional antenna radiation pattern, specified at several azimuths

Additionally, it often specifies:

Operating hours (for mediumwave and shortwave)

Transmitter power output (TPO) (before any attenuation or gain)
Broadcast auxiliary services (BAS) linking studio and transmitter sites
Antenna brand and model
Height above mean sea level (AMSL) and above ground level (AGL)
Backup facilities (which may have separate licenses)
Additional service authorizations (subcarriers, digital radio)

Some countries (such as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in Canada)
specify radio format or the genre of television programming, to ensure diversity. Community stations (such
as class A television service and LPFM stations in the U.S.) may be required to broadcast local content each
week. U.S. broadcast translator licenses prohibit local content on FM, while LPTV stations can choose,
except those tied to a DTV station as a fill-in translator or booster to overcome the shortcomings of the
ATSC system mandated by the FCC.

Sharing
In some cases, two stations may share the same frequency in the same area, or even the same facility. Time
sharing has on occasion been used when two applicants have an equal number of points, mainly with LPFM
stations. In FCC auction 1000 for the 600 MHz band, TV stations were paid to leave the air in crowded
markets (to facilitate repacking of stations on TV channels 38 to 51 into those already using 2 to 36), but are
allowed to move the license to another existing station, keeping their virtual channel numbers and must-
carry rights. Each licensee is responsible for the content on their own channels, while both are jointly
responsible for the technical operation of the transmitter, antenna, and tower.

In the city of New York, 89.1 MHz is reserved for the United Nations; however, it is used instead by
WNYU-FM and WNYU-FM1, unless the U.N. should ever apply to use it.[8]

Renewal
Licensing requirements differ for public radio and television and for community radio and television
compared to commercial applicants. Licensees must be aware of deadlines, from original application to
renewal, which vary by state[9][10] and include license expiration and dates for renewals. The form for
renewal of a broadcast license in the United States is FCC Form 303-S. While the Form 303-S License
Application consists of yes-or-no questions and certifications, the process of renewing the license is
complex; the FCC requires that licensees certify that they were in compliance with all rules and regulations
during the prior license term. If a license has been acquired in the middle of a term, the licensee will be
evaluated from that point to the end of the license term. Misrepresentation to the FCC may lead to the loss
of a license.[11]

See also
Broadcasting in the Soviet Union
Frequency assignment authority
Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom
Spectrum management

References
1. Nuechterlein, Jonathan; Weiser, Philip J. (2005). Digital Crossroads (https://archive.org/details/
digitalcrossroad00jona). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. p. 235 (https://archive.or
g/details/digitalcrossroad00jona/page/235).
2. "National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) United States Frequency
Allocations The Radio Spectrum" (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf) (PDF).
doc.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
3. Nuechterlein, Jonathan; Weiser, Philip J. (2005). Digital Crossroads (https://archive.org/details/
digitalcrossroad00jona). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. p. 234 (https://archive.or
g/details/digitalcrossroad00jona/page/234).
4. Krattenmaker, T. G. & Pwwe, L. A. Jr. (1994). Regulating Broadcast programming.
5. Nuechterlein, Jonathan; Weiser, Philip J. (2005). Digital Crossroads (https://archive.org/details/
digitalcrossroad00jona). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. p. 232 (https://archive.or
g/details/digitalcrossroad00jona/page/232).
6. "United States Government Printing Office Broadcast License Terms" (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsy
s/pkg/FR-1997-02-05/pdf/97-2755.pdf) (PDF). gpo.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
7. "The Museum of Broadcast Communications - Encyclopedia of Television" (http://www.museu
m.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=license). www.museum.tv. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
8. "FM Query Results -- Audio Division (FCC) USA" (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?city=new+yor
k&freq=89.1&fre2=89.1&list=1&size=10). www.fcc.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
9. Federal Communications Commission Broadcast License Renewal Filing & Expiration Dates (h
ttp://www.fcc.gov/localism/renewals.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20050408094
705/http://www.fcc.gov/localism/renewals.html) April 8, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
10. "Federal Communications Commission License Renewal Applications for Television Broadcast
Stations" (http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/renewal.html). fcc.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
11. "Preparing for Radio Station FCC License Renewals - Advisories & Blogs - Davis Wright
Tremaine" (http://www.dwt.com/LearningCenter/Advisories?find=406501). www.dwt.com.
Retrieved 19 March 2018.

External links
Australian Communications and Media Authority (http://www.acma.gov.au)
Industry Canada (http://www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum)
Radio Spectrum Management New Zealand (http://www.rsm.govt.nz/)
Ofcom (United Kingdom) (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/)
Federal Communications Commission (United States) (http://www.fcc.gov/)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Broadcast_license&oldid=954700761"

This page was last edited on 3 May 2020, at 20:48 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.