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Broadcast Licensing Question
- Thread starter K6JHU
- Start date
Generally it's 3 years. A local translator in my area received it's grant in 2018 but didn't start airing regular programming until this year (September 2021, and it has now been consistent for two months straight).
Actually you can begin once you get the license although some hold regular broadcast hours under a construction permit once applying for the license. A construction permit is good for 3 years. If you don't apply for a license before the 3 years is up or have a very, very good reason for an extension, the frequency goes back to the FCC. I know of a LPFM station that build their station within two weeks of getting their construction permit and get the license avout two weeks after that. They went from being granted a CP to fully licensed inside 30 days. That is rare, however.
A station is a construction permit until built, at which point an application for license is to be filed. I've seen, some years back, a CP that operated "at variance" for several years while they tried to make a directional system work... but the station itself was licensed and the CP was for a change in the technical facility (1130 AM in Milwaukee).
I'm hoping Mr. Fybush can add something here, as I have not dealt with a brand new station in the US for many years.
Yep, so basically you filed the license because the station is on the air, otherwise you are still on CP.
There's one big missing piece in this conversation, and that's "program test authority," which varies depending on the type of CP.
Some CPs come with automatic program test authority - once you've built your facility according to the terms of the CP, you have the authority to put it on the air immediately and begin programming. Some CPs (especially full-power FM DA operations) come with conditional PTA - you can sign on at reduced power but then have to provide documentation to the FCC (surveyors' reports in the case of FM DAs, usually) before you can get the license to cover and begin regular full-power operation. Some categories of CP come with no program test authority at all, and you have to get the license to cover before you can turn the transmitter on at all. The actual CP authorization will always indicate whether it comes with automatic PTA.
And that's not even getting into contingent applications - station X can't begin operation on a new frequency until station Y has gotten its license to cover for operation on its new frequency, for example.
In general, though, the idea here is that if a station is applying for its license to cover, that's a sworn statement to the FCC that you've built the facility according to the terms of the CP and you're ready to begin regular operation immediately (or have already done so under automatic PTA.)
Some CPs come with automatic program test authority - once you've built your facility according to the terms of the CP, you have the authority to put it on the air immediately and begin programming. Some CPs (especially full-power FM DA operations) come with conditional PTA - you can sign on at reduced power but then have to provide documentation to the FCC (surveyors' reports in the case of FM DAs, usually) before you can get the license to cover and begin regular full-power operation. Some categories of CP come with no program test authority at all, and you have to get the license to cover before you can turn the transmitter on at all. The actual CP authorization will always indicate whether it comes with automatic PTA.
And that's not even getting into contingent applications - station X can't begin operation on a new frequency until station Y has gotten its license to cover for operation on its new frequency, for example.
In general, though, the idea here is that if a station is applying for its license to cover, that's a sworn statement to the FCC that you've built the facility according to the terms of the CP and you're ready to begin regular operation immediately (or have already done so under automatic PTA.)
A licensed station must notify the FCC if it is off the air more than 10 days, and must request silent authority if they will be off more than 30 days. So that's an effective limit.
Yep, you have a maximum of three years to construct the CP and file the application for license forms. Requesting a silent station STA right after licensing a station is as popular at the FCC as someone caught peeing in the pool.
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