Press Communications, LLC v. FCC.

• Author: Hong, Kimberly

875 F.3D 1117 (D.C. CIR. 2017)

In Press Commc'ns, LLC v. FCC, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to review an FCC Order that rejected a radio station's request to swap channels with another radio station because it violated the FCC's channel spacing requirements. (170)

1. BACKGROUND

   Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934 ("Act") "confers on the United States control 'over all the channels of radio transmission,'" (171) and Section 303 of the Act gives the Federal Communications Commissions ("FCC") the power to "implement[] a licensing scheme pursuant to the Act... and sets 'public convenience, interest, or necessity as the [FCC's] guiding principles." (172) Furthermore, every radio station requires a license provided by the FCC, (173) and a license term cannot last for more than eight years. (174) However, a license can be renewed and must follow the FCC's regulations. (175) Under Section 73.3539, a renewal application must be sent "at least four months before the expiration of their current license term." (176)

   The FCC must also authorize any modification of a radio station's license. (177) Modification of a radio station includes a "'major change' such as new ownership" or a "'minor change' such as change to adjacent channel." (178) In order to comply with the FCC rules and regulations, each application for modification must be "accompanied by an appropriate request for waiver." (179) A license modification is handled on a "'first come/first serve' processing sequence" (180) Under this processing sequence, "the first acceptable application cut[s] off the filing rights of subsequent applicants." (181)

   Additionally, each radio station must meet the "minimum separation requirements for FM radio stations" provided under Section 73.207 of the FCC's regulations. (182) Every radio station has a "home on the ground (its transmitter), and on the dial (its frequency)." (183) There needs to be sufficient spacing between each station's home and dial in order to avoid any interference between stations. (184) The distance needed between a station's "transmitters on the ground corresponds inversely to the distance between their frequencies on the dial." (185) However, exemptions to Section 73.207 is provided in Section 73.213, which states that "stations operating at locations authorized prior to 1964 or 1989 are thereby 'grandfathered.'" (186) These "grandfathered" spaces "may be modified or...