NEWS                            CORRECTION

Report No. MM 96-21          MASS MEDIA ACTION                May 17,  1996


                   COMMISSION IMPLEMENTS RULES REGARDING
                  SILENT BROADCAST STATIONS PURSUANT TO 
                    THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996

     The Commission, in accordance with Section 403(l) of the Telecommunications Act of
1996, has adopted rules specifying that the license of any broadcast station that remains
off-the-air for any consecutive 12-month period will expire as a matter of law, notwithstanding
any provision, term, or condition of the license to the contrary.  The first such licenses will
expire on February 9, 1997.  These rules will apply to all classes of broadcast stations,
commercial and non-commercial, as well as to the remote pick-up and auxiliary stations  licensed
to the silent station.

     License expiration pursuant to these rules will not be affected by a silent station's other
FCC applications on file.  Thus, the Commission warned that "parties seeking to assign a license
or to modify the facilities of a silent station should make sure that sufficient time exists, before
automatic expiration of the license, to return the station to the air."  The Commission's Mass
Media Bureau expects to issue a separate public notice addressing such matters further.

     The new rules establish a process that is simpler than the revocation proceedings
previously used to terminate broadcast licenses. The Commission indicated, however, that it may
continue to use those revocation proceedings in the cases of silent stations that do not meet the
automatic expiration requirement of 12 consecutive months of silence postdating enactment of
the Telecom Act. There is no change in the requirement that broadcasters must notify the
Commission and obtain its consent for shorter periods of discontinued operation.

     Action by the Commission May 14, 1996, by Order (FCC 96-218).  Chairman Hundt,
Commissioners Quello, Ness and Chong.

                                   -FCC-


     Mass Media Bureau contact: Irene Bleiweiss at (202) 418-2780.