PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 1919 M St. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORT NO. 2261 March 10, 1998 OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS REFERENCE OPERATIONS DIVISION PETITION FOR RULEMAKING FILED (Interested persons may file statements opposing or supporting the Petition for Rulemaking listed herein by April 27, 1998; replies are due by May 26, 1998. An Acrobat version of the full text of the Petition for Rulemaking is available through the Mass Media internet page (http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/) or can be downloaded directly from: http//www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/filings/rm9242.pdf.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RM NO. RULES SEC. PETITIONER DATE REC'D NATURE OF PETITION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9242 Rule Parts 73 J. Rodger Skinner, Jr. 02/20/98 Request amendment of FM Broadcast Service and 74 TRA Communications Rules to create 3 new classes of lower power Consultants, Inc. stations to provide small-scale, low-cost radio 6431 NW 65th Terrace service that would provide enhanced broadcas- Pompano Beach, FL ting opportunities for individuals and small 33067-1546 business to offer local/niche programming, special event coverage and other specialized broadcasts not routinely available on full power FM stations. One class of stations would be licensed as a primary service, (coverage typically 15 miles or less) using levels of effective radiated power (ERP) between 50 watts and 3 kilowatts and antenna heights above average terrain (HAAT) up to 328 ft. A second class of stations would be licensed on a secondary basis to regular FM stations to provide localized coverage (typically 5 miles or less) using ERP levels from 1 watt to 50 watts and a maximum HAAT of 150 feet. A third class of stations would be licensed on a secondary basis to all other stations for the purpose of providing special event coverage for up to 10 days using a maximum ERP of 20 watts and a maximum HAAT of 100 feet. Only commercial FM channels (i.e. channels 221-300) would be available for these new classes of service. Interference protection involving these proposed stations would be based on co-channel and 1st adjacent channel (+/- 200 kHz signal levels. No consideration would be given to 2nd adjacent (+/- 400 kHz) or 3rd adjacent (+/- 600 kHz) channel signals or to 10.6 MHz and 10.8 MHz inter-modulation frequencies. Ownership would be limited to entitles residing within 50 miles of a station and no licensee would be permitted to own more than 3 stations nationwide. Applications would be submitted during one-week filing windows and lotteries would be used to resolve mutually exclusive applications. (Note: Creation of a low power FM service was also the subject of RM-9208. See FCC Public Notice 2254, released February 5, 1998; Order Extending Time (DA 98-437 released march 5, 1998). An Acrobat version of the full text of this petition for Rule Making, RM-9208, is available through the mass media internet page (http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/) or can be downloaded directly from: http//www.fcc.gov/ Bureaus/Mass_Media/Filings/rm9208.pdf. - FCC -