[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 144 (Friday, July 28, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48784-48785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16040]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 73

[MB Docket No. 23-244; RM-11955; DA 23-622; FR ID 157779]


Television Broadcasting Services Knoxville, Tennessee

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed 
by Tennessee TV, LLC (Petitioner), the licensee of WKNX-TV, channel 7, 
Knoxville, Tennessee. The Petitioner requests the substitution of 
channel 21 for channel 7 at Knoxville in the Table of Allotments.

DATES: Comments must be filed on or before August 28, 2023 and reply 
comments on or before September 11, 2023.

[[Page 48785]]


ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. In addition to filing comments 
with the FCC, interested parties should serve counsel for the 
Petitioner as follows: Coe W. Ramsey, Esq., Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, 
Humphrey and Leonard, L.L.P, Wells Fargo Capitol Center, Suite 1700, 
Raleigh, NC 27601.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at 
(202) 418-1647; or Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In support, the Petitioner states that WKNX-
TV's proposed channel substitution would serve the public interest by 
resolving current reception challenges within the Station's existing 
service area. Viewers within the Station's currently authorized channel 
7 service area have experienced difficulty receiving the Station's 
signal, particularly since the June 12, 2009 digital transition. 
Petitioner further states that the Commission has recognized that VHF 
channels pose challenges for their use in providing digital television 
service, including propagation characteristics that allow undesired 
signals and noise to be receivable at relatively far distances and 
large variability in the performance of indoor antennas available to 
viewers, with most antennas performing very poorly on high VHF 
channels. The Petitioner's engineering analysis shows that the 50,322 
persons currently located in the loss area along the eastern, southern, 
and western fringes of the proposed channel 21 facility would continue 
to be within the noise limited contour of least five other full power 
or Class A television stations, including four other Knoxville 
television stations.
    This is a synopsis of the Commission's Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, MB Docket No. 23-244; RM-11955; DA 23-622, adopted July 20, 
2023, and released July 20, 2023. The full text of this document is 
available for download at https://www.fcc.gov/edocs. To request 
materials in accessible formats (braille, large print, computer 
diskettes, or audio recordings), please send an email to [email protected] 
or call the Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 
(VOICE), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
    This document does not contain information collection requirements 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. In 
addition, therefore, it does not contain any proposed information 
collection burden ``for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees,'' pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 
2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4). Provisions of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, do not apply to 
this proceeding.
    Members of the public should note that all ex parte contacts are 
prohibited from the time a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is issued to 
the time the matter is no longer subject to Commission consideration or 
court review, see 47 CFR 1.1208. There are, however, exceptions to this 
prohibition, which can be found in Section 1.1204(a) of the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.1204(a).
    See Sections 1.415 and 1.420 of the Commission's rules for 
information regarding the proper filing procedures for comments, 47 CFR 
1.415 and 1.420.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73

    Television.

Federal Communications Commission.
Thomas Horan,
Chief of Staff, Media Bureau.

Proposed Rule

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR part 73 as follows:

PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICE

0
1. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303, 307, 309, 310, 334, 
336, 339.

0
2. In Sec.  73.622, in the table in paragraph (j), under Tennessee, 
revise the entry for Knoxville to read as follows:


Sec.  73.622  Digital television table of allotments.

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    (j) * * *

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                 Community                           Channel No.
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                                * * * * *
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                                Tennessee
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                                * * * * *
Knoxville.................................  10, 15, 21, 26, * 29, 34.
 
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[FR Doc. 2023-16040 Filed 7-27-23; 8:45 am]
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