WASHINGTON—With spring comes the thawing of an FCC policy that had been in effect since 2014. The FCC’s Media Bureau has announced that starting on April 18, the filing freeze on displacement and digital companion channels for low power television and TV translators stations will be lifted.
In the public notice, the Media Bureau said that the freezes were initially put into place to preserve channels for the window for LPTV/translator stations displaced by the Incentive Auction to file displacement applications. Since the Special Displacement Window was completed on June 1, 2018, and the post-Window settlement opportunity on Jan. 10, 2019, the Media Bureau now deems it appropriate to life the filing freezes.
Interested parties may resume filing applications on a first-come, first-serve basis starting on April 18.
