In a previous blog, I wrote about ZoneCast and Geotargeting in radio. Now the Federal Communications Commission has laid out some rules that would go along with this new technology. In the draft of its Second Report and Order on Reconsideration, the FCC lets the broadcasters know the rules when using geotargeting technology.
First off, stations would have to provide a quarterly public service certification all geotargeting stations will have to submit. Along with this, they need to release protocols they have in place that will show how they plan to predict and avoid potential interference with boosters. All this has to be done even before construction of the booster.
The licenses have to let the commission know their plans with the boosters no less than 15 days before the boosters are implemented.
Earlier this year, the Commission approved a temporary system to test the use of boosters. Since this, several groups have applied for booster construction permits.
As of now, the FCC has not endorsed any tech using geotargeting. The rules stated in the second draft would apply to ANY technology using this, including ZoneCasting.
There are a limited amount of booster applications and the FCC plans on going forth with these apps on a first come, first served basis. The Media Bureau needs to create a form that would be filled out with this information from the broadcaster. From my blog about the FCC rules under Trump’s presidency, we know the president of the Media Bureau will likely change in the next few months, so this form could take some time to create.
NPR and NAB have both stated they would to see a synchronization requirement for an added safeguard. The worry is they system could create interference between the primary station and the booster. GBS has stated this will not happen, however, the FCC isn’t completely sure that’s the case.
Another major concern comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Their thoughts are geotargeting could allow a 3 minute period every hour where listeners in a booster’s area would not be able to receive an emergency message from the original station. The FCC countered with, “We concluded that program origination would not cause harmful interference to EAS, primarily because GBS’ tests demonstrated that stations can be engineered to allow the EAS signal to override programming from both the primary station and program originating booster.”
There is a cap of 25 boosters per original station. This allows quite a few zones for that broadcaster to reach.
These rules are just a tip of the iceberg, and the entire draft can be read HERE.
If this goes through at the end of the month, the rules will take effect 30 days after the publication of the summary.