FIRST STEP: In order to determine exactly what frequencies are available in your area we must run a Frequency Search. This search will analyze the non-commercial educational FM frequencies, and tell us which ones are available for your use, and at what power of transmission. The search will be valid over a 30 mile radius from the point of origin you give us (city you wish to broadcast from). This will cover 2,827 square miles, and take approximately four weeks to prepare.
We analyzed the Frequency Search and send you a complete report with summary and maps. This will determine the best frequency for your purpose.
ACCUMULATED TIME: Up to Four Weeks
The new frequency has been found and must now be applied for. To do this, you must file an Application for Construction Permit, which is a highly detailed form describing you, and all the engineering work necessary to properly inform the Commission about your plans of location, and operation. The time it takes to complete the application is truly unknow… but typically you will have all the time needed to provide us with the information we will request from you.
We have to wait for the FCC to announce a “Filing Window.” These Filing Windows are specific periods the FCC will receive new applications. In the case of Full Power Non-Commercial Education FM’s (NCEFM) this has occurred in 2007 and 2021… and we had hundreds of clients that had to wait from 2008 to 2021. It was always unknown when the next filing window will be announced, even by the FCC staff we work with every day.
Sterling Communications, Inc. guarantees your application will be filed error free. The FCC has very stringent guidelines which must be adhered to, or else the application will be refused. Sterling does not guarantee that the FCC will award you the frequency. The FCC will base its award simply on the merits of the individual applicant.
ACCUMULATED TIME: UNKNOWN
If no one else files an Application for the same or adjacent frequency nearby, then you have no competition. You will then be awarded the Construction Permit, and receive it as the FCC processes all applications filed during the window. We keep our eyes on this for you.
You now have 36 months to build your facilities including a tower with antenna, and a broadcasting studio.
If someone else applies nearby and your applications are Mutually Exclusive (called MX’d) we have to work through this process, and it can take some time, and there is now way to guarantee you will be the sole winner, or able to remove yourself from the MX to receive a Construction Permit. There is a myriad of situations and we take each one a unique step at a time.
But, this can be accomplished in one of three ways, or a combination of these three.
COMPARATIVE POINTS – Essentially, this is a series of points established by the FCC, that compare all the applicants with each other. The application required for filing allows us to indicate these points for which you would be eligible.
The Comparative Points are a replacement to the older form of application review which required Comparative Hearings. These Hearings actually required the applicant to appear before FCC judges in a court setting with your attorney, competitors and their attorneys.
The points system allows the large amount of time and great expense of the applicant to be reduced dramatically compared to the old hearing system. The points system also has in place factors to determine the smallest details of the applications to minimize the chance of ties amongst applicants.
The major points are as follows:
1) Established Local Applicant
2) Diversity of Ownership
3) Technical Parameters
4)Tie breakers which include the number of Existing & Pending Authorizations.
MERGERS – Sometimes, competitors determine that it would be better to merge with the competition and settle for a percentage of ownership rather than wait for the Points processing, especially when a possible tie would result in a mandatory time sharing ruling by the FCC. The FCC encourages mergers which ultimately declare just one applicant for the frequency. This saves the FCC the extra work load of a Comparative Points Process. Once a merger has been completed, the applicant can expect to receive the CP in approximately 90 days. Legal expenses are often required by a merger to negotiate partnership.
BUY-OUT SETTLEMENT – Occasionally, one competitor will buy out the competition by offering to compensate the competitor if he will withdraw his application for the frequency. This is a perfectly acceptable method of reducing the number of applicants in the eyes of the FCC, because it again reduces the work load, and speeds up the time the station can be put on the air to serve the public good. Once a settlement has been reached and only one applicant remains, then the CP will be forthcoming.
NOTE: Over the past several years, Sterling Communications has assisted scores of individuals and organizations to enter the world of broadcasting through station ownership. Our experience has helped us to properly advise our clients when it was to their advantage to pursue one of the three methods mentioned for securing a Construction Permit. Once all Applications have been “Received” by the FCC, Sterling can assist our Clients in determining which direction they should choose in pursuing a frequency to keep the cost of legal expenses at a minimum by doing a “Points Analysis”. This Points Analysis will involve performing a frequency contour check, a site check, a population study, and a study of the entity with which we are competing by verifying their local residence status, other broadcast interest, and several other criteria upon which the FCC will judge an applicant on a Comparative Basis.
After proper review of all the applicants vying for a particular frequency, some of our clients choose to withdraw their application in exchange for compensation from the other applicants, and receive an amount over and above their expenses in applying for the frequency. At our suggestion, other clients choose to contend for the frequency and win it under the “Comparative Point Process.” Each application requires a different course of action, and Sterling is experienced enough to assist you in making the best and most economical choice.
Our track record of successful applicants since 1979 speaks for itself.