Sens Propose TV Station Relocation Fund

The National Association of Broadcasters is praising a bipartisan effort by a handful of senators to make sure there is enough money to cover the costs of TV station moves after the spectrum auction and that stations can't be forced to meet a moving deadline for reasons beyond their control. But it would also impose a "penalty" on stations that did not meet the deadlines of a phased transition absent those extenuating circumstances. There is currently a $1.75 billion relocation fund, which is looking larger every time the Federal Communications Commission reduces the amount of spectrum it is reclaiming from broadcasters in the auction and thus increases the space in which to repack stations—the FCC is now in its third reduction.

But in case that does not prove sufficient, Sens Jerry Moran (R-KS), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have drafted a bill, the Viewer Protection Act of 2016, that would create a Viewer Protection Fund. Rep Frank Pallone (D-NJ) proposed a similar discussion draft last January, putting a figure of $1 billion on the fund. The senators did not have a figure in mind, at least not in the draft NAB supplied, but simply such sums as "are necessary to provide reimbursements for relocation costs to 1 or more broadcast television licensees" if the initial funds are exhausted.