§  73.7005   Maintenance of comparative qualifications.

   (a) Assignments/Transfers. NCE stations awarded by use of the point
   system in § 73.7003 shall be subject to a holding period. From the grant
   of the construction permit and continuing until the facility has
   achieved four years of on-air operations, an applicant proposing to
   assign or transfer the construction permit/license to another party
   will be required to demonstrate the following two factors: that the
   proposed buyer would qualify for the same number of or greater points
   as the assignor or transferor originally received; and that
   consideration received and/or promised does not exceed the assignor's
   or transferor's legitimate and prudent expenses. For purposes of this
   section, legitimate and prudent expenses are those expenses reasonably
   incurred by the assignor or transferor in obtaining and constructing
   the station (e.g., expenses in preparing an application, in obtaining
   and installing broadcast equipment to be assigned or transferred,
   etc.). Costs incurred in operating the station are not recoverable
   (e.g., rent, salaries, utilities, music licensing fees, etc.). Any
   successive applicants proposing to assign or transfer the construction
   permit/license prior to the end of the aforementioned holding period
   will be required to make the same demonstrations.

   (b) Technical. In accordance with the provisions of § 73.7002, for a
   period of four years of on-air operations, an NCE FM applicant
   receiving a decisive preference for fair distribution of service is
   required to construct and operate technical facilities substantially as
   proposed. During this period, such applicant may make minor
   modifications to its authorized facilities, provided that either:

   (1) The modification does not downgrade service to the area on which
   the preference was based; or

   (2) Any potential loss of first and second NCE service is offset by at
   least equal first and, separately, combined first and second NCE
   service population gain(s).

   (c) Point system criteria. Any applicant selected based on the point
   system (§ 73.7003) must maintain the characteristics for which it
   received points for a period of time commencing with the grant of the
   construction permit and continuing until the station has achieved at
   least four years of on-air operations. During this time, any applicant
   receiving points for diversity of ownership (§ 73.7003(b)(2)) and
   selected through the point system, is prohibited from:

   (1) Acquiring any commercial or noncommercial AM, FM, or non-fill-in FM
   translator station which would overlap the principal community (city
   grade) contour of its NCE FM station received through the award of
   diversity points;

   (2) Acquiring any UHF, VHF, or Class A television station which would
   overlap the principal community (city grade) contour of its NCE
   television station received through the award of diversity points;

   (3) Proposing any modification to its NCE FM station received through
   the award of diversity points which would create overlap of the
   principal community (city grade) contour of such station with any
   attributable authorized commercial or noncommercial AM, FM, or
   non-fill-in FM translator station;

   (4) Proposing any modification to its NCE television station received
   through the award of diversity points which would create overlap of the
   principal community (city grade) contour of such station with any
   attributable authorized UHF, VHF, or Class A television station;

   (5) Proposing modifications to any attributable commercial or
   noncommercial AM, FM, or non-fill-in FM translator station which would
   create overlap with the principal community (city grade) contour of its
   NCE FM station received through the award of diversity points; and

   (6) Proposing modifications to any attributable UHF, VHF, or Class A
   television station which would create overlap with the principal
   community (city grade) contour of its NCE television station received
   through the award of diversity points. This restriction applies to the
   applicant itself, any parties to the application, and any party that
   acquires an attributable interest in the permittee or licensee during
   this time period.

   (d) Non-comparative permits. The holding period in this section does
   not apply to construction permits that are awarded on a non-comparative
   basis, such as those awarded to non-mutually exclusive applicants or
   through settlement.

   [ 65 FR 36380 , June 8, 2000, as amended at  85 FR 7891 , Feb. 12, 2020]

   

Subpart L—Incorporated Standards

   Source:  76 FR 62642 , Oct. 11, 2011, unless otherwise noted.