FCC grants first digital TV permit.........
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FCC Grants First Commercial Digital TV Permit
****FCC Grants First Commercial Digital TV Permit 09/04/97 WASHINGTON, DC,
U.S.A., 1997 SEP 4 (NB) -- By Bill Pietrucha. The 50th state is about to become the first to
build a commercial digital television station. KHVO-TV Channel 13, KITV Argyle Television
Inc.'s Hilo, Hawaii station, was issued the first digital television (DTV) construction permit by
the US Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Mass Media Bureau only two days
after its receipt by the Bureau.
The DTV station will operate on Channel 18, which was awarded to KHVO-TV by the
Bureau in order to make the switch from analog to digital.
Although the FCC already has issued permits for stations to experiment with DTV, the
KHVO-TV permit moves the playing field to the commercial arena.
Granting the construction permit and the free second channel puts KHVO-TV "first off the
starting line," FCC Chairman Reed Hundt said.
"A swift build-out is critical to the successful launch of DTV," Hundt said, "and I applaud
KHVO for leading the way to make DTV an everyday reality.
Under the FCC's DTV rules, television stations owned or affiliated with the four major networks in the ten largest markets,
including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox channels, must start broadcasting digital in the next two years.
The construction permit application for DTV operation on Channel 18 covers technical specifications for DTV broadcasting.
Hundt said that under the Commission's "certification checklist" procedures, DTV construction permit applications are
expedited when the applicant answers "yes" to five questions. KITV Argyle Television, Inc. confirmed that its application
specifies a transmitter site within 5 kilometers of the site assumed in the DTV Table of Allotments created in the FCC's Report
and Order on DTV broadcasting issued April 21.
Argyle also confirmed that the DTV station's proposed effective radiated power (ERP) and antenna height will not exceed the
values in the DTV Table, and that the DTV station's proposed operation would comply with the Commission's radio
frequency (RF) radiation and environmental requirements. Argyle Television, Inc., also confirmed that it had a registered or a
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved tower site.
"The Mass Media Bureau promised to grant construction permit applications within days," Hundt said. "Today, it stands by
this promise by granting swiftly KHVO's application."
Noting that the grant comes within five months of the Commission's adoption of two Report and Orders outlining the
framework for DTV, Hundt said "this expeditious process will ensure that DTV build- out occurs as seamlessly as possible.
(19970904/Press Contact: Clay Pendarvis, FCC Mass Media Bureau, 202-418-1600. Reported by Newsbytes News
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