NOTE 1 TO § 73.3555: The words "cognizable interest" as used herein include any interest, direct or indirect, that allows a person or entity to own, operate or control, or that otherwise provides an attributable interest in, a broadcast station.
NOTE 2 TO § 73.3555: In applying the provisions of this section, ownership and other interests in broadcast licensees will be attributed to their holders and deemed cognizable pursuant to the following criteria:
NOTE 3 TO § 73.3555: In cases where record and beneficial ownership of voting stock is not identical (e.g., bank nominees holding stock as record owners for the benefit of mutual funds, brokerage houses holding stock in street names for the benefit of customers, investment advisors holding stock in their own names for the benefit of clients, and insurance companies holding stock), the party having the right to determine how the stock will be voted will be considered to own it for purposes of these rules.
NOTE 4 TO § 73.3555: Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section will not be applied so as to require divestiture, by any licensee, of existing facilities, and will not apply to applications for assignment of license or transfer of control filed in accordance with § 73.3540(f) or § 73.3541(b) , or to applications for assignment of license or transfer of control to heirs or legatees by will or intestacy, or to FM or AM broadcast minor modification applications for intra-market community of license changes, if no new or increased concentration of ownership would be created among commonly owned, operated or controlled broadcast stations. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section will apply to all applications for new stations, to all other applications for assignment or transfer, to all applications for major changes to existing stations, and to all other applications for minor changes to existing stations that seek a change in an FM or AM radio station's community of license or create new or increased concentration of ownership among commonly owned, operated or controlled broadcast stations. Commonly owned, operated or controlled broadcast stations that do not comply with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section may not be assigned or transferred to a single person, group or entity, except as provided in this Note, the Report and Order in Docket No. 02-277, released July 2, 2003 (FCC 02-127), or the Second Report and Order in MB Docket No. 14-50, FCC 16-107 (released August 25, 2016).
NOTE 5 TO § 73.3555: Paragraphs (b) and (e) of this section will not be applied to cases involving television stations that are "satellite" operations. Such cases will be considered in accordance with the analysis set forth in the Report and Order in MM Docket No. 87-8, FCC 91-182 (released July 8, 1991), as further explained by the Report and Order in MB Docket No. 18-63, FCC 19-17, (released March 12, 2019), in order to determine whether common ownership, operation, or control of the stations in question would be in the public interest. An authorized and operating "satellite" television station, the digital noise limited service contour of which overlaps that of a commonly owned, operated, or controlled "non-satellite" parent television broadcast station may subsequently become a "non-satellite" station under the circumstances described in the aforementioned Report and Order in MM Docket No. 87-8. However, such commonly owned, operated, or controlled "non-satellite" television stations may not be transferred or assigned to a single person, group, or entity except as provided in Note 4 of this section.
NOTE 6 TO § 73.3555: Requests submitted pursuant to paragraph (b)(2) of this section will be considered in accordance with the analysis set forth in the Order on Reconsideration in MB Docket Nos. 14-50, et al. (FCC 17-156).
NOTE 7 TO § 73.3555: The Commission will entertain applications to waive the restrictions in paragraph (b) of this section (the local television ownership rule) on a case-by-case basis. In each case, we will require a showing that the in-market buyer is the only entity ready, willing, and able to operate the station, that sale to an out-of-market applicant would result in an artificially depressed price, and that the waiver applicant does not already directly or indirectly own, operate, or control interest in two television stations within the relevant DMA. One way to satisfy these criteria would be to provide an affidavit from an independent broker affirming that active and serious efforts have been made to sell the permit, and that no reasonable offer from an entity outside the market has been received.
NOTE 8 TO § 73.3555: Paragraph (a)(1) of this section will not apply to an application for an AM station license in the 535-1605 kHz band where grant of such application will result in the overlap of 5 mV/m groundwave contours of the proposed station and that of another AM station in the 535-1605 kHz band that is commonly owned, operated or controlled if the applicant shows that a significant reduction in interference to adjacent or co-channel stations would accompany such common ownership. Such AM overlap cases will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine whether common ownership, operation or control of the stations in question would be in the public interest. Applicants in such cases must submit a contingent application of the major or minor facilities change needed to achieve the interference reduction along with the application which seeks to create the 5 mV/m overlap situation.
NOTE 9 TO § 73.3555: Paragraph (a)(1) of this section will not apply to an application for an AM station license in the 1605-1705 kHz band where grant of such application will result in the overlap of the 5 mV/m groundwave contours of the proposed station and that of another AM station in the 535-1605 kHz band that is commonly owned, operated or controlled.
NOTE 10 TO § 73.3555: Authority for joint ownership granted pursuant to Note 9 will expire at 3 a.m. local time on the fifth anniversary for the date of issuance of a construction permit for an AM radio station in the 1605-1705 kHz band.
NOTE 11 TO § 73.3555: An entity will not be permitted to directly or indirectly own, operate, or control two television stations in the same DMA through the execution of any agreement (or series of agreements) involving stations in the same DMA, or any individual or entity with a cognizable interest in such stations, in which a station (the "new affiliate") acquires the network affiliation of another station (the "previous affiliate"), if the change in network affiliations would result in the licensee of the new affiliate, or any individual or entity with a cognizable interest in the new affiliate, directly or indirectly owning, operating, or controlling two of the top-four rated television stations in the DMA at the time of the agreement. Parties should also refer to the Second Report and Order in MB Docket No. 14-50, FCC 16-107 (released August 25, 2016).
47 C.F.R. §73.3555