Television Broadcasting Services Savannah, Georgia

Issuing agencies

Abstract

This document proposes to amend the Table of TV Allotments (Table) of the Federal Communications Commission's (Commission) rules in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission (Georgia Public Broadcasting or Petitioner), the licensee of noncommercial educational television station WVAN-TV (WVAN-TV or Station), Savannah, Georgia (Savannah). The Petitioner requests the substitution of UHF channel *18 in place of its current VHF channel *8 at Savannah in the Table, with the technical parameters specified in the Petition. In support of its channel substitution request, the Petitioner asserts that allowing the Station to move to a UHF channel would serve the public interest by improving the community's access to WVAN-TV's locally produced programs. The Petitioner observes that the Commission has recognized that VHF channels have certain characteristics that have posed challenges for their use in providing digital television service, including propagation characteristics allowing undesired signals and noise to be receivable at relatively farther distances. Additionally, the Petitioner notes that the Commission has observed large variability in the performance of indoor antennas available to consumers, with most antennas receiving fairly well at UHF and the substantial majority not so well to very poor at high-VHF. An engineering statement provided by the Petitioner confirms that the proposed channel *18 contour would provide full principal community coverage to Savannah and that the proposed channel substitution contour would not cause impermissible interference to any other licensed facilities. When taking into account the ability of viewers to obtain PBS programming from other nearby stations, the proposed channel substitution would not cause any loss of service.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 188 (Wednesday, September 30, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 30, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61818-61819]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-20038]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 73

[MB Docket No. 26-266; RM-12027; DA 26-1018; FR ID 369623]


Television Broadcasting Services Savannah, Georgia

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the Table of TV Allotments 
(Table) of the Federal Communications Commission's (Commission) rules 
in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by Georgia Public 
Telecommunications Commission (Georgia Public Broadcasting or 
Petitioner), the licensee of noncommercial educational television 
station WVAN-TV (WVAN-TV or Station), Savannah, Georgia (Savannah). The 
Petitioner requests the substitution of UHF channel *18 in place of its 
current VHF channel *8 at Savannah in the Table, with the technical 
parameters specified in the Petition. In support of its channel 
substitution request, the Petitioner asserts that allowing the Station 
to move to a UHF channel would serve the public interest by improving 
the community's access to WVAN-TV's locally produced programs. The 
Petitioner observes that the Commission has recognized that VHF 
channels have certain characteristics that have posed challenges for 
their use in providing digital television service, including 
propagation characteristics allowing undesired signals and noise to be 
receivable at relatively farther distances. Additionally, the 
Petitioner notes that the Commission has observed large variability in 
the performance of indoor antennas available to consumers, with most 
antennas receiving fairly well at UHF and the substantial majority not 
so well to very poor at high-VHF. An engineering statement provided by 
the Petitioner confirms that the proposed channel *18 contour would 
provide full principal community coverage to Savannah and that the 
proposed channel substitution contour would not cause impermissible 
interference to any

[[Page 61819]]

other licensed facilities. When taking into account the ability of 
viewers to obtain PBS programming from other nearby stations, the 
proposed channel substitution would not cause any loss of service.

DATES: Comments must be filed on or before October 30, 2026 and reply 
comments on or before November 16, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. In addition to filing comments 
with the FCC, interested parties should serve counsel for the 
Petitioner as follows: Derek Teslik, Gray Miller Persh LLP, 2233 
Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 226, Washington, DC 20007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Harrison at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8acfe7e3e6f3a4c2ebf8f8e3f9e5e4caece9e9a4ede5fc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="31745c585d481f7950434358425e5f715752521f565e47">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>, (202) 418-1665 or Mark Colombo at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6825091a03462b070407050a07280e0b0b460f071e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="88c5e9fae3a6cbe7e4e7e5eae7c8eeebeba6efe7fe">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>, (202) 418-7611.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MB Docket No. 26-266; RM-12027; DA 26-
1018, adopted September 22, 2026, and released September 22, 2026. The 
full text of this document is available online at <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/edocs">https://www.fcc.gov/edocs</a>.
    This document does not contain information collection requirements 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. In 
addition, therefore, it does not contain any proposed information 
collection burden ``for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees,'' pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 
2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4). Provisions of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, do not apply to 
this proceeding.
    Members of the public should note that all ex parte contacts are 
prohibited from the time a notice of proposed rulemaking is issued to 
the time the matter is no longer subject to Commission consideration or 
court review, see 47 CFR 1.1208. There are, however, exceptions to this 
prohibition, which can be found in Sec.  1.1204(a) of the Commission's 
rules, 47 CFR 1.1204(a).
    See Sec. Sec.  1.415 and 1.420 of the Commission's rules for 
information regarding the proper filing procedures for comments, 47 CFR 
1.415 and 1.420.
    Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act: The Providing 
Accountability Through Transparency Act, Public Law 118-9, requires 
each agency, in providing notice of a rulemaking, to post online a 
brief plain-language summary of the proposed rule. The required summary 
of this notice of proposed rulemaking is available at <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/proposed-rulemakings">https://www.fcc.gov/proposed-rulemakings</a>.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73

    Television.

    Federal Communications Commission.
Thomas Horan,
Chief of Staff, Media Bureau.

Proposed Rule

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR part 73 as follows:

PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES

0
1. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303, 307, 309, 310, 334, 
336, 339.

0
2. In Sec.  73.622, in the table in paragraph (j), under Georgia, 
revise the entry for ``Savannah'' to read as follows:


Sec.  73.622  Digital television table of allotments.

* * * * *
    (j) * * *

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               Community                           Channel No.
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                                * * * * *
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                                 Georgia
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                                * * * * *
Savannah..............................  16, *18, 22, 23.
 
                                * * * * *
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* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2026-20038 Filed 9-29-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P


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