$// MO&O, New ITFS (D-Chan, Amarillo, Texas) FCC 95-7 //$ $/ 74.913 Selection procedure for mutually exclusive ITFS applica /$ $/ 74.932 Eligibility and licensing requirements /$ $/ 74.931 Purpose and permissible service /$ $///FCC 95-7 1/17/95///$ ///newjob/// Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, DC 20554 FCC 95-7 In re Applications of ) ) NORTH AMERICAN CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL) File No. BPLIF-910401DE PROGRAMMING FOUNDATION, INC. ) Amarillo, Texas ) ) TEXAS STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE ) File No. BPLIF-910426DB Amarillo, Texas ) ) AMARILLO JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT ) File No. BPLIF-910722DC Amarillo, Texas ) ) For Construction Permit and License) in the Instructional Television ) Fixed Service on Channels D1-D4 ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: January 3, 1995 Released:January 20, 1995 By the Commission: 1. The Commission has before it for consideration the above-captioned mutually exclusive applications of North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. (NACEPF), Texas State Technical College (TSTC), and Amarillo Junior College District (Amarillo), each seeking a construction permit and license in the Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) on Channels D1-D4 in the area of Amarillo, Texas. BASIC ELIGIBILITY 2. Before applying the mutually exclusive selection procedure to determine the number of merit points to be awarded to each applicant, we must first ascertain the basic eligibility of the applicants. Educational institutions and governmental organizations that propose to serve either their own enrolled students or students at accredited schools within their respective jurisdictions establish their eligibility by accreditation from the appropriate state department of education or a recognized regional or national accrediting organization. Other ITFS applicants that propose to serve students at accredited schools outside of their respective jurisdictions must, to be eligible, submit letters of intended use from those schools and establish local program committees in those communities. See 47 C.F.R. Section 74.932(a)(1)-(5). All of the applicants are qualified to be ITFS licensees. Amarillo is a school district that is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and that is applying to provide ITFS service to students enrolled at schools within its jurisdiction. TSTC is a state vocational college that is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and that is applying to provide ITFS service to its own enrolled students at off-campus locations. While NACEPF is not itself local to the Amarillo area and is not itself accredited, the applicant has submitted the requisite letters of intended use from accredited schools that will use its service and has documented the establishment of a local programming committee in the community. MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE SELECTION PROCEDURE 3. In cases of mutually exclusive applications, where applicants are competing for the same or adjacent channels in the same geographic area, each application is reviewed pursuant to our comparative process. This procedure awards a maximum of twelve merit points based on five criteria deemed to be most relevant to predicting the applicant best qualified to provide the service for which the ITFS spectrum has been allocated. Instructional Television Fixed Service - Second Report and Order in MM Docket No. 83-523, (Second Report and Order), 101 FCC 2d 49, 65-72 (1985); 47 C.F.R. Section 74.913. First, four points are awarded to local applicants. Second, three points are awarded to applicants which are accredited schools, educational institutions or school boards and school districts applying within their jurisdictions. Third, two points are awarded to applicants whose requests would result in the acquisition by these applicants of four or fewer ITFS channels within the particular area. Fourth, either one or two points may be awarded to applicants for specified levels of proposed ITFS programming. Fifth, one point is awarded to applicants which are existing E or F Channel licensees seeking to relocate on another ITFS channel group, where such applicants show an established need for an expanded service that cannot be accommodated on their grandfathered E or F facilities. The tentative selectee is the applicant with the highest score. 4. Under this comparative selection process, the applicants are awarded points based on the following criteria: Localism. Amarillo is entitled to four points because it is a school district that proposes to serve the formal educational needs of students at schools located within its jurisdiction. TSTC is entitled to four points because it is a vocational college that proposes to serve the formal educational needs of its own enrolled students. NACEPF, a national organization based in Providence, Rhode Island, seeks to serve the Amarillo area. Because its headquarters is not located within the area it proposes to serve, NACEPF is not entitled to points for being a local applicant. Accreditation. Amarillo and TSTC are entitled to three points because they are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Although NACEPF proposes to serve accredited institutions, a factor which satisfies its basic eligibility, it is not an accredited entity in its own right in the area it proposes to serve, the factor necessary for earning merit points under the accreditation criterion. Therefore, NACEPF is not entitled to any points by this measure. See Instructional Television Fixed Service-Second and Report and Order Reconsidered in MM Docket No. 83-523, 59 RR 2d 1355, 1370 (1986); and Broken Arrow Public School District #3, 9 FCC Rcd 5783 (1994). Four-Channel Limitation. None of the applicants is the licensee of, or has filed applications for, additional ITFS channels in its proposed service area. Therefore, each applicant is entitled to two points for remaining within the four-channel limitation. Instructional Programming. ITFS applicants detail their formal educational and other ITFS programming proposals in both a program schedule and a program "grid." Where the amounts and types of programming proposed in the schedule and in the grid are inconsistent, we will consider as correct, for comparative purposes, the amount and type which result in the least number of points to the applicant, so long as the excess capacity lease permits that level of programming to be transmitted. See Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc., 7 FCC Rcd 5924 (1992). Amarillo's illustrative schedule propose an average of 75.27 hours of formal educational programming per channel per week, while its program grid proposes an average of 64.75 hours of such ITFS programming per channel per week. Using the lower of these two averages, Amarillo is entitled to two programming merit points. TSTC's illustrative schedule proposes an average of 38.75 hours of formal educational programming per channel pr week, while is program grid proposes an average of 41 hours of such ITFS programming per channel per week. Again, using the lower of the two averages, TSTC is entitled to one programming merit point. In its illustrative schedule and program grid, NACEPF proposes an average of 20 hours of formal educational ITFS programming per channel per week. Because the amount of programming proposed does not reach the threshold amount at which merit points are awarded, NACEPF is entitled to no programming merit points. E- and F- Channel Group Relocation. None of the applicants is the current licensee of an E or F channel seeking to relocate to other channels. Therefore, no applicant is entitled to one point for such applicants. Total. Amarillo is entitled to four points for being local, three points for being accredited, and two points for proposing at least 41 hours of formal educational programming per channel per week, for a total of eleven points. TSTC is entitled to four points for being local, three points for being accredited, two points for observing the four-channel limitation, and one point for proposing at least 21 hours of formal educational ITFS programming per channel per week, for a total of ten points. NACEPF is entitled to a total of two points for observing the four-channel limitation. Thus, the tentative selectee is Amarillo. OTHER MATTERS 5. Amarillo does not propose to lease its excess capacity for non-ITFS use. Rather, it intends to finance the construction and operation of its station by reliance upon a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). In January of 1993, Amarillo submitted a copy of its NTIA grant application. The certification of reliance on NTIA funding in response to Question 1(a) of Section III, FCC Form 330, and subsequent filing of an application for funds establish "reasonable assurance" of Amarillo's financial ability to construct and operate the proposed station. Accordingly, our concern will be directed to focusing on whether the grant relied upon actually has been made. See Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc., 7 FCC Rcd at 5926-27. 6. No petitions to deny or informal objections have been filed against Amarillo's application, and we find Amarillo fully qualified to be an ITFS licensee. We also conclude that grant of Amarillo's application would serve the public interest, convenience and necessity. 7. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, That the applications of Texas State Technical College (BPLIF-910426DB) and North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. (BPLIF- 910401DE) ARE DENIED, and the application of Amarillo Junior College District (BPLIF-910722DC) IS GRANTED, subject to the condition that in a reasonable time, the applicant shall submit to the Chief, Distribution Services Branch information demonstrating that it has received the proposed funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. 8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That the staff of the Mass Media Bureau shall send copies of this decision to the applicants by certified mail, return receipt requested. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION William F. Caton Acting Secretary