Re: Question

["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@world.std.com>]

At 07:11 PM 3/9/00 -0500, lglavin@lycosmail.com wrote:


>I went to the 'Actions' and 'Applications' page on
>Elliot to catch up on changes already happening
>or looming.  I have one question:
>what do they mean by the phrase "License to Cover"?
>I will be filled with immeasurable dollops of
>gratitude for the answer.

Other people around here can probably answer this better than I can, but 
since no one has done so yet, I'll try.  For a new station, or any other 
facilities change, the FCC first issues a construction permit.  When the 
construction is done, and things are working, they then issue a licence to 
cover the construction permit.  In other words, a license to operate under 
the facility that was constructed pursuant to the construction permit.

A CP apparently confers some authority to broadcast "program tests," which 
at least sometimes seems to be indistinguishable from regular 
programming.  But sometimes, for one reason or another, the license is 
denied and the station must go off the air.  This apparently happened to a 
station in Albany, N.Y. in the 1950s, in what seems to be a classic case 
that has been discussed around here from time to time.


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  A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                                     617.367.0468
  15 Court Square                              lawyer@world.std.com
  Boston, MA 02108-2503      http://world.std.com/~lawyer/
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