FCC Warns TV Stations to Launch DTV Operations:

[Gregg Lengling]

The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday that it is warning NBC-owned WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I., and six other commercial television stations that they could lose their digital TV construction permits if they don't launch DTV operations soon. Under the FCC's DTV transition regulations, all of the nation's commercial TV stations were supposed to have begun DTV operations no later than May 1, 2002. But many, citing a variety of difficulties, have received deadline extensions from the agency.

In a statement Thursday morning, the FCC announced that it will not grant WJAR and six other stations additional reprieve, giving them notice of the fact in official letters of admonishment. The other stations are Emmis Communications' WVUE-TV in New Orleans; Northwest Broadcasting's WICZ-TV in Binghampton, N.Y., and KMVU-TV in Medford, Ore.; Granite Broadcasting's WKBW-TV in Buffalo, N.Y.; and Puerto Rico stations WSJU-TV, San Juan, and WDWL-TV, Bayamon.

Ken Ferree, FCC media bureau chief, told reporters that any of the stations that haven't launched DTV operations within six months will face fines. Stations that haven't started their DTV operations within a year could lose their permits to construct DTV stations, he said. "Admonishment is a serious thing," Mr. Ferree said. The FCC also said that it granted six-month deadline extensions to 104 commercial DTV stations on grounds that their requests were "warranted and [that] they showed progress on construction of their facilities since the grant of their last extension." The FCC also said that 1,061, or 81 percent of all commercial stations, are currently on the air with a DTV signal.