Television Broadcasting Services; Anchorage, Alaska

The Commission grants the request by Gray Television License, LLC (Gray) to substitute channel 7 for channel 5 for station KYES-TV, Anchorage, Alaska. Gray filed comments reaffirming its interest in the proposed channel substitution and stating that if the proposal is granted, it will promptly file an application for the facilities specified in the rulemaking petition and construct the station. As Gray explained in its petition, the antenna currently used by KYES-TV is a repurposed analog antenna the previous station owner built which provides an inefficient signal. In addition, the current remote transmission site does not have a generator and KYES-TV goes silent when there is a power outage. By moving to sister station KTUU's location, and operating with an existing modern broadband antenna on a high-VHF channel, the station will be able to deliver an improved signal. Gray will also add the KYES-TV signal to the translator network used by KTUU, which will reduce most of the loss of service that would result from the proposed move, which will serve the public interest.