Reexamination of the Comparative Standards for Noncommercial Educational Applicants

In this document, the Commission addresses eight petitions for reconsideration of the Second Report & Order, in the closed "mixed groups" proceeding. The "mixed groups" proceeding sought to establish rules for resolving the situation when an application for an NCE broadcast station is mutually exclusive with an application for a commercial broadcast station. The Second Report & Order decided to accept applications for NCE stations on non-reserved channels in "closed, mixed groups," but to dismiss those applications if they are mutually exclusive with applications for commercial stations. This document now affords a discrete group of pending applicants for NCE stations on non-reserved channels in closed, mixed groups that have been pending since the date of the Second Report & Order, a one-time opportunity to amend their applications to apply for a commercial broadcast station in order to avoid dismissal of their applications. This document reaffirms the other decisions in the Second Report & Order.