The FCC last week approved final rules for a new class of digital television translator service that is designed to help broadcasters “fill in” those areas within their service area that lose reception after the digital transition. The FCC first proposed the translator service late last year. It will offer broadcasters another option to ensure blanket coverage of their digital signal. The translator Report and Order comes on the heels of the FCC’s approval of another service, the Distributed Transmission System (DTS) service, which allows broadcasters to use multiple synchronized towers to provide digital television.

According to the Order, the new translator service will be available only to full-power television broadcasters and will be a part of the station’s license. The translators are not transferable separate from the station’s license. At the urging of NAB and the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), broadcasters will have three years, instead of the initially proposed six months, to complete construction of a translator. The translators will be allowed to operate only in digital and only on channels 2-51. Also at the urging of NAB and MSTV, the translators will not be assigned their own call letters, but instead will pass through the signal information from the main broadcast tower.

Read the entire Report and Order here.