Use of multiplex transmission.

§ 73.127 Use of multiplex transmission. The licensee of an AM broadcast station may use its AM carrier to transmit signals not audible on ordinary consumer receivers, for both broadcast and non-broadcast purposes subject to the following requirements: (a) Such use does not disrupt or degrade the station's own programs or the programs of other broadcast stations. (b) AM carrier services that are common carrier in nature are subject to common carrier regulation. Licensees operating such services are required to apply to the FCC for the appropriate authorization and to comply with all policies and rules applicable to the service. Responsibility for making the initial determinations of whether a particular activity is common carriage rests with the AM station licensee. Initial determinations by licensees are subject to FCC examination and may be reviewed at the FCC's discretion. AM carrier services that are private carrier in nature must notify the Licensing Division of the Private Radio Bureau at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325, by letter, prior to initiating service certifying compliance with 47 CFR parts 90 and 94. (c) AM carrier services are of a secondary nature under the authority of the AM station authorization, and the authority to provide such communications services may not be retained or transferred in any manner separate from the station's authorization. The grant or renewal of an AM station permit or license is not furthered or promoted by proposed or past service. The permittee or licensee must establish that the broadcast operation is in the public interest wholly apart from the subsidiary communications services provided. (d) The station identification, delayed recording, and sponsor identification announcements required by §§ 73.1201, 73.1208, and 73.1212 are not applicable to leased communications services transmitted via services that are not of a general broadcast program nature. (e) The licensee or permittee must retain control over all material transmitted in a broadcast mode via the station's facilities, with the right to reject any material that it deems inappropriate or undesirable. (f) Installation of the multiplex transmitting equipment must conform with the requirements of § 73.1690(e). [47 FR 25345, June 11, 1982, as amended at 49 FR 34015, Aug. 28, 1984; 51 FR 41629, Nov. 18, 1986; 51 FR 44478, Dec. 10, 1986]