§ 73.1201   Station identification.

   (a) When regularly required. Broadcast station identification announcements
   shall be made:

   (1) At the beginning and ending of each time of operation, and

   (2) Hourly, as close to the hour as feasible, at a natural break in program
   offerings. Television and Class A television broadcast stations may make
   these announcements visually or aurally.

   (b)  Content. (1) Official station identification shall consist of the
   station's call letters immediately followed by the community or communities
   specified in its license as the station's location; Provided, That the name
   of the licensee, the station's frequency, the station's channel number, as
   stated on the station's license, and/or the station's network affiliation
   may be inserted between the call letters and station location. DTV stations,
   or DAB Stations, choosing to include the station's channel number in the
   station identification must use the station's major channel number and may
   distinguish multicast program streams. For example, a DTV station with major
   channel number 26 may use 26.1 to identify an HDTV program service and 26.2
   to identify an SDTV program service. A DTV station that is devoting one of
   its multicast streams to transmit the programming of another television
   licensee must identify itself and may also identify the licensee that it is
   transmitting. If a DTV station in this situation chooses to identify the
   station that is the source of the programming it is transmitting, it must
   use the following format: Station WYYY-DT, community of license (call sign
   and  community  of  license  of  the station whose multicast stream is
   transmitting the programming), bringing you WXXX, community of license (call
   sign and community of license of the licensee providing the programming).
   The  transmitting  station may insert between its call letters and its
   community  of  license the following information: the frequency of the
   transmitting station, the channel number of the transmitting station, the
   name of the licensee of the transmitting station and the licensee providing
   the programming, and/or the name of the network of either station. Where a
   multicast station is carrying the programming of another station and is
   identifying that station as the source of the programming, using the format
   described above, the identification may not include the frequency or channel
   number of the program source. A radio station operating in DAB hybrid mode
   or extended hybrid mode shall identify its digital signal, including any
   free multicast audio programming streams, in a manner that appropriately
   alerts its audience to the fact that it is listening to a digital audio
   broadcast. No other insertion between the station's call letters and the
   community or communities specified in its license is permissible.

   (2) A station may include in its official station identification the name of
   any additional community or communities, but the community to which the
   station is licensed must be named first.

   (c) Channel—(1) General. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, in
   making the identification announcement the call letters shall be given only
   on  the  channel,  or  channels  in  the case of a broadcaster that is
   multicasting more than a single channel, identified thereby.

   (2) Simultaneous AM (535-1605 kHz) and AM (1605-1705 kHz broadcasts. If the
   same licensee operates an AM broadcast station in the 535-1605 kHz band and
   an  AM  broadcast station in the 1605-1705 kHz band with both stations
   licensed  to the same community and simultaneously broadcasts the same
   programs over the facilities of both such stations, station identification
   announcements may be made jointly for both stations for periods of such
   simultaneous operations.

   (3)  Satellite  operation.  When programming of a broadcast station is
   rebroadcast simultaneously over the facilities of a satellite station, the
   originating station may make identification announcements for the satellite
   station for periods of such simultaneous operation.

   (i) In the case of a television broadcast station, such announcements, in
   addition to the information required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section,
   shall include the number of the channel on which each station is operating.

   (ii)  In  the case of aural broadcast stations, such announcements, in
   addition to the information required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section,
   shall include the frequency on which each station is operating.

   (d) Subscription television stations (STV). The requirements for official
   station identification applicable to TV stations will apply to Subscription
   TV  stations  except,  during  STV-encoded  programming  such  station
   identification  is  not  required.  However,  a station identification
   announcement will be made immediately prior to and following the encoded
   Subscription TV program period.

   [ 34 FR 19762 , Dec. 17, 1969, as amended at  37 FR 23726 , Nov. 8, 1972;  39 FR 6707 , Feb. 22, 1974;  39 FR 9442 , Mar. 11, 1974;  41 FR 29394 , July 16, 1976;
    47 FR 3791 , Jan. 27, 1982;  48 FR 51308 , Nov. 8, 1983;  56 FR 64872 , Dec. 12,
   1991;  65 FR 30003 , May 10, 2000;  69 FR 59535 , Oct. 4, 2004;  72 FR 45693 ,
   Aug. 15, 2007;  73 FR 5684 , Jan. 30, 2008;  76 FR 71269 , Nov. 17, 2011]

   Effective Date Note: At  73 FR 5684 , Jan. 30, 2008, § 73.1201 was amended by
   revising paragraph (b)(1). This paragraph contains information collection
   and recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective until approval
   has been given by the Office of Management and Budget.

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