§ 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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