Sec. 1.248  Prehearing conferences; hearing conferences.

    (a) The Commission, on its own initiative or at the request of any 
party, may direct the parties or their attorneys to appear at a 
specified time and place for a conference prior to a hearing, or to 
submit suggestions in writing, for the purpose of considering, among 
other things, the matters set forth in paragraph (c) of this section. 
The initial prehearing conference shall

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be scheduled 30 days after the effective date of the order designating a 
case for hearing, unless good cause is shown for scheduling such 
conference at a later date.
    (b)(1) The presiding officer (or the Commission or a panel of 
commissioners in a case over which it presides), on his own initiative 
or at the request of any party, may direct the parties or their 
attorneys to appear at a specified time and place for a conference prior 
to or during the course of a hearing, or to submit suggestions in 
writing, for the purpose of considering any of the matters set forth in 
paragraph (c) of this section. The initial prehearing conference shall 
be scheduled 30 days after the effective date of the order designating a 
case for hearing, unless good cause is shown for scheduling such 
conference at a later date.
    (2) Except as circumstances otherwise require, the presiding officer 
shall allow a reasonable period prior to commencement of the hearing for 
the orderly completion of all prehearing procedures, including 
discovery, and for the submission and disposition of all prehearing 
motions. Where the circumstances so warrant, the presiding officer 
shall, promptly after the hearing is ordered, call a preliminary 
prehearing conference, to inquire into the use of available procedures 
contemplated by the parties and the time required for their completion, 
to formulate a schedule for their completion, and to set a date for 
commencement of the hearing.
    (c) In conferences held, or in suggestions submitted, pursuant to 
paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the following matters, among 
others, may be considered:
    (1) The necessity or desirability of simplification, clarification, 
amplification, or limitation of the issues;
    (2) The admission of facts and of the genuineness of documents (see 
Sec. 1.246), and the possibility of stipulating with respect to facts;
    (3) The procedure at the hearing;
    (4) The limitation of the number of witnesses;
    (5) In cases arising under Title II of the Communications Act, the 
necessity or desirability of amending the pleadings and offers of 
settlement or proposals of adjustment; and
    (6) In cases involving comparative broadcast applications:
    (i) Narrowing the issues or the areas of inquiry and proof at the 
hearing;
    (ii) [Reserved]
    (iii) Reports and letters relating to surveys or contacts;
    (iv) Assumptions regarding the availability of equipment;
    (v) Network programming;
    (vi) Assumptions regarding the availability of networks proposed;
    (vii) Offers of letters in general;
    (viii) The method of handling evidence relating to the past 
cooperation of existing stations owned and/or operated by the applicants 
with organizations in the area;
    (ix) Proof of contracts, agreements, or understandings reduced to 
writing;
    (x) Stipulations;
    (xi) Need for depositions;
    (xii) The numbering of exhibits;
    (xiii) The order or offer of proof with relationship to docket 
number;
    (xiv) The date for the formal hearing; and
    (xv) Such other matters as may expedite the conduct of the hearing.
    (7) In proceedings in which consent agreements may be negotiated 
(see Sec. 1.93), the parties shall be prepared to state at the initial 
prehearing conference whether they are at that time willing to enter 
negotiations leading to a consent agreement.
    (d) This paragraph applies to broadcast proceedings only.
    (1) At the prehearing conference prescribed by this section, the 
parties to the proceeding shall be prepared to discuss the advisability 
of reducing any or all phases of their affirmative direct cases to 
written form.
    (2) In hearings involving applications for new, improved and changed 
facilities and in comparative hearings involving only applications for 
new facilities, where it appears that it will contribute significantly 
to the disposition of the proceeding for the parties to submit all or 
any portion of their affirmative direct cases in writing, the presiding 
officer may, in his discretion, require them to do so.
    (3) In other broadcast proceedings, where it appears that it will 
contribute

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significantly to the disposition of the proceeding for the parties to 
submit all or any portion of their affirmative direct cases in writing, 
it is the policy of the Commission to encourage them to do so. However, 
the phase or phases of the proceeding to be submitted in writing, the 
dates for the exchange of the written material, and other limitations 
upon the effect of adopting the written case procedure (such as whether 
material ruled out as incompetent may be restored by other competent 
testimony) is to be left to agreement of the parties as approved by the 
presiding officer.
    (4) In broadcast comparative cases involving applicants for only new 
facilities, oral testimony and cross examination will be permitted only 
where, in the discretion of the presiding judge, material issues of 
decisional fact cannot be resolved without oral evidentiary hearing 
procedures or the public interest otherwise requires oral evidentiary 
proceedings.
    (e) An official transcript of all conferences shall be made.
    (f) The presiding officer may, upon the written request of a party 
or parties, approve the use of a speakerphone as a means of attendance 
at a prehearing conference if such use is found to conduce to the proper 
dispatch of business and the ends of justice.
[ 28 FR 12425 , Nov. 22, 1963, as amended at  33 FR 463 , Jan. 12, 1968;  36 FR 14133 , July 30, 1971;  37 FR 7507 , Apr. 15, 1972;  41 FR 14873 , Apr. 8, 
1976;  43 FR 33251 , July 31, 1978;  56 FR 793 , Jan. 9, 1991]