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                     Federal Communications Commission
                          Washington, D.C. 20554


                                May 5, 1998

                                                      Released: May 6, 1998


Mr. Michael Scott Clem
President, Trident Media and Broadcasting, Inc.
P.O. Box 391
West Frankfort, IL  62896-0391

Dear Mr. Clem:

This is with regard to your letter dated December 28, 1997, concerning applications for new broadcast
AM, FM, and television facilities.

On August 5, 1997, we dismissed without prejudice another petition for rulemaking that you
previously filed, which also concerned applications for new broadcast AM, FM, and television
facilities.  Letter, 13 FCC Rcd 4808 (1997).  You requested the Commission to amend its rules in
order to grant an absolute preference over any otherwise qualified broadcast applicant to first-time
applicants and/or to applicants with no broadcast or other media interests.  In dismissing the petition,
we noted that your proposal directly addressed an issue that was already the subject of a pending
rulemaking proceeding:  determining who would operate a new facility in the manner that would best
serve the public interest.  Id. at 4809, n. 2, citing Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in GC Docket No.
92-52, 7 FCC Rcd 2664 (1992), and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in GC Docket No. 92-52,
9 FCC Rcd 2821 (1994).

On December 28, 1997, you submitted the letter before us.  As before, you request the Commission to
amend its rules in order to grant an absolute preference over any otherwise qualified broadcast
applicant to first-time applicants and/or to applicants with no broadcast interests.  However, you now
suggest limiting application of this proposed rule to areas where there exists no more than one locally
owned broadcast station per service.  It would also apply to petitions for rulemaking to allot new FM
channels and the petitioners' subsequently filed applications for new facilities on such channels.

Your new petition for rulemaking is very similar to the petition that we recently dismissed.  Your
proposal directly addresses the same issue, which remains the subject of the pending rulemaking
proceeding.  We note that this proceeding has been incorporated into a new one that was initiated in
response to enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

Section 3002(a)(1) of the Balanced Budget Act amended Section 309(j) of the Communications Act of
1934, directing the Commission to resolve future mutually exclusive initial broadcast license
applications by competitive bidding.  On November 26, 1997, the Commission initiated a proceeding
to determine what auction procedures will best effectuate the statute.  Among other things, the
Commission requested comment on whether to adopt bidding credits or other measures to promote
diversification of ownership.  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in MM Docket No. 97-234, GC Docket
No. 92-52, and GEN Docket No. 90-264, 12 FCC Rcd 22363, 22401-02 (1997).  The subject matter of
these rulemaking proceedings substantially overlaps and are intertwined with issues raised by your
December 28, 1997 letter.  We believe such issues are best addressed in the context of those
proceedings.  You may wish to file comments in that proceeding, although we note that the time for
filing comments formally has passed.

Accordingly, pursuant to Section 1.401(e) of the Commission's Rules, the December 28, 1997 petition
for rulemaking IS DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.


          Sincerely,



          Charles W. Logan
          Chief, Policy and Rules Division
          Mass Media Bureau