Please note that it is advised to consult with a communications attorney and consulting engineer to verify your filings are all complete and meet all requirements, though people have done it in the past without such support. Additionally, the FCC sometimes freezes acceptance of such requests, though as of this writing in September 2023, it is accepting them at this time.

Adding a new allotment to the FCC's Table of TV Allotments (47 CFR 73.622(j)) is more straight-forward than it would appear, and is the first step toward the creation of a new full-service TV station. Most of the relevant rules are found elsewhere in 47 CFR 73.622, but will be summarized here.

First, your proposed allotment needs to meet the technical requirements. The proposed allotment must meet the distance separation requirements in 47 CFR 73.622(k) with respect to other nearby allotments. A TVStudy analysis should be done using placeholder parameters to show that it passes interference with respect to Class A stations. A contour analysis using those placeholder parameters should show that the principal community contour (47 CFR 73.618) encompasses the entirely of the proposed community of license of the allotment.

Note that while the allotment must meet distance separation requirement, stations themselves do not need to do so, so as long as a feasible allotment point exists, you can pick a different location for the allotment as long as it can be demonstrated that it meets the requirements above.

Second, you would need to file a “Petition for Rule-Making” with the FCC. Your filing should include the placeholder parameters used, an evaluation of the distance separation requirements, as well as documentation that the community of license is a “community” under the FCC's definition. (The author is an engineer, and can't immediately point to the rule about that.) You should also indicate that you are prepared to act to obtain the permit and, should you obtain it, construct the station. (For commercial stations, an auction is used to award a construction permit. For non-commercial stations, there's a “points system” used to determine who the winning applicant is.)

If the FCC agrees that you've met the criteria, it then issues a “Notice of Proposed Rule-Making” or “NPRM.” At this point, it is open for public comment, and then there's a period for additional comments replying to the initial comments. During the comment period, the commenter is expected to submit comments and reaffirm its interest in the new allotment, including the intention to compete to receive the permit and then construct the station.

Usually, these are not controversial. In that case, the FCC follows up with a “Report and Order” which then adds the allotment to the Table of TV Allotments. If by some chance there are objections, the FCC may seek more information or may rule based on what it has. In either case, it will decide in a Report and Order.

Once the allotment is added to the table, the FCC will eventually schedule a time to file. At that point, all the particulars of those procedures are put in FCC Public Notice documents.