Intelligence Briefs

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Thursday attended a hearing on the FY2019 funding request and budget justification for the FCC convened by the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Committee on Appropriations. As a benefit to all interested parties, RBR+TVBR is pleased to provide Pai's statement delivered to the subcommittee, in full.

Last week RBR+TVBR featured columnist Ken Benner traveled to Washington, D.C. and met with several members of Congress. The purpose of the trip: to lobby for retention of an agency the current administration may wish to do away with. It's important — one Think Tank Wonk who has an ear with another agency, the FCC, has already asked why the Commission should exist.

Do you know your strengths? If so, are you confident in them? Do you utilize your strengths in your business and relationships? These are some of the questions Media Information Bureau columnist Kelly Orchard addresses in her latest exclusive-to-RBR+TVBR column.

In July 2008, Natalie Swed Stone, U.S. Director of National Audio at OMD chatted with RBR+TVBR to discuss solutions-based issues and problems for the radio industry. Stone touched on such subjects as free ad-supported options for satellite radio, the PPM and networking HD Radio multicasts. One decade on, we revisit Stone's interview to see where the radio industry has gone, and if what was predicted and advised came to fruition today.

Is the public comment process broken? Does the way the Federal government presently seeks input from the public fail to weed out fraud? Yes, says Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who slams her agency for failing to work with state authorities that found their residents' identities were stolen and then used to file public comments on Net Neutrality. Here are her comments, delivered Wednesday at a liberal-leaning D.C. think tank.

With the first phase of the post-incentive auction repack rapidly approaching, licensees of full power and Class A television stations should be mindful of upcoming deadlines for notifications to multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), medical facilities, and viewers, Wiley Rein associate Ari Meltzer, partner John Burgett and of counsel Joan Stewart note in this report. 

The relationship between streamers and traditional TV is a close one, new details from Nielsen's Local Watch Report show. According to the report, traditional programming "shows impressive resilience in today's digital age." The big takeaway for broadcast TV companies: "Even the heaviest of streamers can't seem to shake broadcast viewing."

Don't mistake this column for a grumble session from our octogenarian Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) pioneer. Rather, he's come to praise the current Commission leadership, not bury it with a spoonful of grumbling goulash. 

What's a "deal killer"? How can you avoid them? To help best answer these questions, Garvey Schubert Barer communications attorney Erwin Krasnow and DEFCom Advisors CEO Doug Ferber created a new limited series of podcasts based on a 2017 Media Information Bureau column on this very subject. RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief is the host, and the guests are the operating partners of Community Broadcasters.

Mick Mulvaney, for those of you who don't follow Washington politics, is the current head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He's said a thing or two about lobbyists. Why should this matter to radio and/or TV station owners? This column from Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner explains it all. It could make your lawyers testy.

We've read about the #MeToo movement. But, did you know there's also a #SeeHer movement, led by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA)? The people behind #SeeHer teamed up with TiVo for a research study on ads that feature women. What does it find? Positive portrayals matter.

AM and FM station owners are giddy over the opportunities that smart speakers bring for increased listening in the home. Now, data from Edison Research's just-released "The Infinite Dial: Heavy Radio Listeners" finds that one in five of broadcast radio's biggest users already own such a device.

"Many agree that Facebook needs to make some changes," Bloomberg View columnist Michael Strain wrote in an April 20 column. Four days later, the digital and social media giant started to make some changes, at least on Capitol Hill. It put a former FCC head in a lead D.C. role. Will this make "fixing Facebook" any easier? What does that mean for radio and TV?

The following column from Media Information Bureau featured writer Ken Benner has been requested by at least three licensees over the past few weeks. Why? "This is apparently due to the recent requirement to place public files online." As a public service to broadcast radio and TV stations across the U.S., Benner is pleased to provide his "Handout Sheet No. 34." It could just save you hundreds of dollars in potential forfeitures, with checks made payable to the FCC.

Recording artists Brant Menswar and Jim Trick recently conducted a survey to determine the ways people want to make change in their lives and the biggest obstacles stopping them. The results are in, and they could help you as a manager while also aiding you in reaching your own personal achievement goals.