Washington Beat

The FCC's Media Bureau and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau have singled out all of the proposals in the Commission's recent seven-day FM translator application window that are mutually exclusive with other proposals, and moved forward with "a limited period" for those applicants to enter into settlement agreements — or otherwise resolve their mutual exclusivities by means of engineering solutions.

Emmis Communications head Jeff Smulyan has been adamantly vocal on the need to activate FM chips in the iPhone. A tronc inc. newspaper's Sept. 15 editorial blasted Apple for its refusal to turn on the chips. Now, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has joined the fight. However, Pai's comments come following criticism from a Democratic Commissioner on the FCC's response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Puerto Rico, following Hurricane Irma.

NPR will provide up to 30 stations across ten states with software and training to connect with the PRSS MetaPub delivery system. That's all thanks for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which President Trump has suggested should be entirely de-funded by the Federal government.

A Democratic Member of the U.S. Senate this morning spoke out against changes to the FCC's rules regarding Net Neutrality, noting that as long as Chairman Ajit Pai continues to support the end of Title II classification for broadband, she can't support his vote for staying on as the agency's leader. Immediately following the anti-Pai rally call came details of a GOP tax reform proposal that the NAB says helps broadcasters.

Mark Jamison, a visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communication, and Technology who serves as Director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida, has been vocal about his desire to reform the FCC. In this Media Information Bureau column, Jamison shares his thoughts on radio spectrum, and how it could be increased.

Nearly five years ago, a resident of North Miami, Fla., was handed a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture of $25,000 for his efforts designed "to evade detection" of an unlicensed radio operation. Today, the FCC still hasn't silenced the pirate radio operation serving the area's sizable Haitian population. A proposed maximum fine nearly six times that 2012 financial penalty seeks to squelch the broadcasting buccaneer once and for all.

In the first 5-0 unanimous vote of the new FCC led by Chairman Ajit Pai, the Commission has given the green light to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would eliminate rules requiring TV stations, along with cable entities and FM translators, to keep paper copies of FCC rules. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was no longer skeptical of the proposal, while newly arrived Republican Brendan Carr was quite vocal of the need to modernize the FCC.

Five Members of the House of Representatives and one Senator have joined as co-sponsors of a bipartisan resolution that opposes "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations. With a bill that would impose royalty payments on airplay of copyrighted recorded works flailing in the House, it's looking ever-less likely that the recording industry will be victorious in its latest efforts to stem a tremendous profit slide.

The NAB on Monday filed an ex parte letter with the FCC that it says refutes filings by several wireless interests regarding the alleged difficulty of complying with any Next Gen tuner mandate in mobile devices. "NAB nor any of our fellow Next Gen TV petitioners have never sought such a mandate, and in fact have expressly stated several times that we do not seek such a mandate," the broadcast media industry's chief lobbying organization asserts.

In a late Friday notice, the FCC gave its unanimous consent to a report and order that loosens FM translator tower placement rules, giving the "revitalization of the AM radio service" another key boost. It's of particular interest to stations that must power down -- or sign off the air -- during nighttime hours.

Any Certificate of FCC Regulatory Compliance is not worth the paper it’s printed on without the conditions upon which it was issued. Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner addressed this premise with the first such certificate he issued following a station inspection when the “mock” inspection program was initiated. "So how do we document a legitimate certificate of compliance that is required to be posted in the station’s reception lobby so as to be readily visible should an official FCC inspector visit your station?," he asks. That's the subject of this column.

With the end of the FCC's incentive auction, the Commission initiated a transition period during which the facilities of broadcast television stations that received new channel assignments in the post-incentive auction repacking process will be reauthorized and relicensed. The second filing window for eligible full power and Class A stations to file for alternate channels and expanded facilities has now been set to start a week from Tuesday.

Is 2018 shaping up to be a banner year for political advertising? That's the good word from Steve Passwaiter, the VP/GM, Political at Kantar Media. In an essay appearing Friday (9/22) at The Cook Political Report, Passwaiter declares, "Even though the last two years have seen lots of bungled predictions, in the realm of TV ad spending, we are undeterred, and predict that TV will win out in 2018 as well."

A "TV on Wall Street" conference held during NAB Show New York, a platform for media tech companies, ad agencies and digital platforms, is set to give attendees "a clear picture of the investment implications for video services and the revenues/profit multichannel and content providers can expect over the coming years." Top Wall Street analysts and financiers from a range of industry areas, as well as leading companies in the space, are on tap for the mini-confab produced in partnership with S&P Global Market Intelligence and Summit Ridge Group.

On Tuesday, we reported on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s response to a House Energy & Commerce letter regarding possible favorable treatment of Sinclair Broadcast Group and its planned merger with Tribune Media. But that’s just one of several angles to this deal.