Washington Beat

Yesterday, in what Wilkinson Barker Knauer partner David Oxenford calls "a very short one-page decision," the U.S Court of Appeals rejected the requests filed by public interest groups including Free Press to stay the effect of the FCC’s decision to reinstate the UHF discount. While this does not signal the Court’s final approval of the FCC’s decision to reinstate the discount, Oxenford notes that the ruling does suggest which direction the Court is likely to take in its assessment of this Commission decision.

An economist and attorney with extensive FCC and private-sector experience is FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's choice to serve as chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

In a ruling made Thursday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the FCC may move forward with its return of the so-called "UHF discount" — setting the stage for what could be a flurry of deals akin to Sinclair Broadcast Group's announced acquisition of Tribune Media. Both the NAB and Free Press offered comments on the denial of an emergency stay of the rules.

The FCC has created procedures for low-power television stations (LPTVs) and translators to apply for a Special Displacement Window if they are being forced off the air by the incentive auction. This led to a response from the NAB.

In a turn of events that might have seemed stunning at any other time in presidential history, President Donald Trump — in a statement that was distributed just before midnight Wednesday (6/14) — indicated that he intends to nominate the Democrat to a whole new five-year term on the Commission.

A Cooley partner who joined the law firm's Washington, D.C. office in early 2014 after a 16 1/2 year run as a partner at Dow Lohnes PLLC has joined Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP as partner.

Forget Taco John's: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai now has an opportunity to visit Torchy's, Velvet Taco or even the vegetarian/gluten free-friendly Tacodeli. Or, perhaps the JW Marriott in Austin, Tex., may want to have a plate of carnitas and carne asada at the ready. That's because Pai has been secured as a keynote speaker at the 2017 Radio Show's "Radio Luncheon" on Sept. 6 in Texas' capital city.

The individual who served as a special assistant for legislative affairs for President Barack Obama from 2012-2017 has agreed to join the NAB as VP of NAB Government Relations.

The Acting Bureau Chief of the FCC's Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau need not rely on a script or any improvisation. That's because she's no longer acting in this role.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Saturday (6/10) made his first-ever trip to Wyoming, culminating what he told the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters was a "two-man buddy odyssey" that saw Pai drive from Milwaukee for nearly a week with his senior counsel Nick Degani. In an address to WAB Convention attendees, Pai applauded local broadcasters and the power of AM radio while noting how one Minnesota broadcaster believes the Main Studio Rule is a "killer." He also revealed his affection for Taco John's, his post-WAB address destination.

Thanks, Obama. That's a hashtag that the Phoenix Center may wish to use on Twitter in sharing the results of a new economic analysis that assails the Obama Administration for an "aggressive regulatory agenda" at the FCC that led to nearly $40 billion in reduced telecommunication sector investment.

There's a bit of glasnost at the FCC under the chairmanship of Ajit Pai not seen under previous Chairman Tom Wheeler. This has been extended to the release of Notices of Unlicensed Operation to the public. There have been a flurry of them of late, and it shows that the New York office of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau has gotten tough on pirate radio operators across the Tri-State area.

Less than 24 hours after the Recording Academy revealed that it has gained additional bipartisan support in the House of Representatives for its "Fair Pay Fair Play Act," the NAB-supported "Local Radio Freedom Act" has attracted two more backers in the lower body of Congress.

The FCC has opened up its window for nominations for membership on its Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment. A Chairperson is also sought for the forthcoming committee, which would see tenures of two years for members and become active this autumn.

As of late May, little was heard on House legislation that would essentially tax any radio station that plays music. Now, 15 politicians — including a rising star in the Democratic party — have signed on as co-sponsors. They see the bill as a way to "reform music licensing for sound recordings in a logical, comprehensive way and close current corporate radio loopholes."