Washington Beat

The FCC on Thursday received a petition for rulemaking from the NAB regarding the potential interference caused by FM translators to full-power radio stations. Specifically, the NAB proposed certain rule and policy changes designed to provide translator licensees greater flexibility to resolve any interference issues, and to facilitate "the efficient disposition of interference complaints against translators."

The FCC unanimously approved its April Open Meeting Consent Agenda on Thursday. Up for consideration were an item involving a now-defunct low power TV station and a CP for an FM in Washington State.

Much fun -- including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai singing the chorus to a Rick Astley classic -- was seen at the start of a meeting that involved the Commission's relaxation of third-party fundraising restrictions for noncommercial radio and TV stations. The Commission also made a party-line 2-1 ruling that made optional a previously mandatory requirement that compelled the officers and board members of noncommercial educational stations to report personal information. We've got the details.

Mignon Clyburn's impassioned argument against the reversal of a Wheeler Commission decision to dump the discount fell on the deaf ears of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, with its reinstatement approved just after Noon in a party-line 2-1 vote.

A Petition for Rulemaking that seeks the initiation of a proceeding that would repeal the radio an TV Main Studio Rule was filed on Thursday with the Commission.

Two key leaders of the House of Representatives have engaged in a last-minute — and likely futile — fight to get the FCC's key Republican leadership to stop its push to restore the UHF discount used to calculate compliance with the national television audience reach cap.

The former FCC Media Bureau Chief and veteran communications lawyer has joined one of the nation's most prominent communications law firms. He will provide counsel to clients on a variety of telecommunications and media issues.

The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council on Monday filed comments with the FCC supporting the creation of a broadcast incubator program. MMTC has been trying to persuade the FCC to create such a program since 1990, and these comments contain the history of the program, and describe how the program would work.

A New York City resident may have to fork over upward of $400,000 for his unauthorized operation of a radio transmitter on frequencies that the FCC has licensed to the New York Police Department, causing interference with the NYPD radio system while threatening officers. That's the maximum penalty the FCC can hand out, and this individual is currently in police custody for related charges.

In a press briefing held Thursday afternoon, the final results of the FCC's first-of-its-kind incentive auction were officially shared with the public. Were T-Mobile and Comcast the big spectrum auction winners? We have the answer, and additional insight from three key senior FCC staff members. We can also tell you that a Chicago UHF is getting more than $300 million for its participation in the auction.

The current Bureau Chief for the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) has decided to return to the private sector. As a result, a Jenner & Block attorney has been singled out by Chairman Ajit Pai as her replacement.

Stewart, who joined the FCC in 1965 and spent 44 years at the Commission — most notably as Chief and Senior Deputy Bureau Chief of the former Mass Media Bureau — died Monday (4/10) after a brief illness. The native of Brooklyn, N.Y., was 78 and lived in Northern Virginia.

A TEGNA Media TV station in Atlanta and a Graham Media Group VHFer in Detroit have been honored with two top honors by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF). Cox Media Group's WEDR "99 Jamz" in Miami is also getting a NABEF Service to America Award -- and is the lone commercially licensed FM getting such an honor.

If you don't think the FCC is serious about the placement of required public file documents in a radio or TV station's electronic public file, think again. A multicultural TV station in one of the nation's biggest markets could be held liable for a $20,000 forfeiture from the FCC.

Thanks to the efforts of music rights coalition musicFIRST, the NAB is at war with groups such as the RIAA on Capitol Hill over any new fees or royalty payments for the airplay of recorded music on the nation's AM and FM stations. Why is musicFIRST pushing so hard in the early months of the Trump Administration? Here's the NAB's take on that.