Washington Beat

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith will participate in a keynote conversation on Wednesday (5/13) as part of the all-digital replacement for the 2020 NAB Show, which was originally planned for late April in Las Vegas but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Media Bureau's Audio Division Chief has denied a waiver request and has dismissed an application filed by an Alabama licensee who sought FCC authorization to operate a Class A FM at a higher effective radiated power than it is currently licensed for. The licensee had their reasons. While they may be worthy of a larger discussion, they were immediately shot down by Al Shuldiner.

New public service announcements focused on mental health awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic are now available for use from the NAB. The PSAs are designed for both radio and TV stations and focus on a message of hope and encouragement as the pandemic approaches its eighth week in the U.S.

There's an organization change in order at the FCC's Media Bureau. In a move made because the Commissioners believe it will serve the public interest, improve operations and streamline the Media Bureau's organization, a division within the Bureau is no more.

A FCC proposal devoted to  “Unlicensed White Space Device Operations in the Television Bands” has gotten the affirmative nod of two governors in the western U.S., as well as the Western Governors' Association itself. With expanding connectivity a key goal, the governors applauded the FCC’s efforts to improve rural broadband access, calling it "crucial" in achieving those goals.

Bipartisan efforts designed to get federal agencies to increase their advertising efforts on broadcast radio and TV stations have gained steam, with some 80 members of the Upper Body of Congress directing the Office of Management and Budget to help spark such an effort.

The coronavirus-fueled quarantine that Ken and Karen Benner have been enduring these past few weeks has led the alternative broadcast inspectors to shred thousands of documents related to their 25 years of conducting thousands of radio and television compliance reviews. "In the process, we have found enough documentation for hundreds of columns," Ken says.

The FCC on Thursday moved forward with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking designed to provide greater accessibility to video programming among those who are sight-impaired. If approved, new rules would widen video description services to 40 DMAs presently not required to offer such an option.

As first reported by RBR+TVBR, the American Television Alliance (ATVA) has emerged as the chief antagonist in a push to get local radio and TV stations to qualify for the COVID-19 fueled Paycheck Protection Program through the Small Business Administration. Now, the NAB is speaking out against the ATVA's efforts.

"Aside from closing the digital divide and promoting innovation, perhaps the most frequent subject of monthly agenda items over the past three years has been modernizing the Commission’s outdated media regulations." Those are the words of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who shared that the May Open Meeting will include the "latest attempt to inject common sense in our rulebook."

On Friday afternoon, the FCC revealed that it will appeal the Third Circuit's remand of its cross-ownership rule rewrite by taking the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court. Republican Commissioner Mike O'Rielly commends the decision, and offered his thoughts on the move.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the "special circumstances" it has created for the Commission, the first three items on the agenda for its upcoming April Open Commission Meeting -- conducted via teleconference -- will be considered during the meeting. The one item of interest to the radio industry is expected to be voted on circulation prior to the gathering.

On March 31, the FCC complied with “physical distancing” needs to help combat the spread of COVID-19 by affirmatively granting a proposal to seek comment on proposed changes to its rules governing the resolution of program carriage disputes between video programming vendors and MVPDs. Now, it has announced when Comments and Reply Comments are due.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator from 2009-2017 has written to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in support of the proposed rule change that would permit radio broadcasters to broadcast geo-targeted programming, including emergency alerts in times of regional and local crises.