Washington Beat

About one-fifth of Americans in each party (20% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 18% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents) get political and election news in a given week only from outlets whose audiences align with them politically. That's according to a new analysis of data from Pew Research Center's Election News Pathways project. 

In May 2019, a major player in the Raleigh-Durham market acquired an FM translator covering much of Raleigh. By June, it began simulcasting a Class D AM, but then suddenly shifted to a different originating station. The FCC responded with a Notice of Apparent Liability for failing to tell the Commission the translator changed its primary station. Now, a final decision has been made.

Wilkinson Barker Knauer has a new partner in its Washington, D.C., office, and it is an individual who has spent nearly three decades at the FCC, most recently having served as Deputy Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

The FCC on Friday approved a proposal that brings forth targeted changes to its "White Space" device rules — a move the agency believes will pave the way for greatly improved broadband coverage for rural Americans.  The Commission also wants input on methods it could use to allow higher power operation by White Space devices when adjacent TV channels are occupied.

What the Chairman say to the former Senator? It's not a joke, with no punchline necessary. The Chairman of the FCC Chairman and the National Association of Broadcasters' President/CEO — former Oregon Senator Gordon Smith — will participate in a 2020 NAB Show keynote conversation at 9am Pacific on Monday, April 20.

"All kidding aside, it might seem a bit unusual to hear from a self-admitted conservative Republican on your issues," FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said toward the beginning of an address delivered Tuesday morning at America's Public Television Stations' 2020 Public Media Summit. We've got all of the details on what O'Rielly told attendees.

While the retiring Greg Walden may today be radio's best friend in D.C. politics, thanks to his former ownership of Hood River, Ore., stations, a Minnesota Republican -- teaming with a Pennsylvania Democrat -- has just made a major move that positions him as perhaps the new leading buddy for radio and TV on Capitol Hill.

Long before Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner got involved with the ABIP programs, he used his time off from his full-time job to visit radio stations in the Upper Midwest to conduct the then-FCC required annual proof of performance measurements. It was during these tours that Benner first learned of how some FCC regulations, in his view, were distorted for "extortion." Yikes!

ACA Connects, which represents the interests of small and independently owned MVPDs on Capitol Hill, has brought on a veteran communications attorney to serve as its VP of Regulatory Affairs.

The NAB is now offering radio and TV stations a print and online resource to give their news coverage of the 2020 presidential, congressional and local elections a little extra boost.

The FCC recently released a list of its accomplishments under Chairman Pai. It includes over 220 items adopted in 36 meetings, more than twice the number adopted by the prior administration over a similar period, notes AEI Visiting Scholar Roslyn Layton. As there is "scant coverage of these successes" in the media, Roslyn believes, she's provided some key accomplishments for readers.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has appointed members to serve on three working groups of the Commission's Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE). These working groups—Access to Capital, Digital Empowerment and Inclusion, and Diversity in the Tech Sector—will assist the ACDDE in carrying out its work.

KidVid, ATSC 3.0, and other issues facing the FCC that pertain to broadcast television will be the focal point of an address to be delivered by Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly at the February 25 APTS Public Media Summit in Washington, D.C.

RBR+TVBR on Friday was first to report what FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has called the “striking … but not surprising” results of the just-released Fourth Report on Ownership of Broadcast Stations from the Media Bureau. Indeed, broadcast media ownership among women and minorities is lagging. The MMTC has now chimed in on the findings.

"Striking ... but not surprising." That, in a nutshell, sums up how FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks feels about the results of the just-released Fourth Report on Ownership of Broadcast Stations from the Media Bureau.