No changes have been proposed internally to a draft FCC order clarifying ATSC 3.0 multicast rules, though the item hasn't been OK'd by all commissioners, said agency and industry officials in recent interviews. Broadcasters say approving the item -- which stems from an NAB petition for clarification -- will speed the transition to 3.0. “Anything we can do to expedite 3.0 deployment will be for the benefit of viewers and platform users,” said One Media Executive Vice President-Strategic and Legal Affairs Jerald Fritz.
No changes have been proposed internally to a draft FCC order clarifying ATSC 3.0 multicast rules, though the item hasn't been OK'd by all commissioners, said agency and industry officials in recent interviews. Broadcasters say approving the item -- which stems from an NAB petition for clarification -- will speed the transition to 3.0. “Anything we can do to expedite 3.0 deployment will be for the benefit of viewers and platform users,” said One Media Executive Vice President-Strategic and Legal Affairs Jerald Fritz.
Collecting regulatory fees from tech companies and users of unlicensed spectrum would be a huge task, outside FCC authority, and hamper broadband adoption, said trade associations and others in comments posted to docket 21-190 by Thursday’s deadline.
An order updating the DTV table of allotments was unanimously approved Friday and deleted from the agenda for Tuesday’s FCC commissioners’ meeting, said a deletion notice listed in Monday's Daily Digest. The order was considered noncontroversial at the FCC and among broadcasters. “It’s really just housekeeping,” said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Matthew McCormick in an interview. The order would adjust the rules for the table of allotments to incorporate changes to the way TV channels are organized stemming from the broadcast incentive auction, the repacking and the lifting of a freeze on changes in November. The order also deletes rules that have become obsolete, according to the final version. McCormick said the changes are unlikely to have much effect on stations seeking to adjust their channels.
Collecting regulatory fees from tech companies and users of unlicensed spectrum would be a huge task, outside FCC authority, and hamper broadband adoption, said trade associations and others in comments posted to docket 21-190 by Thursday’s deadline. Comments about establishing a small satellite regulatory fee also had multiple calls in the commercial space sector for creating new fee categories for other types of space operations.
The FCC shouldn’t act on its own to combat ransomware attacks against communications networks unless a “whole of government” approach doesn’t materialize, said Commissioner Nathan Simington Thursday in a virtual Q&A with former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Cooley. Combating ransomware attacks like the recent strike against Sinclair isn’t outside the agency’s authority, but might be outside its capabilities, “unless Congress gives us another thousand people to man that desk,” Simington said (see 2110210045).
Broadcasters, cable groups and emergency alerting companies resisted FCC suggestions for persistent emergency alert system warnings and changes to alerting codes. “It is simply not feasible to incorporate these changes cost-effectively into the existing, well embedded system,” said NCTA. Comments were due Tuesday in docket 15-94.
The Parents Television Council wants KREM Spokane, Washington, and owner Tegna to investigate how a clip of pornographic material aired for about 10 seconds during a weather segment on the station’s evening news broadcast Sunday. “Let there be no suggestion that the airing of the pornographic content might have been an ‘accident’ or a ‘mistake,’ said PTC President Tim Winter in a release Wednesday. “Someone with the wherewithal to pass that content through the control room did so intentionally. If it were not aired by someone’s design, why is it always porn that gets aired ‘by accident’ instead of innocuous content?” “We have apologized to our viewers and are diligently working to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” emailed a Tegna spokesperson. In 2016, then-Schurz-owned WDBJ Roanoke, Virginia, paid a $325,000 FCC forfeiture after it aired an image that contained pornography during a news story about a firefighter’s adult film career (see 1604040057). Schurz appealed the amount but eventually paid in order to close its sale to Gray Television. Schurz’s then-attorney, Jack Goodman, said in an interview Wednesday that FCC authority to fine stations over airing pornographic content remains “constitutionally dubious.”
Sinclair “provision of local advertisements” was disrupted by an apparent cyberattack over the weekend, said an SEC filing Monday. “The event has caused -- and may continue to cause -- disruption to parts of the Company’s business,” a news release said. Sinclair is No. 2 U.S. TV broadcaster, and Sinclair channels around the country appeared to have their local programs affected.
Sinclair “provision of local advertisements” was disrupted by an apparent cyberattack over the weekend, said an SEC filing Monday. “The event has caused -- and may continue to cause -- disruption to parts of the Company’s business,” a news release said. Sinclair is No. 2 U.S. TV broadcaster, and Sinclair channels around the country appeared to have their local programs affected.