Entertainment Media Trust was granted a “brief” extension of deadlines to respond to the Enforcement Bureau, said Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin in an order posted Friday (see 1909050070). EMT has until Monday to respond to a request for documents that was due Aug. 30 and until Thursday to respond to bureau interrogatories that were due Sept. 3. Halprin dismissed EMT’s arguments it might soon declare bankruptcy as “speculative and premature” but said the extension should be enough time to compensate for a person who EMT said was critical to its response but had been out of the country. “EMT should be aware of and diligently seek to comply with the Commission’s rules governing this proceeding, including timeframes,” Halprin said. “The Presiding Judge cautions EMT about waiting until the due date to seek any further extensions of time.”

"Encouraging" ATSC 3.0's "global recognition" will be the task of a new ATSC Planning Team 6, said the organization. PT6's “scope of work” will include “strategic communications” with international standards development organizations, plus “new work item proposals for technical enhancements to the ATSC 3.0 standard that support global use cases,” it said. ATSC named Alan Stein, InterDigital, as PT6 chair, and Louis Libin, Sinclair, as vice chair. PT6 reports to the ATSC board. The U.S. asks ITU to adopt 3.0 as a digital broadcast TV standard internationally (see 1904070001).

Entertainment Media Trust’s (EMT) requests for extension of the filing deadline in its case before Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin should be denied, said the FCC Enforcement Bureau in a response filing posted Thursday in docket 19-156 (see 1909030061). EMT waited until the day the filings were due to seek an extension, “in essence granting itself the very extensions it now seeks,” said the bureau. “Such gamesmanship should not be tolerated.” The ALJ should ignore EMT’s arguments that a possible bankruptcy will result in a stay because the broadcaster hasn’t declared bankruptcy, and doing so doesn’t always lead to a stay, the bureau said. EMT’s arguments that key personnel weren’t available to respond to the bureau’s discovery requests and that the bureau was beyond the limit on number of interrogatories should also be disregarded, the bureau said, since FCC rules don’t include such limits.

The full FCC reached settlements with Nexstar and Word of God Fellowship over violations of the kidvid rules, said two orders in Thursday’s Daily Digest. Under the settlements, both licensees will have their FCC licenses renewed, the consent decrees said. Nexstar agreed to pay $109,076 for filing incorrect children’s television reports, failing to meet the programming requirements because of sports pre-emption, and failing to provide required information for programming guides. The resolution of the kidvid matter is seen as a prelude (see 1908160061) to FCC approval of Nexstar’s buy of Tribune, which is expected soon (see 1909040035). Word of God agreed to pay $30,700 for not meeting the programming requirements due to pre-emption for fundraising drives, the consent decree said.

The Recording Industry Association of America should work to fight payola, said FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly in a letter Wednesday to RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier. “Your Association is uniquely situated to survey the practices of your industry and respond to press reports regarding alleged practices in order to help determine whether allegations of non-disclosure are actually occurring.” O’Rielly said he would also like to review any evidence of “soliciting artist appearances and performances with implied or express threats against non-participation.” O’Rielly’s “primary goal” is to “get to the bottom of existing industry practices to determine whether the law is being followed or whether any problematic conduct must be addressed,” he said. O’Rielly wants a reply by the end of September, the letter said.

Entertainment Media Trust requested an extension of an Aug. 30 deadline in its case before FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin because it may file for bankruptcy or reach a settlement, said a motion posted in docket 19-156 Tuesday. EMT wants extension until Sept. 13 to respond to a request for production of documents. The agency designated the radio licensee for hearing over allegations it wasn’t truthful on whether its St. Louis-area AM stations are under control of a convicted felon (see 1906050063). EMT should have additional time because it's “engaged with the Bureau in discussions regarding potential avenues to more quickly resolve this matter” and may also file for bankruptcy, the filing said. “A bankruptcy filing by EMT would result in a stay of this proceeding.”

Though changes to kidvid rules replacing quarterly reports with annual ones will take effect a month before the next quarterly report is due, broadcasters still must provide their final quarterly report, said an FCC public notice posted Tuesday (see 1907100067). The kidvid rules take effect Sept. 16, but the last quarterly children’s TV report is due Oct. 10, the PN said. That report should cover July 1-Sept. 15, the PN said. Compliance with kidvid requirements will be judged “on a pro rata basis,” the PN said. The requirement that broadcasters list children’s TV programming they plan to air in the future -- eliminated by the new kidvid rules -- is waived, the PN said. Some aspects of rules -- such as changes to pre-emption -- await OMB and Paperwork Reduction Act approval, and broadcasters should follow the existing rules there, the PN said.

Performing rights organization Global Music Rights will contact radio stations about extending until March 31 a license for its content, blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford Thursday, in a post emailed the next day. The previous deal expires Sept. 30. Stations that don’t hear from GMR by Sept. 15 should contact the PRO directly, Oxenford said. Stations that play GMR music without a license could face statutory damages of up to $150,000 per song, Oxenford said.

Terrier Media parent Apollo Global Management will convert from a limited liability company to a corporation, said a filing posted in docket 19-196 Friday. It's intended to supplement AGM’s request for permission to be foreign owned, and included a request to allow Tiger Global Management affiliates to own up to 49 percent of AGM. The shift to a corporation won’t change control of AGM and doesn’t change its status as a public company, the filing said: The Tiger companies count as foreign because they're based in the Cayman Islands but controlled by U.S. citizens. The Tiger affiliates own close to 15 percent of AGM. Terrier seeks declaratory ruling authorizing foreign ownership as part of its pending deal to buy TV and radio stations from Cox (see 1907120052).

The station groups subject of DirecTV's good-faith rules violation complaint (see 1906190027) no longer oppose FCC expedited treatment. In a docket 19-168 filing posted Thursday, Deerfield Media and the others said an agency decision on the complaint is needed to end "this fundamental and otherwise irreconcilable disagreement" and an expedited resolution would restore programming as quickly as possible.