The FCC scheduled a symposium on “best practices for minorities and women in broadcasting and related industry sectors” March 7, said a public notice Friday. The Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment and Media Bureau event will feature success stories of minority and women-owned businesses and media industry panels, the PN said. The event will be streamed live on the FCC’s website.

The FCC should consider FM stations eligible for repacking reimbursement if they can’t cover 80 percent of their coverage area or population served with auxiliary equipment, NAB said Wednesday in a conference call with Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey and staff, posted Thursday in docket 18-214. Some FM stations might not be able to secure that level of auxiliary coverage by the time a relocating TV station affects their operations, NAB said. “Those stations should not be ineligible for reimbursement merely because it is impossible for them to replicate 80 percent of their coverage in a timely fashion.”

If a DOJ examination of advertising markets concludes online advertising is part of the same market as TV advertising, broadcast transactions the Antitrust Division previously would have rejected could become viable, blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford. Division head Makan Delrahim said in a speech Tuesday the department will assess its stance toward online ads (see 1901290040). A Justice shift toward online ads also would make room for the FCC to relax radio ownership rules under the 2018 quadrennial review proceeding, Oxenford said. “Including digital advertising and online audiences in any marketplace assessment decreases the risk of the DOJ playing spoiler.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai took roughly five months to respond to legislators seeking information on FCC action on Sinclair, according to letters to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Blumenthal wrote Pai seeking information on Pai’s contacts with the White House about the now-dissolved Sinclair buying Tribune, and Pallone requested information about a DOJ investigation into advertising practices by Sinclair and other broadcasters. Pai didn’t respond to Pallone until the last day of 2018, after a November settlement between broadcasters and DOJ over sharing ad data (see 1812140019). Pai responded to Blumenthal a few days later, weeks after an FCC Office of Inspector General report said the chairman didn’t lie to Congress about a call with then-White House Counsel Don McGahn (see 1812030046). Pai referenced the OIG report to Blumenthal and disagreed with Blumenthal claiming Pai says status inquiries from the White House were common. “I said during an appearance at the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum that this ‘was the first time we had received a status inquiry of that kind’ regarding a deal" (see 1808210038), Pai said. Pai informed Pallone about the DOJ settlement and noted matters connected with Sinclair/Tribune are “in abeyance” until the FCC’s new administrative law judge resolves the matter (see 1812060045). “It would be premature to speculate on what further steps if any the Commission might take with respect to the issues you raise,” Pai said.

Commissioners rejected appeals from Prometheus Radio and Common Frequency of FCC denial of their objections to 994 FM translator applications, said an order in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. Jessica Rosenworcel concurred, and the other commissioners voted yes. The groups had filed 327 petitions for reconsideration, but first the Media Bureau and now the full commission said they lack standing. Prometheus, Common Cause and the Center for International Media Action filed objections to all pending translator applications, saying rules provide insufficient opportunity for low-power FM stations (see 1807130043). The petitions concern multiple licenses and “fail to plead specific facts” demonstrating any individual application would cause “a concrete and imminent injury,” the order said. Rosenworcel’s office didn’t comment on her rationale.

The FCC issued fined $144,344operators of a Kentucky low-power TV station that broadcast for years without a valid license, said a release and order released Tuesday. Jessica Rosenworcel concurred. W10BM Morehead didn’t renew its license in 1998 and its was canceled in 2004, but operators Vearl Pennington and Michael Williamson continued to broadcast even after Enforcement Bureau agents warned them in person to stop, said the order. Though Pennington and Williamson argued they unsuccessfully tried to renew the station’s license with a late-filed application in 2004, they didn’t disagree “the Station has operated for more than 18 years without authorization,” the order said. Williamson disputed FCC authority over the station and submitted a petition signed by more than 100 area residents asking it waive the forfeiture and let the station operate, the order said. “We do not give weight to service to the community in the context of a proceeding involving an unlicensed broadcast station.” The FCC found Pennington's claim not to have visited the station’s facilities in 15 years to be “contrary to the weight of the evidence.” Though Williamson and Pennington said they would be financially unable to pay, the FCC declined reduction, “based on the egregious, intentional, and repeated nature of the violation.” Pennington and Williamson couldn’t be reached for comment. W10’s website and YouTube channel remain up, respectively promoting the station’s call-in show Buy a Dog-Sell a Hog! and a video from Russia Today about security agencies blackmailing judges.

The FCC should consider NAB’s proposal to relax local ownership limits on radio, the Puerto Rico Radio Broadcasters Association (PRBA) wrote Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey, posted in docket 18-349 Monday. Though dated Aug. 15, the electronic comment filing system lists it as filed Jan. 11. The territory's radio stations face competition from streaming services, making ownership limits outdated, PRBA said. NAB’s plan would allow ownership of up to eight commercial top-75 FM stations and eliminate local ownership caps for AM and FM's outside those 75. “The need for local radio stations was apparent during and after Hurricane Maria,” the PRBA said.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the FCC’s unopposed request to extend the Feb. 14 due date for a respondent brief in the legal challenge of the agency’s 2014 quadrennial review (see 1901250041), said an order Monday (in Pacer). It's now due March 22, and the reply from petitioners including broadcasters, Prometheus Radio Project and the Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council is April 12. The extension was granted “in light of the current lifting of the partial Government shutdown,” the order said. Intervenor briefs supporting the FCC are also due March 22.

The FCC asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause the briefing schedule on the 2014 quadrennial review order. With the shutdown to end soon, it wasn’t clear Friday how the court will respond. President Donald Trump reached a deal on a continuing resolution to reopen shuttered parts of the government through Feb. 15, which Congress was expected to have approved as soon as Friday night (see 1901240016). “Out of an abundance of caution, the Commission respectfully requests that the Court stay the briefing schedule until appropriations have been restored by Congress to the FCC" and DOJ, said an unopposed motion Thursday (in Pacer). The FCC’s respondent’s brief is due Feb. 14. The agency had asked that the schedule be resumed when federal funding does, and the 3rd Circuit then grant extension. Now, it's not clear if the court will grant the stay or extension, said Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. If extension is granted, it would likely cause the other briefing dates in the case to be pushed back, Schwartzman told us.

It’s “outrageous” that Gray Television blames DOJ for the broadcaster cutting local news operations in Casper, Wyoming, said American Cable Association President Matt Polka Thursday: It has touted its success since a recent successful buy of Raycom. Local news is “the bare minimum responsibility that a local broadcaster has,” Polka said. The company didn’t comment. Gray says its planned reduction of the local news operation at KCWY was caused by DOJ blocking it from acquiring a CBS affiliation in the market. “Gray has been forced to take this unfortunate action because DOJ blocked our acquisition of the CBS affiliation contract for our Casper low power television station late last year,” its letter said. News operations for Casper will be run out of Gray’s Cheyenne station and rebranded as Wyoming News Now starting April 9, Gray said: “The small size of the market combined with fierce competition from MVPDs, Google, Facebook, and much larger unregulated companies have caused us to lose money every year.” Acquiring the CBS affiliation and a second retransmission consent revenue stream would have offset the losses and prevented the elimination of the local news operation, Gray said: “DOJ was not persuaded by the value of preserving a competitive local news operation in this market nor by any of the other public interest benefits that the transaction would have permitted.” When Congress and the FCC “are presented with broadcaster requests for continued special regulatory treatment, they should keep Gray’s behavior in mind,” Polka said.