The FCC was correct to renew the license of Fox Television Stations' WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, in July, said Chairman Ajit Pai in a November letter responding to New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, both Democrats, posted online Friday. “Even the evidence presented by those seeking denial of the license renewal ultimately supported the finding that WWOR-TV significantly covered New-Jersey-centric issues, including New Jersey politics." The vote to renew WWOR was unanimous. “I know you agree with me that the Federal Communications Commission should not put itself in the newsroom to second-guess the editorial decisions of journalists,” Pai wrote. Renewal “raises a serious question” about what a local citizen “would have to demonstrate for the FCC to deny a license renewal based upon the inability of WWOR (or any other station) to serve its local community,” wrote Booker and Menendez.
PMCM wants the Supreme Court to take up its appeal of FCC decisions preventing the company's WJLP Middletown Township, New Jersey, from being broadcast on virtual channel 3, said a Tuesday letter (in Pacer) from the court clerk acknowledging the cert petition. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected PMCM’s en banc appeal in September (see 1809050062).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a notification of harmful interference to Rodrick Moore of Prospect Park, New Jersey, for allegedly operating a pirate radio station interfering with a frequency used by the FAA to communicate with pilots, said a notice of violation in Friday’s Daily Digest. Moore has 10 days to respond. The bureau also issued warnings to MTS over an incorrectly lit antenna structure in Bradley, Illinois, and to Syncom Media Group’s WMTO-LP Suffolk, Virginia, for using an unauthorized antenna.
The FCC should deny Edward Stolz’s latest appeal of numerous agency decisions rejecting his petitions against Entercom’s buy of CBS Radio, the acquirer said in an opposition posted Friday (see 1810250051). The FCC approved the purchase in November 2017. Stolz’s arguments the agency is treating Entercom differently from other licensees ignore substantial differences between the cases he cited and Entercom, that company said. “There thus is no issue of unfair differential treatment.”
The draft market competition report doesn’t sufficiently spell out the level of competition radio faces, Connoisseur Media filed Thursday in FCC docket 18-227. The report doesn’t include statistics showing a decline in radio ownership or enough information on competition over advertising between radio and online providers, the radio-station owner said. “Contrary to the implications of the draft Report, there are no longer silos between over-the-air, satellite and online audio offerings.”
Ion wants the FCC to change the DTV table of allotments to alter the community of license for its WPXH-TV from Gadsden to Hoover, Alabama, said a petition for rulemaking posted Tuesday. Hoover “is a much larger community than Gadsden and the reallotment would provide the larger community of Hoover with its first local full-power television service,” the company said. Ion also asked to change the community of license for WNPX-TV Cookeville, Tennessee, to Franklin for the same reason.
The FCC posted an online guide to rescanning TV sets for consumers affected by the post-incentive auction repacking. “If you watch free over-the-air television with an antenna, you will need to rescan your TV set each time a station moves to a new frequency to be sure your TV recognizes the new frequency when you tune to that channel,” the page says. Though the agency has other online rescanning guides, the new page was released to coincide with the beginning of repacking's phase 2, which began Saturday.
Scripps completed its $150 million purchase of Triton, Scripps said Monday. The deal for the audio streaming and advertisements insertion provider was announced Oct. 17 (see 1810170037). All of Triton's 145 employees will remain (see the personals section), a Scripps spokesperson told us.
IHeartMedia creditors support the radio broadcaster’s bankruptcy reorganization plan, the company announced Monday of the 90 percent-plus of the votes by creditors and shareholders who participated. Yes votes exceeded the amount needed, it said: The reorganization will reduce iHeart’s funded debt by “approximately $10.3 billion -- to $5.75 billion” and separate the company’s radio and outdoor advertising businesses. “Final voting results will be filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, prior to the hearing to confirm the Plan,” the release said. The company expects to exit Chapter 11 in early 2019.
Comparing their goal to the same local targeting capabilities TV broadcasters will see from ATSC 3.0, radio technology interests met with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and with Media Bureau representatives to push for an NPRM for an update of radio rules. The sought-after FM booster rule change was subject of a 2012 Geo Broadcast petition for hyperlocalized broadcast content like advertisements or weather. The company and others pushed geo technology for simultaneous transmission of different content to different parts of a station's license area through a network of synchronous boosters. They noted field test results that indicate it wouldn't require amending or waiving interference regulations. Also represented were BIA Advisory Services and Goldman Engineering, said the docket 17-105 post Friday.