The FCC should require broadcasters using ATSC 3.0 to offer a free stream of the new standard at the same format and quality as their DTV signal, said the MVPD-backed American Television Alliance in a Friday letter in docket 16-142. “It is not too much to ask that broadcasters be required to serve all viewers within their local markets before remaining portions of their spectrum may be repurposed for any potential ancillary or supplementary service offerings,” they said. Broadcasters had opposed proposals in the 3.0 proceeding to mandate specific formats and signal quality for their transmissions (see 1705100072). Under the ATVA proposal, broadcasters would be free to transmit additional streams in other formats or use their remaining spectrum for other purposes, the letter said: It “should go without saying that the benefits of any technological advancements in broadcasting should flow towards ‘the public’ first.”

A “perceived lack of urgency” is associated with the law enforcement warning (LEW) code used on emergency alert systems systems for incidents involving danger to the police, said DOJ's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) in comments on the FCC Blue Alert NPRM in docket 15-94. COPS supports blue alerts, and Chairman Ajit Pai announced the proceeding at a joint news conference with DOJ officials (see 1705190048). “Despite its serious sounding name, the LEW event code is often used for routine informational purposes such as hazardous road conditions and road closures,” DOJ said. The NPRM included the possibility of using the existing LEW code instead of creating a new EAS code. The FCC should recommend a best practice for configuring EAS systems to search for a Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) alert when a legacy broadcast EAS alert arrives first, Sage Alerting Systems commented. A stakeholder technical committee could also generate such a procedure, Sage said. “Legacy EAS messages do not have access to all of the rich media from the CAP message.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology released an updated version of the TVStudy repacking software Friday, a public notice said. Version 2.2.3 “improves the performance of TV Interference Check mode,” and enables “appropriate consideration” of channel sharing applications, the PN said. It also includes “a widely-requested ability to evaluate more than one User record within a given TV Interference Check study,” the PN said.

Pirate radio fines should be increased, said FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a tweet Thursday responding to the release of forfeiture orders that slapped two long-term unlicensed operators with $15,000 fines each (see 1707260048). "Only $15k fine each for multi-YEAR pirate radio violations in Florida? More proof why @FCC pirate radio penalties need to be increased!" the tweet said. O'Rielly has focused on increasing FCC action on radio policy, and repeatedly said the Enforcement Bureau should be given authority to target landlords and businesses that harbor or support pirates (see 1704250053).

The full FCC denied 42 applications for review of the commission chief financial officer's March 2013 decision denying requests for refunds of application fees paid by winning bidders in FM Radio service auctions between 2004 and 2011, said an order issued Friday in docket 13-163. The item was circulated to the eighth floor July 21 (see 1707240063). “We find that collection of the fees was required by law, and that Petitioners based their refund requests on a misreading of our rules,” the order said. The matter is rooted in language in the 1998 broadcast auction order that requires winning bidders in broadcast service auctions to submit application fees, and language in procedural rules adopted in 1994 that says high bidders won’t have to pay such fees, the PN said. Winning bidders “paid the long-form application fees without question until 2009,” the PN said, when a high bidder asked for a refund based on the earlier language stating there would be no such fee. The FCC began a rulemaking in 2011 to clarify the matter, and while it was pending FCC staff granted four refunds and then stopped. “As broadcast auction winners became aware that some refunds had been granted, the number of parties filing refund requests grew,” the PN said. In 2011, the FCC revised the earlier rule to require fees and end the conflict, and in 2013 the CFO denied all the pending refunds, the PN said. “We find that the fees at issue in the pending applications for review cannot be refunded because the fees were required” by the FCC’s rules, said the PN upholding the denials.

Microsoft’s vacant channel proposal would make it harder for the public to get updates during emergencies, said former Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate in an opinion piece in The Hill Wednesday. The proposal also would make it difficult for broadcasters to roll out ATSC 3.0 (see 1707170053), which is expected to greatly enhance the dissemination of information during emergencies, Fugate said. Susan Crawford, former special assistant to then-President Barack Obama for science, technology and innovation policy, wrote in Wired to criticize the proposal. NAB distributed both of the criticisms to reporters. Microsoft didn't comment.

Dolby CEO Kevin Yeaman said the company is in a “good position” with ATSC 3.0 and Digital Video Broadcasting specifications, on the company's AC-4 compression. He sees AC-4 being “broadly adopted” across a broad range of devices, with a "gradual rollout." AC-4 won’t be a “major factor in the foreseeable future,” Yeaman said, but he noted early adoption among TV makers and broadcast trials. Ultimately, the industry will migrate to AC-4 from AC-3 because of “higher efficiency” and other value propositions, he said. Meantime, Dolby Vision Blu-ray titles from Lionsgate, Universal and Sony have begun shipping, and Disney made its first Vision-Atmos title Guardians of the Galaxy 2 available for streaming, the CEO said on a fiscal Q3 webcast after regular U.S. markets closed Tuesday.

The FCC should approve Sinclair's purchase of Tribune, a banker said. Harold Doley wrote Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey, posted in docket 17-179 Tuesday, that the buyer has "a unique and accomplished record of working with and assisting minority and under-represented communities," citing Sinclair's relationship with broadcaster Armstrong Williams. Among those asking the FCC to make contracts and other documents available regarding the deal are Dish Network, Common Cause, Public Knowledge, the American Cable Association and NTCA (1707250045). Doley founded what's called the oldest African-American owned U.S. investment bank.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau fined two pirate radio operators in Florida $15,000 each, forfeiture orders show. EB said Wilner Lindi and Vilnord Simon were caught operating their stations -- in Lake Worth and North Miami, respectively -- after receiving multiple warnings. “Commission action in this area is essential because unlicensed radio stations do not broadcast Emergency Alert Service (EAS) messages, and so create a public safety hazard for their listeners,” said both orders. The bureau also warned Kern Community Radio, licensee of KSVG Bakersfield, California. KSVG was operating from 28 miles from the one where it was licensed, and with power far below authorization, the notice of violation said. The station wasn't monitoring enough sources for EAS codes, the NOV said.

The FCC should use its existing law enforcement warning (LEW) event code for emergencies involving danger to law enforcement officials instead of creating a new BLU event code as proposed in an NPRM (see 1706190080), said emergency alert system equipment manufacturer Monroe Electronics in comments in docket 15-94. “The addition of a new EAS event code may involve various costs and operational considerations for EAS and public warning stakeholders which may not have been adequately factored in.” The two states that incorporated EAS into Blue Alert processes already use LEW, and the code could be redefined to only be used for the scenarios described in the NPRM, Monroe said. Because the LEW code is already present on all current EAS devices, new rules for blue alerts could take effect immediately, Monroe said. Creating a new event code would require “a substantially extended timeline for both EAS and WEA [wireless emergency alerts], additional costs to EAS Participants and manufacturers, and the need to revise some Blue Alert plans and all state EAS plans,” Monroe said. The Blue Alert system and the upcoming nationwide EAS test (see 1707240042) also would be better served by the FCC taking action on a Monroe proposal to transition the EAS system to “Triggered CAP [common alerting protocol] Polling” (see 1701090043), the company said: EAS equipment would poll the system to check if the more informative CAP alert was also available, and if so, run with that instead of the less useful old-style alert.