Leaders of four organizations saying they represent minorities asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to deny approval of Sinclair buying Tribune “on the grounds that it would destroy the diversity of media programming,” in a letter Monday. Diverse media networks, and “the programming they produce, are critical to how we access and digest news,” said the Latino Victory Project, AAPI Victory Fund, Emgage and Color of Change. Latino Victory is a member of the Coalition to Save Local Media, which was formed to oppose the deal. The letter was critical of Sinclair’s requirements that stations air “must-run” content, which the groups said sometimes includes “racist and Islamophobic content that echoes the rhetoric used by white supremacists.” The Sinclair segment “Terrorism Alert Desk” has “repeatedly targeted Muslim-Americans and conflated Islam with terror,” the letter said. The merger’s effect on program diversity represents “substantial public interest harm,” the letter said. Sinclair didn't comment but said last week must-run segments represent a tiny portion of its programming (see 1708230061).

Sinclair’s One Media met with FCC commissioners or their aides twice in the past week to press its argument for incorporating only the ATSC’s A/321 document on “System Discovery and Signaling,” not the A/322 standard on “Physical Layer Protocol,” into ATSC 3.0 rules, filings in docket 16-142 show. The FCC “should avoid over-regulation to permit innovation,” One Media told Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and aide Erin McGrath in Thursday meetings, said the company's latest ex parte notice, posted Friday. The commission need not mandate A/322 “to ensure universal compatibility,” it said. “Equipment manufacturers build to industry standards -- and service providers use those standards -- in the ordinary course without any government mandates,” it said. “Mandating A/322 would hamper innovation without any corresponding benefit.” One Media has support from NAB, PBS and Pearl TV in urging exclusion of A/322, while LG Electronics has been the strongest advocate for including it as a critical measure to help prevent receiver compatibility problems (see 1707120044). CTA recently urged the FCC to write final rules to “encourage” adoption of A/322, but in keeping with the voluntary, market-driven nature of the 3.0 transition, it stopped well short of seeking an A/322 requirement (see 1706090026).

Items on PMCM’s battle over channel assignment and the dismissed hearing designation order of a former Entercom station in Sacramento, California, were circulated to the eighth floor, according to the FCC website. Though the nature of the items is unclear, both proceedings have been appealed by pending applications for review. Edward Stolz appealed an administrative law judge’s dismissal of a hearing proceeding against Entercom after the broadcaster surrendered KDND(FM)’s license (see 1702030074). PMCM appealed Media Bureau decisions preventing it from transmitting its signal on virtual channel 3.10, though channel 3 already is assigned to another station (see 1607260059).

Connecticut Public Broadcasting wants the FCC to amend the DTV table of allotments to delete channel 49 at Bridgeport for its WEDW and substitute channel 49 at Stamford, said a petition for rulemaking posted Thursday. That would give Stamford “its first local television service, while leaving Bridgeport adequately served,” it said.

The FCC Media Bureau reached an $8,800 settlement with Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, low-power FM operator Lighthouse Christian Center based on violations noted by Saga Communications' petition to revoke license, rejecting nearly all Saga allegations, said an order and consent decree Thursday. "Nothing in the record before us creates a substantial or material question of fact whether Lighthouse possesses the basic qualifications to be a Commission licensee," the order said. Lighthouse was broadcasting from a location different from where it was licensed, and violated rules on underwriting announcements, the order said. Saga raised those violations after it told the bureau Lighthouse was interfering illegally with Saga’s broadcasts. Saga said Lighthouse’s violations showed it didn’t meet character requirements to be a licensee, but Lighthouse said it hadn't been aware of violations, the order said. The bureau rejected Saga’s assertions about Lighthouse’s character, declined to revoke its license, and granted authorization to correct the problem.

The FCC should respond “quickly” to Ion’s petition for reconsideration and adjust its repack timeline and reimbursement policies, Gray Television commented, in docket 12-268 Thursday. Gray joins Meredith, Entravision and Trinity Broadcasting (see 1708180061) in supporting Ion’s petition. Broadcasters need more time than 39 months to manage multiple buildouts in a tight time frame, Gray said. It seconded Ion’s calls for looser reimbursement rules for top-mount antennas and solid-state transmitters and relaxed rules on transmitter headroom. The FCC needs to reassign stations that were assigned Channel 14, Gray said, echoing another focus of Ion’s petition. Stations on that channel are having difficulties with interference, the broadcasters said. “While reassigning stations to Channel 14 may have seemed innocuous and reasonable upon implementation, new facts and real-world experience demonstrate the opposite,” Gray said.

Campaign watch groups filed six complaints with the FCC over transparency in political ad funding against two Atlanta TV stations, Campaign Legal Center and Issue One said in a news release. The complaints concern the special election in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, regarded as the most expensive election for the U.S. House in history, Campaign Legal Center said. Meredith’s WPCH-TV Atlanta and Cox Media’s WSB-TV Atlanta allowed political ad buyers Patriot Majority USA, House Majority PAC and the National Republican Congressional Committee to claim on advertising forms that the ads were not about “a political matter of national importance,” the release said. That allowed the funders to avoid disclosing information about the ads, the release said.

FCC ownership rules are inhibiting the ability of local radio stations to serve local listeners and advertisers, Galaxy Communications CEO Ed Levine said in a meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai Tuesday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 09-182. “The share of advertising revenue garnered by inline and digital media companies, which are not restricted by ownership limitations, is growing exponentially,” the filing said. The FCC should allow more stations to be commonly owned, the filing said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued warning letters to unlicensed operators in Mishawaka, Indiana, and Sherwood, Arkansas, according to notices of unlicensed operation released Monday and Tuesday. Enforcement Bureau officials tracked unlicensed signals to a “raised antenna structure” in Sherwood in June, said the letter sent to Jamie and Gilberto Cerrato. Unauthorized signals were found to be coming from the Mishawaka residence of Kevin and Allison Blume in May, their letter said.

FCC broadcast ownership rules limit competition and end up stymieing diversity, broadcast consultant and former network executive Preston Padden said in a blog post Friday. “Why can’t the FCC see that these TV station ownership restrictions are preventing the creation of meaningful entities of scale that could bring to viewers the benefits of greater competition and diversity?” Padden said. He said repealing the ownership rules would benefit Sinclair Broadcast now, but it could benefit others on the opposite side of the political spectrum later. Many who object to Sinclair/Tribune over Sinclair’s perceived right-wing views also would insist that FCC decisions shouldn’t be based on politics, he said. A commenter on Padden’s blog post who posted as David Amy praised Padden for “not promoting the hysteria around a Sinclair Tribune merger,” and for recognizing that “there are many others including minorities and our viewers that will be the benefactors of deregulation of this fantastic business.” Sinclair lists Amy as a vice chairman.