The FCC should limit broadcaster use of temporary channels during the ATSC 3.0 transition to ensure there’s room for low-power TV stations and translators displaced by the incentive auction, said the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition in a meeting last month with Media Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 16-142.

The $1.75 billion repacking reimbursement fund should cover broadcasters' costs, including headroom -- “reserved excess transmission capacity” -- in their post-incentive auction facilities, Sinclair said in meetings with aides to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and Chairman Ajit Pai last week, recounted an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 16-306. Broadcasters “commonly” build headroom into their designs, “to ensure performance reliability and longevity and the ability to maximize in the future,” Sinclair said. But the FCC has “informally signaled” it won't treat inclusion of headroom as an “essential and reimbursable” part of broadcasters creating “comparable” facilities to what they had before the incentive auction, the owner of TV stations said. The current FCC approach “risks leaving stations with facilities inferior to what they have today,” the company said, saying "the FCC may be taking this approach to artificially reduce the cost of the repack.” Despite speculation the reimbursement fund will be insufficient to cover the repack, the agency shouldn’t start limiting what can be reimbursed, but should instead approve all “reasonable” costs “without regard to potential limitations of the fund” and then work with Congress and broadcasters “to supplement any Fund shortfalls in the future," Sinclair said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Weather Service and other large originators of emergency alerts joined the advisory committee for the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance, said an alliance news release Monday. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and APCO also joined the council advising the alliance, which focuses on public safety applications for ATSC 3.0. The AWARN Alliance and advisory committee members plan “to convene working groups” in the second half of 2017, and a beta version of AWARN alerts will be available for TV stations that broadcast in ATSC 3.0 in 2018, the release said.

The FCC shouldn’t push reconsideration of its policy on deals involving radio stations in “embedded markets,” to a later quadrennial review, said Connoisseur Media in a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai Wednesday. An embedded market is a suburban radio market identified by Nielsen as a separate radio market for the purposes of reporting ratings. Radio stations in embedded markets also are considered part of parent markets, which cover an entire metropolitan area. Under the current rules, the FCC measures whether a deal is within ownership rules using both markets, which could cause prospective deals to run afoul of media ownership rules. Connoisseur filed a petition for reconsideration (see 1703100060) of the policy that's still pending, the letter said. The proposal is unopposed and “Connoisseur cannot understand why the Commission would further defer its consideration,” the letter said. The FCC “must act” Connoisseur said. “Any delay will just further entrench the competitive imbalance that exists in these markets.”

Liberty Interactive, which already owns about 38 percent of HSN shares, agreed to buy the remaining 62 percent of the company in an all-stock transaction valued at $2.1 billion, the companies said in a Thursday news release. The deal, which has an enterprise value of $2.6 billion, is expected to close in Q4 2017. HSN will become a subsidiary of Liberty Interactive, which also owns TV shopping channel QVC. The transaction requires approvals by the FCC, a Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review and a majority vote of HSN shareholders, said Liberty Interactive. The acquisition would enhance development of e-commerce, mobile and over-the-top platforms and optimize programming among other benefits, the company added.

Petitions to deny Sinclair’s proposed merger with Tribune are due Aug. 7, said the FCC Media Bureau in a public notice Thursday. Oppositions are due Aug. 22, and replies Aug. 29, the PN said. The deal would put the combination 6.5 percent over the national ownership cap, the PN said. Sinclair and Tribune said they intend to “take actions as necessary” to comply with the FCC ownership rules, and if divestitures are needed, applications will be filed when buyers are located, the PN said.

Romar Communications has no AM license or station or revenue, yet the FCC's regulatory fees on broadcasters -- especially those in small and rural markets -- can be sizable, the upstate New York AM broadcast permittee said in a docket 17-134 filing posted Wednesday in which it backed NAB's position that the agency should increase the threshold exemption for paying regulatory views from $500 to $1,000 (see 1706230027). Romar also said the FCC should consider establishing market-based sliding scale regulatory fees for construction permits instead of charging the same regardless of market size.

Sinclair and its One Media subsidiary want the FCC to keep the A/322 document on ATSC 3.0's physical layer protocol out of the final rules for the next-generation broadcast system, they told the commission in Thursday meetings, according to an ex parte notice posted Monday in docket 16-142. The FCC “should avoid over-regulation to permit innovation,” Sinclair and One Media said. FCC rules “support maximum innovation by specifying interference requirements rather than technical standards,” and the companies believe the commission “should follow a similar approach here,” they said. The FCC need not “specify A/322 to ensure universal compatibility,” they said, calling on the commission to “specify” only the A/321 “bootstrap” document in the final ATSC 3.0 rules: “Equipment manufacturers build to industry standards -- and service providers use those standards -- in the ordinary course without any government mandates. Mandating A/322 would hamper innovation without any corresponding benefit.” LG Electronics has been the strongest proponent at the FCC for including the A/322 document in the final ATSC 3.0 rules (see 1706080054).

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn called the FCC’s approval of Sinclair’s $240 million purchase of TV stations from Bonten Media a “FridayNewsDump,” and in a series of tweets Monday said it was approved without any communication with her office. “Where’s the #transparency?” Clyburn asked. “The FCC followed its standard procedures for approving unopposed broadcast station transfers," an FCC spokesman said in an email. "When Commissioner Clyburn ‎was Chairwoman, she did not inform then-Commissioner [Ajit] Pai when unopposed station transfer requests were approved so her complaint rings quite hollow.” Friday’s FCC approval covered eight full-power TV stations, and the transfer of six low-power TV stations that were also part of the deal was approved Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told us. Clyburn also tweeted that Friday’s order didn’t make clear how the acquisition would affect Sinclair’s ownership reach for purposes of calculating how close it is to the national ownership cap. When Sinclair announced the deal, attorneys said the purchase would increase Sinclair’s ownership reach by 1 percent, and with the UHF discount Sinclair would remain well under the cap. Last week, Sinclair formally asked for FCC approval of its proposed $6 billion buy of Tribune (see 1706300056).

The proposals in the FCC’s NPRM on eliminating the main studio rule would “disproportionately harm marginalized groups,” said Free Press in comments filed Monday in docket 17-106. The proposed rule changes would allow “broadcast conglomerates” to move resources away from “struggling communities” and “centralize broadcasting facilities and staff in wealthier metropolitan areas,” Free Press said. The rule helps to hold local stations accountable to the public interest, Free Press said. “Technological development is not a reasonable replacement for physical main studios, and competitive market conditions alone will not protect communities if the main studio rule is eliminated,” the filing said. Other filings posted in the docket show overwhelming broadcaster support for eliminating the rule. We Are One Body Catholic Radio and Presence Radio Network said the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act, and Kona Coast Radio said the rule has led to smaller markets being denied broadcast service. The main studio rule “subsidizes the commercial real estate industry,” said Bryan Broadcasting, Honey Creek Broadcasting, Point Broadcasting and Canyon Media in joint comments.“The requirement for a physical main studio is a remnant of another era in broadcasting and in commerce generally, when all communications took place in person,” the joint filing said.