Broadcasters and trade associations don’t think much of procedural arguments (see 1701260018) against NAB’s reconsideration petition against the FCC ownership quadrennial review order, they said in reply comments posted Monday in docket 14-50. The United Church of Christ and the American Cable Association are raising invalid arguments, said NAB, News Media Alliance, Nexstar, Sinclair and others. The opponents “misapprehend” the standards for recon petitions by insisting that NAB and other broadcasters have to identify a material error or omission in the rules for them to be reconsidered, NAB said. The order’s conclusion that programming competition from pay-TV carriers and over-the-top providers isn’t relevant to broadcast ownership rules is a “material error,” Nexstar said. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to quantify the number of times that the Commission has acknowledged that the newspaper/radio rule does not demonstrably serve any of the agency’s three identified policy goals but has nonetheless retained the restriction, with little or no empirical support,” said Bonneville International and Scranton Times LP jointly. “The Commission’s insufficient consideration of these changed circumstances is arbitrary and capricious, and merits reconsideration,” said NMA. The order “not only unjustifiably retains certain antiquated broadcast ownership rules without properly considering today’s competitive realities, but in some cases makes the rules more stringent without any legitimate evidentiary basis for doing so,” said Sinclair.

Entercom will turn in its license for KDND(FM) Sacramento to facilitate its proposed combination with CBS Radio (see 1702020070), Entercom said in a letter to FCC Media Bureau Audio Division Head Peter Doyle Friday. KDND’s license was embroiled in a hearing process stemming from the death of a listener in a 2007 radio contest. Consumer group Media Action Center argued the incident and Entercom's conduct during it made it unfit to hold KDND's license (see 1702010054). "This is a huge victory for the Public Interest, and I am grateful that due to the loss of this key station, FCC compliance issues will be on the minds of this and every broadcaster moving forward,” said Media Action Center Director Sue Wilson. To receive FCC approval for the deal, Entercom would have had to divest four stations in the Sacramento area, Wilson said. “Only now that the FCC must approve the company's pending merger with CBS Radio is this mega corporation doing the ‘right thing.’” Entercom didn't comment. Though that broadcaster said in the letter to Doyle that it would inform the administrative law judge it's no longer seeking renewal of the KDND license, Wilson said the ALJ could still rule on enlarging the case to include other Entercom stations, which the Enforcement Bureau opposed. KDND will cease operating and turn in its license on Wednesday, said the letter.

The FCC published its rules for progress reports on stations' post-incentive auction transition in the Federal Register Thursday, the same day as the rules' effective date. The reports will include details of relocation expenses and how reimbursement funds are spent (see 1701260033).

NAB will present formal proposals to the FCC on increasing digital power for digital FM broadcasts, adoption of the National Radio Systems Committee-5 standard as a “formal regulatory standard,” and “a non-experimental basis of the use of asymmetric sidebands for digital FM transmissions,” the association told Media Bureau staff in a meeting Monday, according to an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 99-325.

Media Action Center's “baseless accusations” that the Enforcement Bureau influenced the Media Bureau to grant license renewals for five Entercom stations to prevent them from being included in the renewal hearing for Entercom's KDND Sacramento “should be stricken from the record,” the Enforcement Bureau said in a surreply filing in docket 16-357 (see 1701200052). The bureau also filed a motion to allow the filing of the surreply to respond to MAC's accusation. “The Bureau did not attempt to influence and indeed, had no influence on, the Media Bureau's decision to grant the pending applications for the Other Sacramento Stations or on the timing of this grant,” the Enforcement Bureau said. “For Petitioners to suggest otherwise is entirely inappropriate.” MAC asked that the license renewal proceedings for Entercom's station be widened to include the licenses of Entercom's other Sacramento stations, but the stations were granted renewals by the Media Bureau within a day of MAC's request. “Although the Media Bureau's action coincided with the pendency of Petitioners' request, this fact alone offers no basis for Petitioners to falsely accuse the Bureau of concocting a method with the Media Bureau 'to withhold from the presiding judge any authority to explore' the matters Petitioners raise in their Petition,” the Enforcement Bureau said

The FCC denied former Class A broadcaster Kingdom of God’s petition for reconsideration of the Media Bureau’s earlier order denying KOG’s request to have its license reinstated, said a reconsideration order released Tuesday. Though KOG said a recent Supreme Court Decision on corruption, McDonnell v. United States, required the FCC to overturn its earlier decision, the FCC said the case wasn’t relevant, and KOG’s other arguments had already been addressed by the agency.

Univision is warning that its legal fight with Charter Communications over its carriage contract (see 1607080022) could lead to a blackout. In a statement Friday, the broadcaster said it's made "many attempts to resolve the dispute by offering good-faith settlement solutions" but that given Charter's rejection of them, it is notifying the cable distributor's customers about possible lost carriage of Univision networks and stations. In a statement, the cable operator said, "We have a contract with Univision and expect them to honor it.” Fox News Network is similarly suing the operator over which contractual terms -- the ones it had with Charter or with Time Warner Cable -- apply now that Charter has purchased TWC (see 1607200065).

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly will keynote the Hispanic Radio Conference in Fort Lauderdale March 28-29, said conference organizer Radio Ink in a news release Friday. O’Rielly will discuss possible ownership rule changes, net neutrality and other FCC issues, it said.

A Minneapolis man has pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud after defrauding investors in his startup TV network of more than $2.1 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said in a news release Wednesday. Colin Chisholm, 67, used his The Caribbean TV Network to solicit funds from investors as interim financing while it was supposedly on the verge of securing up to $100 million to begin broadcasting. DOJ said Chisholm also lied about his personal and professional background, including claiming he had been a Turner Program Services vice president and participated in the launch of CNN.

The Copyright Royalty Board said Tuesday it received a notice from SoundExchange of its intent to audit SiriusXM's 2013-2015 royalty payment statements for its webcasting and digital satellite radio services. SoundExchange monitors royalty payments for Sirius and other services as part of its role in distributing royalties to copyright owners and performers under Copyright Act section 112 and 114 licenses, CRB said in a notice in the Federal Register. CRB said it also received a notice from SoundExchange about its intent to audit the 2013-2015 royalty payment statements submitted by broadcasters Cox Radio and Hubbard Broadcasting. The board separately sought comments on motions requesting partial distribution of 2010-2013 retransmission royalty payments from the cable and satellite royalty funds. MPAA, NAB, NPR, PBS and other claimants jointly agreed that the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Broadcast Music Inc., and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers should receive 3.5 percent of the 2010-2013 royalties from the satellite fund. The performing rights organizations should also receive 3.5 percent of royalties from the cable fund for 2010-2011, and 3.55 percent of royalties for 2012-2013, claimants said. NPR should receive 0.16 percent of the 2010-2013 royalties from the cable fund, claimants said. Comments on both redistribution motions are due Feb. 22, CRB said.