A pair of filing windows were set for AM stations to apply for waivers to modify and/or relocate FM translators. The FCC Media Bureau said in an announcement Wednesday the first window for AM licensees or permit holders to file an FM translator modification application will be Jan. 29-July 28, with the second July 29-Oct. 31. The windows were set as part of the FCC's AM revitalization order issued in October (see 1510260062), with the first window only for Class C and D AM stations and the second for all AM stations. The applications can be completed online at www.fcc.gov/media/radio/am-revitalization.

Grupo Televisa and Univision plan to expand their partnership to "provide more opportunities for Latinos in the U.S. media and technology sectors" in 2016, Univision said in a news release Friday. Univision said the increased partnership will include "a wide variety of education, mentorship and career development programs," and will address two main goals -- strengthening and expanding existing efforts to increase the pipeline of Latinos in the media and technology sectors and developing and educating future media leaders. Projects under the new initiative include development fellowships for multicultural and millennial writers in media, incubator programs, entrepreneurial development opportunities and various school outreach programs, said the release.

FCC Public Safety Bureau staff suggested the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council present new proposals in MMTC's 2005 petition with others for ways that broadcasters can transmit emergency alert system content in languages other than English when EAS outlets broadcasting in those languages go off air during disasters, the group said. The staff said that could "include best practices that could be reported as part of State EAS plans," MMTC said in a filing Thursday in docket 04-296. The group had asked the bureau to work with the agency "toward a workable solution that would achieve the primary goals" of what it calls the Katrina petition (see 1511170048), after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina that caused widespread loss of life and damage. "Perhaps broadcast stations might be willing to voluntarily provide multilingual emergency broadcasts," and the FCC would consider offering some regulatory relief for the “Good Samaritans,” said the group. "MMTC and FCC staff discussed the role of essential emergency personnel with language skills who could be called upon to provide multilingual radio programming during an emergency," it said of the meeting that included Chief David Simpson and others in the bureau. The FCC confirmed it invited suggestions from MMTC on further measures that EAS participants could take to support multilingual alerting, an agency spokeswoman emailed us Friday.

The FCC Media Bureau is asking for a response from 18 TV stations accused by transparency groups of airing political advertisements with an incorrectly identified sponsor, said letters sent to each station by the bureau Thursday. The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and Sunlight Foundation claimed in a complaint to the bureau last week (see 1512100049) that the stations had evidence that Independence USA PAC, identified as the sponsor of the commercials, is almost wholly funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The groups sent the stations the evidence of Bloomberg’s involvement, saying he should have been identified as the sponsor, the groups said. “Having reviewed the complaint, the Media Bureau has concluded that additional information is needed to resolve this matter,” said the letters. The stations have until Jan. 15 to respond to the complaint, and the complainants have until Jan. 29 to reply, the letters said.

The continued development of digital terrestrial DT TV (DTT) got a boost when the World Radiocommunication Conference-15 opted not to make any changes -- except for a few exceptions in Regions 2 and 3 -- to the 470-695/698 MHz band, the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) said in a statement Friday. That no change gives European broadcasters "the required certainty" needed to invest in the 700 MHz band repacking the lower UHF band for existing TV services, WBU said. It also helps in the transition to such technologies as DVB-T2 and the introduction of more HD programming and services such as interactive hybrid broadcast broadband TV, it said. The status quo for the spectrum means broadcasters in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America and the Middle East can invest in DTT and finish the digital switchover, WBU said. And keeping the globally harmonized primary allocation for broadcasting in North America means broadcasters there can focus on the 2016 incentive auction and on DTT, WBU said.

The draft order on mitigating the effects of the broadcast incentive auction on low-power TV was added to the agenda for Thursday's FCC meeting, a posting on the FCC's website said. The order would extend the deadline for LPTV and translators to transition to digital, authorize LPTV stations to take advantage of the FCC's auction software to find new homes after the auction, and would include rules for channel sharing between LPTV and translators, agency and industry officials have told us (see 1512030058). The item will also eliminate the analog tuner requirement for TVs. The item includes an NPRM that would seek comment on channel sharing between LPTV and full-power stations, officials told us.

Several public interest groups filed FCC complaints against 18 TV stations in seven markets Thursday over political ad sponsorship identification, said a news release from the Campaign Legal Center. The stations “incorrectly” identified the Independence USA PAC as the sponsor of political ads, when the PAC is largely funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation in the release. The groups sent a warning letter to the stations in November informing them that Bloomberg was behind the PAC, but the stations identified the ads as being paid for by Independence USA, the release said. “The Super PAC acts essentially as a personal advertising arm for Mr. Bloomberg, yet the stations failed to fully and fairly inform the public about who was attempting to influence them despite being given easily-accessible, publicly-available information, including Federal Election Commission filings regarding Mr. Bloomberg’s financing of the ads,” said the release. “Under the Communications Act, broadcasters are required to 'exercise reasonable diligence' to obtain the information needed for proper sponsorship identification,” said the groups. At the 2015 Radio Show, Media Bureau Policy Division Assistant Chief Robert Baker said broadcasters aren't required to do extensive investigations of buyers of political ads to make sure the sponsor is correctly identified. “You can rely on the person that hands you the check that they are who they say they are,” Baker said, unless someone produces “a mountain of evidence” to the contrary (see 1510020057). The Media Bureau has received the complaints and is reviewing them, a spokeswoman told us.

There were 11.5 fewer hours of TV-PG prime-time broadcast programming in 2014 than in 2011 during a two-week study period, the Parents Television Council said in a release Wednesday. “Our data shows a near 20 percent decrease in the number of TV-PG rated shows that have been shown on primetime broadcast TV within a three-year period. ... We urge the broadcast networks to change course and consider the important family audience in 2016 and beyond.”

Quarterly revenue doubled in the smart TV segment at Sigma Designs, CEO Thinh Tran said on a Tuesday earnings call. For Sigma, which was the first system-on-a-chip (SoC) supplier to “natively” support Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) in 2014 (see 1409040067), the smart TV business “is continuing to show strength as our ecosystem of partners continue[s] to expand,” Tran said. In response, “we are designing to twice the number of TV models for next year that our smart TV SoC will ship into,” he said. But Sigma also has lingering doubts that 4K content delivery will develop quickly into a meaningful business, Chief Financial Officer Elias Nader said in Q&A. The “deployment infrastructure required for 4K is still going through its infancy,” Nader said. There “certainly” are “plenty of TV sets at dramatically lower prices for 4K, and certainly there is a wide array of 4K set-top boxes prepared to deploy and being deployed at this point in time,” he said. But “really the holdup comes back to” content providers, and their inability “to not only encode 4K content efficiently, but also then to distribute it on their networks,” he said. “And frankly I think the latter is the part that will take a little bit of time. So I would say it’s probably not going to be this coming year that we see any major rollouts, so maybe the end of next year, in 4K content.” Nevertheless, in TVs, as Sigma moves into 2016, it sees 4K growing to account for 60 percent of its SoC business, Nader said. Moreover, “nearly all” the 4K SoCs Sigma sells will be "HDR-enabled, I think, for next year,” he said.

Nexstar reached “an impasse” in negotiations to buy Media General, Nexstar said in a release Wednesday. Media General’s board rejected Nexstar’s revised proposal to buy the company at $16.31 per share, Nexstar said. Media General responded with a counterproposal that works out to $18.61 per share, Nexstar said. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook called the counteroffer “unrealistic” and “unreasonable,” the release said. “We will only consummate a transaction that makes sense for both companies’ shareholders,” Sook said. “Time is of the essence and further delays in reaching reasonable terms for a transaction could impact the value creation we outlined at the time we announced our original proposal,” he said. “Media General shareholders will be disappointed with their Board’s unreasonable negotiating position,” and Nexstar will “urge Media General to engage with us to reach a transaction on reasonable economic terms,” Sook said. “Our Board remains open to discussing and reviewing an improved proposal from Nexstar that would appropriately value the Company,” Media General said in its own release Wednesday. Media General asked Nexstar for its “best and final proposal” in a letter Monday, the Media General release said. “Rather than providing a revised proposal and continuing private negotiations, we are surprised that Nexstar issued today’s press release reiterating its previous proposal which our Board had already unanimously rejected,” Media General said. “It is unclear from Nexstar’s press release if its current proposal is indeed its best and final proposal,” it said. “The Board of Directors of Media General continues to recommend the proposed transaction with Meredith.”