The FCC let WJAR, Providence, Rhode Island, move from Channel 51 to 50 (see 1504220033), a Media Bureau order said Friday. The change will nix any interference with a wireless licensee in the lower 700 MHz A block adjacent to Channel 51 in the Boston and Providence TV markets, it noted the broadcaster had said. That licensee had been identified as T-Mobile (see 1504270028). As with another station's channel change that was recently approved (see 1505200022), the bureau said that because of a May 29 pre-auction licensing deadline for TV stations, WJAR can switch once the order appears in the Federal Register.

NAB supports the FCC plan for determining TV incentive auction opening bids, except for the plan to include dynamic reserve pricing, association representatives told aides to the agency's members in separate meetings and conference calls last week, an ex parte filing said Friday in docket 12-268. “If prices are raised to unreasonably high levels the Commission may believe it is further justified in artificially suppressing reverse auction bids that otherwise should have been accepted.” The FCC should also remain flexible about consumer education requirements after the auction, NAB said. Repacked stations have every incentive to make certain their viewers know about channel changes in advance, and are in the best position to make decisions about how to educate their viewers, it said. The commission should let wireless mics operate in the duplex gap, and not repack TV stations there, NAB said. “While it may be inconvenient for unlicensed advocates, if the Commission has any interest in newsgatherers’ ability to do their job, wireless microphones must have some small exclusive home.”

An FCC item on circulation about preserving a vacant channel in the UHF band for wireless mics and white space devices will be used by the agency to take away low-power TV spectrum, said LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition Director Mike Gravino in a coalition email he described as a “rant.” The vacant channel strategy was explained to Gravino by “a senior member” of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's staff during a meeting at the FCC last week, Gravino said. The aide was Renee Gregory, said Gravino's filing posted Thursday in docket 12-268. It said that she "challenged the assertion of the Coalition that Congressional action was needed for the FCC to repurpose TV band spectrum for unlicensed use," and that since the item was on circulation, she couldn't discuss it.Wheeler has “gone rogue” and is ignoring congressional protections for LPTV and translators, Gravino said. He called out Wheeler for refusing to meet with him, calling the chairman “scared,” a bully and a failure. “The professional lobbyists and lawyers who conduct business with the FCC on behalf of clients all tell you to not make it personal, do not make personal attacks on officials, and stick to the facts,” Gravino said. “If no one stands up to the bully, then the bully gets his way, and continues to prey on the weak, and those too scared to speak up.” The FCC did not immediately comment. Earlier last week, Gravino said his meeting was canceled with NAB to discuss his plan to lobby Congress to hold an auction of low-power TV spectrum separate from the incentive auction (see 1505190060).

A mobile DTV consortium joined the North American Broadcasters Association, which said it expects Pearl TV to take an active role on NABA committees and groups, particularly on spectrum and transitioning to next-generation TV. Pearl became an associate member, said an NABA news release Wednesday, which said the consortium includes broadcasters with 170 network TV affiliates. NABA is a member of the World Broadcasting Unions, which earlier this week said its satellite group changed its name amid the move to IP video (see 1505200021).

The FCC OK of TDS moving KOHD Bend, Oregon, to Channel 18 from 51 took effect Wednesday, said an agency notice in that day's Federal Register. The station owner had said the move would nix any interference in the lower 700 MHz A block adjacent to Channel 51 in the Portland market, said a Media Bureau order earlier this month (see 1505140046). It said the "expedited effective date" was because of the May 29 pre-auction incentive licensing deadline by when stations must license newly built facilities for them to be protected in the post-auction repacking (see 1505140044).

A significant uptick in false emergency system alerts in the past five years has resulted in a growing number of FCC EAS penalties in amounts that previously appeared only in indecency cases, said broadcast lawyer Scott Flick in a post Tuesday on Pillsbury Winthrop's blog. That day’s $1 million settlement by iHeartCommunications (see 1505190039) means the FCC has “taken five enforcement actions totaling nearly $2.5 million for misuse of EAS tones by broadcasters and cable networks” in the past six months, Flick said. While the financial penalty is noteworthy, the FCC also is attempting to eradicate copies of EAS tones before they can be used by future production staffs, he said. "Given the easy access to numerous recordings of EAS tones on the Internet, the FCC might be a bit optimistic that deleting the tone from a station’s production library will prevent a recurrence," Flick said. "It is perhaps an acknowledgement that most false EAS tone violations are the result of employees unaware of the FCC’s prohibition rather than a producer bent on violating the rule."

IHeartCommunications agreed to pay $1 million after admitting to misusing emergency alert system tones, and will follow a compliance and reporting plan, said an FCC news release Tuesday. IHeartCommunications must remove or delete all simulated or actual EAS tones from the company’s audio production libraries, the FCC said. Oct. 24, iHeart’s WSIX(FM) Nashville aired a false emergency alert during the broadcast of the nationally syndicated The Bobby Bones Show, the agency said. While commenting on an EAS test that aired during the 2014 World Series, Bobby Bones, the show’s host, broadcast an EAS tone from a recording of an earlier nationwide EAS test, the commission said. This false tone was sent to more than 70 affiliated stations airing the show and resulted in some of these stations retransmitting the tones, setting off a cascade of false EAS alerts on radio and TV stations in multiple states, it said. IHeartMedia did not immediately return a request for comment.

FCC suspension of the non-Class A low-power DTV transition deadline took effect Friday, said an agency notice in that day's Federal Register. The deadline was Sept. 1 (see 1504270043), the Media Bureau noted. "Until a decision is reached in the rulemaking and the Commission can determine the effect of the future incentive auction and repacking, LPTV and TV translator stations may delay completing construction of their digital facilities." Class A's must transition by Sept. 1, the bureau said.

CBS said consumers can now show content from CBS.com and the CBS app on TVs using Google’s Chromecast. A news release said the service will cost $5.99 a month and give consumers access to more than 7,000 on-demand episodes from the current season, previous seasons and classic shows, as well as the ability to stream local CBS stations live in more than 20 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, with more to be added each month, said the broadcaster.

Full-power and Class A licensees have until May 29 to file a license application with the FCC Media Bureau in order to be eligible for protection in the post-incentive auction repacking, the bureau said in a public notice Wednesday. “This is the last opportunity for all full power and Class A licensees to modify their licenses to fix any errors they may have made in providing us their operating parameters and to have those modifications protected in the repacking process,” the PN said. After the May 29 deadline, the bureau will put out an Eligibility PN “listing the facilities eligible for protection in the repacking process and relinquishment in the reverse auction based on the database technical information on file with the Commission. ” Licensees will then have 30 days to file Pre-Auction Technical Certification Forms certifying that the information in the eligibility PN is correct. A copy of the form was released with the deadline reminder PN. “We encourage all full power and Class A licensees to review the Form and begin the process of gathering the information necessary to complete it,” the bureau said. The eligibility PN and the Pre-Auction Technical Certification Form are expected to be released and available for filing by “mid-June 2015,” the bureau said.