Consumer groups Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization, Deaf Seniors of America, National Association of the Deaf, and Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TDI) repeatedly asked the FCC to require religious programming to comply with closed captioning requirements. The consumer groups filed several oppositions and one comment at the FCC in docket 06-181 Feb. 13. The groups said the commission should grant only limited, and not open-ended, exemptions because of “the evolution of technology, potential drops in the cost of captioning over time and the possibility that the financial status of a petitioner may change." The commission should deny the petitions by Faith at Work Ministry, Father Cedric Ministries (FCM), Lima Baptist Temple, Van Buren First Assembly of God and Victory Assembly Church of Beaumont because they failed to show that captioning their programming would be “economically burdensome,” TDI said. Programmers’ captioning costs can be covered by their excess net income, TDI said. FCM, petitioning to exempt its show Live With Passion! from closed captioning, didn’t provide the commission with a full record of its financial resources, TDI said. “The limited financial records FCM has provided show that captioning its broadcasts would not be economically burdensome,” it said. TDI called FCM’s solution of not captioning old episodes it rebroadcasts inadequate. Victory Assembly Church of Beaumont failed to provide the commission with financial documents, TDI said. The commission should dismiss Van Buren’s petition because it received a three-year waiver, TDI said. The groups don’t oppose Kellogg Street Production’s request for a temporary waiver through the end of 2015 because it demonstrated that captioning would be economically burdensome and it’s stopping production in 2015, TDI said. But if KSP resumes programming, it needs to comply with captioning rules, TDI said. Comments and oppositions on exemptions from closed captioning requirements are due March 16 see 1502120025).

The FCC Media Bureau Video Division approved WLAJ-TV Lansing, Michigan's request to substitute Channel 25 for Channel 51, the bureau said in an order Friday in docket 15-2. The substitution will eliminate potential interference with wireless operations in the adjacent lower 700 MHz A-block, which includes the Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint and Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland markets, WLAJ's self-named licensee said. WLAJ must electronically submit a minor change application for a construction permit with Form 2100, Schedule A within 30 days, the bureau said.

The Parents Television Council said indecency complaints should be filed with the FCC over Sunday’s episode of Fox's Family Guy. “The episode joked about statutory rape and contained sexually explicit dialogue,” PTC said in a news release. Children are “inherently attracted to animated programming” and the episode aired at 9 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. Central, when kids are likely to be watching TV, PTC said. The episode contained a joke defining the term “frosty jim” as having sex with a frozen urine-filled condom. “Family Guy’s description of this explicit sexual terminology violates the broadcast indecency law,” PTC said. “We believe that joking about statutory rape, as Family Guy did throughout this episode, exceeds contemporary community standards of decency for the broadcast medium.” PTC asked its members to file complaints with the FCC over the episode and urged the FCC to issue a fine. Fox had no immediate comment.

NAB will add an online video track to the NAB Show in Las Vegas April 11-16, the association said in a news release Wednesday. The online video conference, April 14 and 15, will cover advertising, cross-screen targeting, migration to over-the-top services, multichannel video programming distributors and new video platforms, it said.

The Association of Public Television Stations’ 2015 Public Media Summit is Feb. 22-24 at The Fairmont in Washington. FCC Incentive Auction Task Force Chairman Gary Epstein and Vice Chairman Howard Symons will speak.

The FCC requested comment on exemptions from closed captioning requirements, in a public notice Thursday in docket 06-181. Catholic Television Network of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio/Mass for Shut-Ins, Christian Video Ministries, Church Television Ministry, Crosswalk Chapel/Crosswalk and Riverbend Church/Riverbend filed petitions for exemption from closed captioning requirements for their TV programs because compliance “would be economically burdensome,” the PN said. Comments and oppositions are due March 16.

The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force announced California dates for its incentive auction "road show," in a public notice Thursday. Starting March 2, the presentations on will be in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, the PN said.

The FCC Media Bureau fined NPG of Idaho, licensee of KIFI-TV Idaho Falls, $6,000 for failing to file children’s TV programming reports in a timely manner for five quarters, the bureau said in a notice of apparent liability Thursday. KIFI failed to report late filings in its renewal application, the bureau said. A commercial TV licensee is required to file reports “reflecting the efforts that it made during that quarter to serve the educational and informational needs of children” in public inspection files for each calendar quarter, the bureau said. Payment is due within 30 days, the bureau said. NPG didn’t comment.

The FCC seeks comment on proposed improvements to the way it issues some FCC Registration Numbers (FRNs) that will allow users to be uniquely identified without using their Social Security numbers, said a Further NPRM released Thursday and approved by commissioners. The proposal is intended to address privacy and data security concerns while still letting the FCC “obtain data reflecting a more useful, accurate, and thorough assessment of minority and female broadcast station ownership in the United States and reduce certain filing burdens,” the FNPRM said. “Ultimately, such changes to the Commission’s system could assist future initiatives promoting diverse ownership.” The new FRNs would be used only for the collection of data on broadcast ownership reports, and would be called Restricted Use FRNs. Under the proposed system, users would obtain a RUFRN by submitting alternate ID information “including full name, residential address, date of birth, and last four digits of the individual’s SSN,” the NPRM said. The FCC’s registration system (CORES) “will be programmed to verify that the submitted information is complete and does not duplicate any information that is already associated with an RUFRN in CORES,” the NPRM said. The new FRN’s aren’t proposed to be required, the NPRM said. “Individuals who already have a CORES FRN need not obtain an RUFRN and may continue to use the existing number,” it said. “Any individual that wishes to obtain a CORES FRN instead of an RUFRN will be able to do so.” The NPRM seeks comment on the proposal and whether it addresses privacy concerns.

Discovery Communications renewed its long-term distribution agreement with Cablevision Systems, it said in a news release Wednesday. Cablevision subscribers can access Discovery’s 13 networks and TV Everywhere rights through subscriber authentication, it said.