FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler assured some members of Congress that their support for an effort to allow Black Television News Channel to carry ads on direct broadcast satellite noncommercial set-aside channels will be considered. FCC rules require 4 percent of a DBS carrier’s channel capacity to be reserved exclusively for noncommercial programming of an educational or informational nature, he said in letters released Friday (http://bit.ly/VI9f9Q). Wheeler wrote separate letters to Reps. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., Corrine Brown, D-Fla., Bobby Rush, D-Ill., Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and other members of Congress. BTNC would like the FCC to waive the ad ban as part of its effort to partner with Florida A&M University (CD July 3 p12).

Sinclair began a content development division, the company said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1p0GfB1). It said Sinclair Original Programming will create “entertainment content and business-to-consumer content such as infomercials and direct response commercials.” The shows SOP creates will initially air in prime time and afternoons on weekends on Sinclair’s MyNetworkTV and CW stations, the broadcaster said. “Controlling our content and its development not only reduces our dependency on others, providing a hedge against network disruptions, but allows us greater economic upside potential,” Sinclair CEO David Smith said. Arthur Hasson, general manager of Sinclair’s CBS, CW and MyNet affiliates in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, will become chief operating officer of SOP, Sinclair said. “There is potential to distribute shows beyond our platforms both domestically and internationally,” Hasson said.

The National Radio Systems Committee will mark its 35th anniversary with a breakfast reception Sept. 11 during the 2014 Radio Show in Indianapolis, said CEA and NAB, which co-own the NRSC, Thursday in a joint news release (http://bit.ly/1tunqux). Since its creation in 1979, the NRSC “has become a focal point for the U.S. radio industry’s development of technical standards and the advancement of broadcast radio technology,” they said. NRSC standards have been adopted as FCC rules “and have guided the manufacture of radio receivers and broadcast transmission equipment,” they said.

The iBiquity Digital complaint to declare invalid three patents used as the basis of dozens of infringement lawsuits against HD Radio-licensed broadcasters and carmakers (CD July 7 p9) should be dismissed, said the two companies that hold those patents, in a motion filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware. IBiquity sued the two companies, Delaware Radio Technologies and Wyncomm, to remove the threat of litigation, claiming it has “a contractual obligation to indemnify” licensees “against any losses incurred as a result of being sued over their use of HD Radio technology.” But the iBiquity complaint needs to be dismissed for “lack of subject matter jurisdiction and lack of standing, as there is no actual controversy between the parties,” Delaware Radio and Wyncomm argued in their motion. All the complaints against the carmakers have been settled, and Delaware Radio and Wyncomm have never threatened iBiquity itself with a patent suit, they said. Moreover, iBiquity “has not alleged that it has stopped selling or licensing its software, or has lost customers as a result of the remaining Delaware Radio and Wyncomm infringement complaints against the broadcasters “or the alleged indemnity demands,” they said. “Thus, there is no actual or even remote chance of injury here that could support jurisdiction.” IBiquity also has failed to show “any evidence of the existence of a contractual agreement to indemnify the Delaware broadcaster defendants other than a bare one sentence allegation,” they said. Not only does iBiquity “fail to allege that it has evidence of its alleged indemnity obligations, but publicly available documents found on its website directly belie that assertion,” they said. “It is therefore clear that iBiquity’s bare allegation regarding a proposed indemnification agreement does not create jurisdiction or standing."

The Media Bureau granted a deadline extension to file applications for review on its approval of license renewals for Fox stations WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, and WNYW New York, said an order issued Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1oaHnBZ). The bureau granted the license renewals and a temporary waiver of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rules to let Fox own both the stations and the New York Post (CD Aug 11 p14). The deadline is extended from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, the order said. Oppositions now are due Oct. 23, replies Nov. 3, in docket 07-260. The extension came at the request of Free Press, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, United Church of Christ and Voices for New Jersey.

The FCC Media Bureau adopted a consent decree with ASWC Radio Committee on its KWCW(FM) Walla Walla, Washington. The consent decree stemmed from ASWC’s failure to comply with the public file rule or ownership report rule, the bureau said in an order released Monday (http://bit.ly/1tb2WZx). KWCW is a student-run noncommercial educational station, and the violations are first-time documentation violations “within the parameters of our policy concerning violations of documentation requirements of rules by student-run NCE radio stations,” it said. ASWC will carry out a compliance plan that meets the requirements and it will make a “voluntary contribution” of $1,200 to the U.S. Treasury, the order said.

The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) urged the FCC to adopt a proposal from broadcaster SSR Communications to create a C4 allocation for FM stations. Doing so will “improve spectrum efficiency while providing greater opportunities for small and minority entrepreneurs in broadcasting,” MMTC said in comments in docket RM-11727 (http://bit.ly/1yG53UQ). Increasing opportunities for Class A stations to expand their coverage areas to connect with a broader audience could help small and minority-owned stations gain access to capital and strengthen their foothold in the broadcasting arena, it said. Initial comments are due Sept. 18 (CD Aug 15 p10).

The FCC Media Bureau extended the deadline for comments on a petition to amend the rules for FM stations. Initial comments are now due Sept. 18, and replies Oct. 3, the bureau said Thursday in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1Bh3PDE). SSR Communications wants a rulemaking to create a C4 allocation and amend technical rules for the FM broadcast service, it said. REC Networks requested the extension, the bureau said.

Media General requested waivers for the FCC network non-duplication rule and the syndicated exclusivity rule concerning its WNCT-TV Greenville, North Carolina. WNCT can’t realize the benefits of its exclusive programming rights on the cable systems in Greenville and Kingston, North Carolina, it said in a petition posted Thursday in docket 12-1 (http://bit.ly/1sZ82bk). The broadcast programming rights that the station bargained for with CBS “are being ignored in favor of the programming broadcast by WRAL-TV” Raleigh, it said. Nielsen survey data show WRAL didn’t have any over-the-air viewership in the communities, Media General said. The FCC should grant the petition with respect to WRAL in the communities, it said. That will let WNCT “benefit from the exclusivity rights for which it bargained,” it said.

The FCC should grant a blanket waiver until Sept. 1, 2015, of the construction deadline for low-power TV stations authorized to build digital LPs, commented NAB (http://bit.ly/1oMPjJR) in docket 03-185 in response to an Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance petition (CD July 29 p17). The post-incentive auction repacking is likely to displace many LPTV stations, and such stations aren’t eligible for reimbursement for their relocation costs, NAB said. “It is therefore unreasonable to require broadcasters to invest in new low power facilities today that may well be displaced in repacking in the next few years.” Granting the blanket waiver would also save the FCC the trouble of processing the numerous individual waiver requests that are likely to be submitted if it isn’t successful, NAB said. Not granting the waiver increases broadcaster uncertainty about the repacking process, which is also enhanced by doubt that the $1.75 billion TV broadcaster relocation fund will be able to cover relocations for full-power and Class A stations, NAB said. “Simulations released by the Incentive Auction Task Force have well over 1000 full power and Class A stations being relocated.” NAB estimates that the relocation funds would be able to cover the relocation of only 400-500 stations. To keep full-power and Class A broadcasters from having to pay for their own relocation, the FCC should either treat the relocation fund as a limit on the repacking, or require “winning wireless bidders in the forward auction to cover the additional costs of relocating incumbent broadcasters,” NAB said. “The Commission should not make an already difficult situation worse by requiring broadcasters to make investments in facilities that are likely to ultimately be stranded.” Thursday, when NAB’s filing appeared in the docket, was when initial comments were due on the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance petition.