The NFL’s blackout policy lifts attendance, generates negligible output effects and tempers clubs’ incentive to raise ticket prices, said the league in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 12-3 (http://bit.ly/Wnxifn). It said the economic analysis supports the conclusion that retention of the sports blackout rule is in the public interest. That there are few blackouts implies that the policy is working by stimulating demand, and “not that the policy is unnecessary,” it said. The research was done by Economists Inc., NFL said. The filing recounted a meeting with the researchers and staff from the FCC Media Bureau and Office of Strategic Planning.

The FCC Media Bureau fined Glendive Broadcasting and its KXGN-TV Glendive, Montana, station $15,000 for not filing children’s TV reports on time and failing to report the violations in a 2005 license renewal, said a bureau forfeiture order Friday (http://bit.ly/1pkYza4). It said the station failed to file 22 reports on time since 1998. Though Glendive said the bureau should reduce its fine because some of the violations occurred beyond the statute of limitations, the bureau disagreed and assessed the full fine. Centex Television, licensee of Class A KRHD-CD Bryan, Texas, faces a possible $1,000 fine for failing to publicize the location of its kids’ programming reports, said a notice of apparent liability (http://bit.ly/1mXOtOg). KRHD hadn’t publicized its reports since the beginning of 2013 due to an administrative error, the order said. The bureau also proposed a $6,000 fine for Killeen Christian Broadcasting, licensee of Class A KPLE Killeen, Texas, for failing to file kids’ TV reports on time and failing to file ownership reports, said an NAL (http://bit.ly/1pl7EQe). The proposed fine isn’t for $16,000, which in one instance the NAL says erroneously, said a Media Bureau spokeswoman.

Buckeye Cablevision and Sinclair requested immediate dismissal of their complaints against one another over a retransmission consent dispute. The companies reached an agreement resolving the dispute, the companies said in a filing posted Wednesday in dockets 13-317 and 14-33 (http://bit.ly/1nP47fc). Buckeye agreed to pay a signing bonus to Sinclair station WNWO-TV Toledo in Ohio as part of the agreement (CD July 16 p22). The entities urged the FCC to terminate the dockets “with prejudice and take no further action with respect to these matters,” Buckeye and Sinclair said.

Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., urged the FCC to grant Black Television News Channel a waiver of the ban on ads carried on direct broadcast satellite noncommercial set-aside channels. Bachus filed the letter, posted Thursday, in support of BTNC’s effort to partner with Florida A&M University, he said in the letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (http://bit.ly/1yxoT6s). The commission would be serving the public interest mandate by approving this application, he said.

Sinclair is starting a collegiate sports network, it said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1mlzUz3). The American Sports Network (ASN) will broadcast collegiate football, basketball, soccer, and other sports from more than 50 universities and colleges, starting with the opening of the 2014 college football season, it said. Sinclair has agreements with several NCAA Division I conferences, including the Patriot League and the Colonial Athletic Association, it said. “This programming should enhance the value of non-Big 4 stations,” said Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker in an email to investors. Adding sports content could increase the value of MyNetwork and CW affiliates, Ryvicker said. “Management expects that this new content will help drive retrans discussions (and rates) with” pay-TV companies, she said. ASN will be led by Doron Gorshein, chief operating officer of Sinclair Networks, who joined Sinclair in January, said the broadcaster.

The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and Sunlight Foundation filed complaints at the FCC against Allbritton station WJLA-TV Washington, D.C., and Gannett-owned KGW-TV Portland, Oregon, on allegations that the stations incorrectly identified front groups as the true sponsors of political advertisements, the filers said Thursday in a news release. One individual paid for the front groups, the groups said. The stations failed to disclose the true source of funding when airing paid political programming, the groups said in separate complaints against each station (http://bit.ly/1r79Y0c) (http://bit.ly/1mlDLw8). They urged the FCC to declare that the stations weren’t in compliance with the FCC rules or Communications Act, they said. The FCC should take other measures, like assessing forfeitures and issuing a public notice “reminding broadcast stations of their obligations,” they said.

The FCC seeks comment on whether it should change the way it collects Form 317 data for the annual DTV ancillary/supplemental services report for DTV stations, said a notice Wednesday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1oYwqal). It said the request for information is part of the FCC’s effort to reduce filing requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The FCC sought comment on whether the information collection is necessary and ways to possibly “minimize the burden” for stations. Comments are due Sept. 15

Statements by the commissioners of Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League directly contradict NFL claims that sports blackouts are a necessary component of a successful league operation, said the Sports Fans Coalition. The statements of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman were made in federal court depositions, Sports Fans Coalition said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 12-3 (http://bit.ly/1rhF4nB). The commissioners said blackouts don’t work and “televising local games is the best approach,” the filing said. The coalition discussed the depositions this week with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, it said.

The FCC identified low-power FM applicants in five closed mutually exclusive groups for new noncommercial educational FM translator station construction permits. Group 004 is composed of Educational Media Foundation and Community Broadcasting (CBI) for a St. Joseph, Missouri, translator station, it said Tuesday in an order approved by the full commission and released in Wednesday’s Daily Digest (http://bit.ly/1nwNDU5). Group 024 identifies applications from World Revivals (WRI) and Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls for translator stations at Narberth, Pennsylvania, it said. CBI and WRI were tentatively selected in their respective groups. Other applicants that are tentatively selected are Living Way Ministries for a translator at Weehawken, New Jersey, and for a translator at Gainesville, Georgia, and Radio Training Network for a translator at Tampa, Florida, it said. The order triggers a 30-day period for the filing of petitions to deny.

Comments on proposed changes to rules governing the emergency alert system are due Aug. 14, with replies due Aug. 29, in docket 04-296, the FCC said Tuesday in a Federal Register notice (http://1.usa.gov/1r2xZWs). The FCC released the NPRM last month (CD June 30 p14). The proposals in the NPRM are intended as first steps to fix the vulnerabilities uncovered in the national EAS test, Pillsbury attorneys said Tuesday in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1apzXs4). The FCC proposes that a reasonable time period for participants to replace unsupported equipment, perform necessary upgrades and other tasks “be six months from the effective date of any rules adopted as a result of the NPRM,” they noted.