American Community Television (ACT) joined broadcaster group TVfreedom.org to advocate for the basic service tier, TVfreedom.org said in a new release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1pXwrPl). ACT is concerned that “pay-TV-led legislative add-ons” to the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) could threaten public, educational and government (PEG) channels, the release said. ACT represents more than 5,000 PEG access channels, the release said. STELA add-ons could “erode competition in the U.S. video marketplace” and “ultimately hurt the long-term viability of PEG channels across the nation,” said ACT Executive Director Bunnie Riedel. TVfreedom.org also said it backs the Community Access Preservation Act (S-1789), which would preserve PEG access channels on the cable basic tier and prevent cable companies from charging local governments to transmit PEG channels. Cable companies are “attempting to skirt long-standing public interest obligations associated with the basic service tier and community-based programming despite the fact that effective competition has not been found in more than half of the local television markets across the country,” said TVfreedom.org.

The venue for court challenges against the FCC’s recent crackdown on sharing arrangements shouldn’t be changed to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, NAB said in a filing in the D.C. Circuit, where the cases now are located. Public interest challengers Prometheus Radio Project asked for the change in venue because the 3rd Circuit has been the venue for previous proceedings on FCC ownership rules. Those issues “should not be the tail that wags the dog of venue,” NAB said in a motion filed Thursday in docket 14-1090. Transfer could “set a perilous precedent,” giving a single circuit “a virtual monopoly over review of any future agency proceeding” NAB said. Moving the case would also be physically inconvenient, NAB said. “The gravitational center of this dispute is in this Circuit."

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $9,000 fine against KTGF-TV Great Falls, Montana, for allegedly failing to timely file its children’s television programming reports. The station licensee also allegedly didn’t report the violations in its renewal application, the bureau said last week in a notice of apparent liability (http://bit.ly/1moBHcu). The bureau also proposed a $3,000 fine for the Kaleidoscope Foundation for failing to timely file the same reports for Class A station KSJF Poteau, Oklahoma, it said in a separate notice (http://bit.ly/1vCeQKb).

Outspoken supplier Antennas Direct is offering 1,000 free ClearStream 2 Complete antennas to Aereo subscribers willing to pay a $10 shipping fee and upload their Aereo billing statements. The offer was publicized in NAB emails Thursday to reporters “covering the Supreme Court’s decision finding that Aereo infringes on broadcasters’ copyrights” (CD June 26 p1). The ClearStream 2 Complete lists for $129 at the Antennas Direct website. “Aereo Customers,” reads the online offer (http://bit.ly/1j0veDD): “We have a solution to the Supreme Court ruling that resulted in the loss of your local broadcast television: A FREE antenna from Antennas Direct.” The company on the day of the decision pulled no punches in a blog post hailing the Supreme Court ruling that days later forced Aereo to suspend its business (http://bit.ly/1lWJ7Tb). “We invite you to join us today in dancing on Aereo’s grave,” the post said. “Aereo is not actually a company,” but a “hobby backed by bloated investors,” it said. “It has not actually sustained itself and made money. It took large amounts of cash and blew them on legal fees. For the millions they have invested in lawyers, Antennas Direct could have supplied scores of Americans with the ability to start watching television right now for free."

Main Line Broadcasting completed its sale for $57 million of radio stations to L&L Broadcasting, said Media Venture Partners, a broker on the deal, Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1vxaUua). The stations were in markets including Dayton, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, and Richmond, Virginia.

The Supreme Court’s recent denial of a cert petition for Minority Television Project’s case against the FCC (CD Dec 3 p4) means broadcasters “will continue to bear the second-class First Amendment status to which they have been officially subjected for nearly 50 years,” said Fletcher Heald litigator Jon Markman on the firm’s blog (http://bit.ly/1ooZS9c). That status stems from the 1969 Red Lion decision, which upheld the FCC’s fairness doctrine, Markman said. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled en banc against MTP that FCC rules barring non-commercial stations from airing commercials don’t violate the First Amendment because of the broadcasters’ special status under the amendment, Markman said. Though MTP sought cert from the high court for an appeal, “the Supremes declined to take the bait,” he said. “As is customary, no reason was given.” Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsberg indicated in past decisions that they believed Red Lion, which hinged on the singular power of broadcast TV, no longer applied, Markman said. “There was cause for optimism that the Supreme Court would be willing to review the case and, possibly, overrule Red Lion.”

Black Television News Channel continued to urge the FCC to grant it a three-year waiver of the ban on ads carried on direct broadcast satellite noncommercial set-aside channels. BTNC said “not a single party has filed comments opposing BTNC’s request,” in reply comments in docket 14-77 (http://bit.ly/1mUIJo8). The FCC has abundant good cause to promptly grant BTNC’s request, and thereby foster a diverse and significant source of news, informational and educational programming “to serve the African-American community and the nation as a whole,” it said. The commission can waive the advertising ban for BTNC, without running afoul of the statute, by clarifying that this ban isn’t a statutory requirement, “but instead reflects a commission interpretation that can be waived for good cause shown,” it said.

A week after the Supreme Court decision that forced Aereo to shutter its operations (CD June 26 p1), Public Knowledge wants consumers to tweet their support for the fledgling startup, the group said Wednesday in an email campaign. “With Aereo, no one was losing out,” PK said. “These broadcast signals were already available to Aereo users. Companies who make the programs were still getting paid by the broadcasters. And broadcasters were still getting paid by the advertisers.” The case came before the Supreme Court because broadcasters “didn’t want to lose control over the distribution channels for TV,” it said. “The more ways that viewers can access their favorite programs, the less control broadcasters can have over what they view. Broadcasters simply want to maintain power and control over a changing television landscape.” PK said Aereo “provided an innovative service that brought consumers more choices, more control over their programming, and lower prices.” It fears the decision “will have an impact on other innovative technologies, like cloud computing,” it said. “Consumers deserve access to innovative technologies and fair options for broadcast television viewing."

The FCC should respond to the lack of diversity shown in its Form 323 broadcast ownership report (CD June 30 p6) by “implementing an aggressive slate of research projects” on the effects of media ownership rules, said National Hispanic Media Coalition General Counsel Jessica Gonzalez in a news release Tuesday. The research could help the FCC learn “whether or not its current media ownership rules are doing enough to advance its many objectives and statutory obligations when it comes to diversity,” said NHMC. The Form 323 report said that in 2013 Latinos, who comprise 17 percent of the U.S. population, owned 3 percent of full-power commercial TV stations, 3.2 percent of FM radio outlets and 5.2 percent of AMs, said NHMC. “Broadcast ownership by women, African Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians remained similarly stagnant.” By strengthening media ownership rules to limit consolidation, the FCC could “create more opportunities for new entrants like women and people of color,” said NHMC.

The Sports Fans Coalition again told the FCC the NFL can use private market negotiations rather than the sports blackout rule to achieve its business goals. Ending the rule would have no effect on the league’s decision to distribute games on broadcast TV “because the lost revenue from broadcast fees would dwarf any potential gains from selling a few thousand more game tickets,” it said in an ex parte filing in docket 12-3 (http://bit.ly/V3Wo1S). The NFL’s true motive in vigorously opposing an end to the rule has “everything to do with the league’s desire to maintain all of its myriad government subsidies, special-interest laws and regulations,” it said. The filing recounts a meeting with FCC Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly.