Several public interest groups jointly sought leave to intervene in NAB’s court challenge (CD May 13 p3) of FCC Media Bureau processing guidelines for deals involving TV-station sharing arrangements, in a motion filed Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. “The organizations have a strong interest in diverse and competitive local media marketplaces, and would be directly and adversely harmed by any reversal, setting aside, or enjoinder of the public notice at issue in this review,” said the filing in docket 14-1072. It was signed by the Benton Foundation, Common Cause, Free Press, Media Alliance, Media Council Hawai`i, National Organization for Women Foundation, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Prometheus Radio Project and United Church of Christ Office of Communication.

The FCC rule barring competing top-four TV stations in the same designated market area from engaging in joint retransmission consent negotiations is effective June 18, the FCC said in a Federal Register notice Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1o2LOnS). The commission also set a June 19 effective date of its joint sales agreements attribution rule (http://1.usa.gov/1oOEXOZ), in Tuesday’s Federal Register. The commission approved the rules in March (CD April 1 p11). The FCC also established comment deadlines for proposed changes to the broadcast ownership rules. (See separate report below in this issue.)

Nexstar bought Enterprise Technology Group, a cloud-based content management firm. ETG works with broadcasters, publishers, retailers and others on content management systems and delivers “any screen” capabilities, said a Nexstar news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1jZVFrX). It said the deal will expand Nexstar’s digital business to about $50 million in annual sales; an analyst said it had about $30 million in such sales in 2013 (CD March 27 p5).

The FCC Media Bureau dismissed 14 low-power FM applications filed by Antonio Guel due to information provided on Form 318. An independent Audio Division staff analysis identified a number of discrepancies and commonalities in the information provided in the applications, the bureau said in a letter to Guel (http://fcc.us/1sARcfk). Staff found that in some cases, the actual occupant at the listed mailing address wasn’t the applicant listed on Form 318, it said. It was established that none of the applicants or applicants’ board members had any relationship with the occupant at the address listed in the application, it said. There also were issues involving changes in ownership and reasonable site assurance, the bureau said. The applicants include East Memphis (Tennessee) Community Radio, Greensboro (North Carolina) Community Radio, and Sugar Land (Texas) Community Radio. The applications were filed last year during the LPFM filing window, the bureau said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau denied a petition for reconsideration of a $4,000 fine to Aerco Broadcasting Corp. Aerco requested cancellation or reduction of the fine, which was imposed for operating a studio transmitter link (STL) at its station WSJU-TV San Juan, Puerto Rico, the bureau said in an order (http://bit.ly/1n4JKb5). The STL operated on an unauthorized frequency over a nine-month period, it said. Aerco failed to provide sufficient evidence “supporting its claim that it has an inability to pay the forfeiture,” it said.

The owners of several Ohio TV and radio stations have agreed to collectively pay $22,000 for transferring control of licenses without FCC approval, according to a Media Bureau consent decree (http://bit.ly/1sBnabz). Norma Littick, owner of Southeastern Ohio Television System and Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting System, transferred control of the companies to her son Henry Littick five months before filing for FCC approval, the consent decree said. The stations involved are WHIZ-TV Zanesville, WHIZ(AM) Zanesville, WHIZ-FM South Zanesville, WZVL(FM) Philo and WWCD(FM) Baltimore, Ohio.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $25,000 fine against Televisa for apparently operating its satellite news gathering vehicles on unauthorized frequencies while telecasting sports programming internationally. “Televisa received a warning advising it to stop operating on channels for which it did not hold a valid station authorization,” the bureau said in a notice of apparent liability (http://bit.ly/1hOhXb3). The bureau proposed the base forfeiture and a $5,000 upward adjustment, it said. Televisa is a multibillion-dollar enterprise, it said.

The FCC Media Bureau denied Maricopa County Community College District’s request for a waiver of the commission’s underwriting rules. Maricopa requested the waiver to adopt measures to address the economic challenges of decreased funding from federal and state sources, the bureau said in a letter to Maricopa (http://bit.ly/1sScCGQ). The stated purposes for the waiver “are not so unique and unusual in itself as to warrant a waiver of the underwriting rules and policies,” it said. “If Maricopa wishes to petition for a change in the rule, the appropriate vehicle would be a petition for rulemaking, not a waiver request.”

The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment on a request from Black Television News Channel for a three-year waiver of the ban on ads carried on direct broadcast satellite noncommercial set-aside channels. Initial comments on the issues raised by BTNC’s request are due June 16, the bureau said Thursday in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1jjAKAG). Replies are due July 1 in docket 14-77.

Internet Broadcasting Systems signed an agreement with Southern California Public Radio to provide digital ad operations for SCPR’s radio station group, IBS said in a Thursday dated news release posted Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1jtK6nw).