The FCC needs reliable data on how the communications market functions, to replace the cancelled critical information needs (CIN) studies and fulfill responsibilities that include the quadrennial review of media ownership rules, Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a May 16 letter to House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich (http://bit.ly/SfScdw). “I assure you that any such efforts will not overstep our authority or raise any concerns like those expressed about the CIN study.” Canceling the studies “does not mean that the Commission is abandoning its obligations under Section 257, or our review of diversity issues as part of the remand” from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Wheeler said. The FCC will have to “find other ways to promote diversity in the communications market,” Wheeler said. “Approximately $467,000” was initially allocated to pay for the design of the studies, the pilot program and related activities, Wheeler told Upton. The early termination of the contract for studies resulted in a payout of $355,387, the letter said. The last invoice for the studies was received May 9, Wheeler said. Wheeler said he wants the FCC to address its responsibilities to promote diversity in the communications market by “seeking public input on the best way forward, and addressing any concerns head-on."

The FCC’s framework for the incentive auction could harm TV viewers and local businesses, said the NAB’s Future of TV blog in a post Tuesday (http://bit.ly/TR8BXn). The FCC’s decision to go with the newer TVStudy software “means many viewers could lose their favorite channels,” said NAB. The blog post also criticized the incentive auction order for not providing enough spectrum for wireless microphones and for possibly imposing repacking costs on stations not participating in the auction. If broadcasters aren’t fully reimbursed for repacking costs, it could drain “vital funds” from stations and affect local economies, said NAB. The order also makes the auction “needlessly complicated and doesn’t address border issues, the blog post said: “In passing this order, the FCC has failed to honor Congress’ intent."

Attorneys representing the FCC urged an appeals court to deny a petition for judicial review of a decision that upholds the agency’s ban on political ads on public stations. This case is a “poor vehicle for the wholesale re-examination of the constitutionality of broadcast regulation that petitioner seeks,” the attorneys said in an opposition brief to the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals (http://bit.ly/ScL15R). During a rehearing of the case brought by Minority Television Project, 11 judges upheld the ban overturning the original decision that struck it down (CD Dec 3 p4). Petitioner’s contention is that the First Amendment “gives it the right to retain the valuable benefit it has received without payment ... and then disregard the terms on which that license was granted,” the brief said. The absence of advertising has been the hallmark of public broadcasting from its inception, it said. As the appeals court explained, the ad restrictions are neither over- nor under-inclusive, it said. “Instead, they ‘are specifically targeted at the real threat -- the influence of paid advertising dollars.'” The restrictions on ads are an important piece of a comprehensive plan “to promote programming that is differentiated from the typical commercial fare,” it said.

Gannett bought hotel-review website HotelMe, said the buyer in a Friday news release (http://bit.ly/1ods1lL). The site was started in 2012 as a Gannett, USA Today Travel Media Group and District Hospitality Partners joint venture.

PBS member WXEL-TV West Palm Beach, Florida, deployed the Crossroads StrongBox data protection appliance for long-term preservation of its video content. The station selected the service as a result of increased use of HD technology that required more storage capacity for video content, Crossroads said Wednesday in a news release on its product, which keeps files online and archives them (http://bit.ly/1o6eLPP).

Auction 84 closed with 10 winning bids for new AM construction permits, totaling $598,160, the FCC said in a public notice released in Wednesday’s Daily Digest (http://bit.ly/TvitWH). Among the winning bidders are Alexander Broadcasting for a Stony Point Town, N.Y., license at $409,000, L. Topaz Enterprises for a Spring Valley, Nev., license at $10,000 and Bott Communications for an Eaton, Colo., license at $4,700, the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1oTcojk). Down payments are due June 4, final payments June 18 and Form 301 July 21, it said.

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.