The FCC should eliminate rather than relax the audio filtering requirements for Travelers’ Information Stations, commented the Hatfield & Dawson engineering firm in docket 09-19 (http://bit.ly/1iJ2n51). The firm said it supports a limitation in TIS operations that is similar to limiting the bandwidth of all medium frequency (MF) broadcast stations “to a specific value because of the known limited bandwidth of virtually all modern MF receivers."

The FCC Media Bureau opened a two-month settlement period for FM translator Auction 83 applicants with proposals in mutually exclusive groups. The applications “are subject to the commission’s competitive bidding procedures,” the bureau said in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1u5vm7m). Settlement agreements and primary station specification amendments are due June 30, it said. Applicants that must sign agreements or resolve their “mutual exclusivities” include KMBQ Corp. looking to serve Wasilla, Alaska; Alaska Educational Radio System looking to serve Willow, Alaska; and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, looking to serve Ivins, Utah (http://bit.ly/1fQSfSB).

The LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition urged the FCC to avoid requiring a low-power TV station to perform its own international coordination as a result of being displaced by the spectrum auction process. A coalition member was told by members of the Media and International bureaus about such a requirement, the coalition said in an ex parte filing in docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/1hNM3PA). Doing so would require this small station to have to directly negotiate with the Mexican government for its new spectrum allocation and use, the coalition said. “This is a totally unacceptable additional condition put on an already highly-burdened LPTV industry, and does not meet any type of common sense test.” The coalition also urged the FCC to avoid creating guard bands that are larger than necessary to prevent interference between TV and the wireless services. The coalition repeated its request for having LPTV issues addressed in the NPRM on the auctions. Meanwhile, the FCC Monday proposed fining an LPTV station what some call a record amount. (See separate report in this issue.)

The FCC Media Bureau again reminded TV stations not affiliated with ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC and those outside the top-50 U.S. markets “they must begin to comply with the online political file rules on July 1,” said an FCC notice in Tuesday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1kqclYa). That publication summarized a bureau public notice reminding stations of the expanded applicability of the rule, which broadcasters took to mean they wouldn’t get the relief they sought from uploading all new records on fcc.gov (CD April 8 p5).

FCC members proposed fining a Class A TV station owner $89,200, said a notice of apparent liability Monday (http://bit.ly/S2VqBR). It alleged DTV LLC didn’t let commission agents inspect the facilities of WPHA Philadelphia on two occasions, didn’t maintain full staffing at its main studio and operated from an unauthorized location. Not allowing the inspections “is simply unacceptable,” said the NAL. The company had no immediate comment.

The Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition asked the FCC to provide as much information as possible about how the commission will establish offers to broadcasters on the upcoming broadcast spectrum incentive auctions. A coalition member said that, due to the mistrust created by efforts “to limit payments to broadcast participants, she is less inclined to participate in the auction today than she was a year ago,” EOBC said in an ex parte filing posted Monday to docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/1hIZ5xy). The coalition urged the commission to “disavow any explicit use of scoring in the auction, or, if the commission insists on any further ’scoring’, to base it solely on demonstrated interference or preclusion factors,” it said. The coalition also urged the FCC to establish prices that are sufficient to incentivize participation and establish a market for broadcast spectrum, it said. The filing pertains to meetings last week with commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel and staff from the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force.

Sinclair asked the FCC to grant its application to assign the license of WMMP-TV Charleston, S.C., to Howard Stirk Holdings (HSH). Sinclair would like the FCC to give clarity by ruling that the public interest would be served by waiving the joint sales agreement attribution rule to permit HSH to acquire WMMP and WABM Birmingham, Ala., “and enter into sharing arrangements with Sinclair without causing such stations to be attributable to Sinclair,” Sinclair said in a letter to the commission (http://bit.ly/1kms0I2). Granting approval of the application concerning WMMP “would give all parties an opportunity to make an informed decision as to how to proceed with respect to the other stations,” it said. Sinclair hired investment banker Moelis & Co. as its financial adviser in connection with Sinclair’s purchase of TV stations from Allbritton Communications. “While Moelis has not yet identified a specific purchaser or purchasers of the stations, Sinclair continues to actively pursue this course of action,” Sinclair said in a letter to the FCC (http://bit.ly/1kms0I2).

NAB members are “at a complete loss” as to why and under what authority FCC staff continue to make changes to methodology set forth in OET Bulletin No. 69, NAB said Monday in a filing at the commission. The filing reflects arguments NAB members made in a series of meetings with commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly and various staffers. It lists the trade group’s leading concerns as the FCC takes up incentive auction rules. “Congress took a significant and purposeful step when it specified the manner by which the Commission should determine the coverage areas and populations served by each broadcast television licensee,” NAB said. The Spectrum Act says explicitly the “coverage area and population served of each broadcast television licensee” is to be “determined using the methodology described in OET Bulletin 69,” NAB said. “For the better part of two decades, the FCC has applied OET-69 routinely and consistently. So when Congress enshrined its use in the Spectrum Act, Congress was directing the Commission not to change its computation methods. Congress attempted to remove any uncertainty as to how those numbers would be derived.” NAB also raised concerns about wireless mics commonly used by broadcasters. “The Commission’s failure to include any exclusive spectrum for wireless microphones will not only harm the public interest generally (by limited the ability to provide breaking news), but will specifically threaten the public’s safety,” NAB said. NAB also asked the FCC to make sure enough money is available in the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund to pay the costs some broadcasters will face as a result of auction-related repacking. “The auction should not move forward unless the staff first determines its repacking headroom under the $1.75 billion budget and takes every step it can to minimize repacking in the context of a successful incentive auction,” NAB said.

The FCC seeks comment on the proposed changes to the FM table of allotments that would substitute Channel 260A for vacant Channel 263A for WCUZ(FM) Bear Lake, Mich., said a Media Bureau rulemaking notice Friday (http://bit.ly/QFRB4k). It said the channel substitution would let licensee Roy Henderson upgrade station operations while preserving the Class A vacant allotment at Custer, Mich., and comments are due June 16, replies July 1.

The FCC Media Bureau fined TV stations for failing to file children’s programming reports in a timely manner. It found Thunder Bay Broadcasting liable for $20,000 for its WBKB-TV Alpena, Mich., the bureau said in a forfeiture order (http://bit.ly/QM7mqj). Liberty Communications was fined $4,200 for its UHF station W50CH Alton, Ill., the bureau said in a separate forfeiture order (http://bit.ly/QM8oCI). The fine was reduced from $13,000, it said. The bureau also fined Kelley Enterprises $4,000 for failing to file issues and programs lists for Class A station WMKG Muskegon, Mich. The amount “is in line with previous forfeitures the commission has determined are not excessive relative to the licensee’s ability to pay,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1gY0jBj).