The full FCC denied Foundation for a Beautiful Life applications for review seeking permission to operate its Saratoga, California, low-power FM station, said an order released Monday. FBL’s license originally faced difficulty when the FCC said it constructed what's now DKQEK-LP Cupertino several miles from the location where it was licensed. FBL continued to broadcast from the site after its license was dismissed, and didn’t wait for the agency to rule on a special temporary authority request seeking permission to provide COVID-19 updates to Cupertino’s Mandarin-speaking residents. After the Media Bureau denied FBL’s requests, it appealed to the full FCC and unsuccessfully sought a stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2006260052). FBL argued the station provided an important information service for Chinese residents of the market, and that many of its errors were inadvertent. FBL unsuccessfully appealed a requirement that it submit copies of the bureau’s order commanding it to cease operating with any application it files for the next 10 years. By operating the station without a license, FBL was effectively a pirate, the FCC said. "The existence of a serious health crisis, while important, is not a mitigating factor,” said the order. “It does not override licensing requirements or justify a unilateral use of the public airwaves without prior authority.” FBL didn't comment.
An order updating the DTV table of allotments was unanimously approved Friday and deleted from the agenda for Tuesday’s FCC commissioners’ meeting, said a deletion notice listed in Monday's Daily Digest. The order was considered noncontroversial at the FCC and among broadcasters. “It’s really just housekeeping,” said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Matthew McCormick in an interview. The order would adjust the rules for the table of allotments to incorporate changes to the way TV channels are organized stemming from the broadcast incentive auction, the repacking and the lifting of a freeze on changes in November. The order also deletes rules that have become obsolete, according to the final version. McCormick said the changes are unlikely to have much effect on stations seeking to adjust their channels.
“Attribution in a security incident is complicated and can be speculative,” emailed a Sinclair spokesperson in response to a report that the company’s recent hack (see 2110180063) was the work of a Russian-based gang of cybercriminals called “Evil Corp.” “Our focus remains on continuing to work closely with a third-party cybersecurity firm, other incident response professionals, law enforcement and governmental agencies as part of our investigation,” the spokesperson said. The company is making progress at restoring systems after the attack, Sinclair said. “All of our stations and Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) are currently on the air and broadcasting,” and “a large portion of other programming has and is airing as scheduled,” said the spokesperson. “We are still working to return to our complete regular programming schedule and to resolve all programming issues that may arise.”
Audacy bought “an exclusive, perpetual license” to use WideOrbit’s digital audio streaming technology WO Streaming, said a release Wednesday. Audacy said this lets it deliver enhanced consumer-facing streaming features. Audacy will operate the service under the name AmperWave, and the WO Streaming team has joined Audacy. Audacy didn't comment on the purchase price. See also the personals section of this issue.
The Parents Television Council wants KREM Spokane, Washington, and owner Tegna to investigate how a clip of pornographic material aired for about 10 seconds during a weather segment on the station’s evening news broadcast Sunday. “Let there be no suggestion that the airing of the pornographic content might have been an ‘accident’ or a ‘mistake,’ said PTC President Tim Winter in a release Wednesday. “Someone with the wherewithal to pass that content through the control room did so intentionally. If it were not aired by someone’s design, why is it always porn that gets aired ‘by accident’ instead of innocuous content?” “We have apologized to our viewers and are diligently working to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” emailed a Tegna spokesperson. In 2016, then-Schurz-owned WDBJ Roanoke, Virginia, paid a $325,000 FCC forfeiture after it aired an image that contained pornography during a news story about a firefighter’s adult film career (see 1604040057). Schurz appealed the amount but eventually paid in order to close its sale to Gray Television. Schurz’s then-attorney, Jack Goodman, said in an interview Wednesday that FCC authority to fine stations over airing pornographic content remains “constitutionally dubious.”
Clarify rules for broadcasters hosting ATSC 3.0 multicast streams as part of the transition to the new standard, asked NAB in calls with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr last week, said a filing posted Monday in docket 16-142. A draft item addressing NAB’s petition on the matter was recently circulated (see 2110130061). “NAB’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Commission has a consistent regulatory framework as the Next Gen TV rollout continues,” the group said.
The FCC will hold a hearing on the fitness of a Pennsylvania broadcaster to hold a license after he admitted to using a hidden camera and a cellphone in an attempt to have a woman he knew raped, said a hearing designation order released Tuesday in docket 21-401. Roger Wahl, licensee of WQZS(FM) Meyersdale, pleaded guilty in July 2020 to the felony crime of criminal use of a communications facility and four misdemeanors involving the incident, said the HDO. Wahl’s convictions “raise the question” whether “he possesses the requisite character qualifications to remain a Commission licensee,” the HDO said. Wahl admitted in court to creating a fake dating profile of the woman, using a camera hidden in her bathroom to take and then send nude photos of the victim, and soliciting a man who responded to the profile to have sex with the victim without consent, the HDO said. Reportedly, at least some of these acts were carried out from WQZS facilities. He also deleted the evidence from his phone after learning of the investigation, the HDO said. “Even though Wahl’s attempt to inflict physical harm on the victim failed, he did inflict substantial emotional harm,” the HDO said. Wahl had sought to transfer the station to his daughter Wendy Sipple, which the bureau granted, but in July 2020 the decision was rescinded. Wahl’s application to transfer the station remains pending. Wahl and WQZS didn’t comment.
Triveni Digital will host a virtual ATSC 3.0 event Nov. 3 that will include a keynote by ATSC President Madeleine Noland and live sessions with 3.0 broadcasters and developers, including Ark Multicasting, said the company Monday. The event, called the Triveni Digital LIVE Forum, “will be vastly different than mainstream virtual events; we'll swap out pre-recorded webinars with engaging and interactive live discussions,” said Triveni. “With the cancellation of the 2021 NAB Show, the broadcast industry is missing out on the opportunity to interact and engage.”
Fifteen attorneys general called for legislation that provides tax credits to benefit local journalism operations, including TV and radio, said a letter and news release Friday from Massachusetts' Maura Healey (D). The Local Journalism Sustainability Act would provide up to $5,000 in tax credits for local businesses that buy radio, TV and newspaper ads, and up to $25,000 for local news organizations to hire journalists. The other AGs who signed the letter were from Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., and Guam.
Final briefs in broadcasters’ legal challenge of FCC rules on foreign-sponsored content disclosures are due Feb.22, said a schedule from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Wednesday (see 2108130074). NAB, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, and Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council argued the disclosure rules are overly broad, burdensome, and outside FCC authority. Initial briefs from the broadcasters are due Nov. 22, the FCC response Dec. 22 and the broadcaster reply Jan. 12.