E.W. Scripps’ sale of WPIX New York to Nexstar sidecar Mission Broadcasting has closed, said Scripps in a news release Wednesday. Nexstar divested WPIX to Scripps as part of its buy of Tribune but kept an option to buy back WPIX. The option was to expire at the end of 2021. Nexstar assigned that option to Mission, which has now purchased the station. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said on an investor call in 2019 that Nexstar's buying back WPIX would require a “triggering event” such as a rule change (see 1909200048). Scripps “intends to use cash from the sale to help finance the acquisition of ION Media,” said the release. That deal is expected to close in early 2021, the release said.

NAB hasn’t adequately explained the rule changes it seeks in a recent petition for rulemaking on clarifying ATSC 3.0 rules (see 2012280049), and the FCC should respond with a notice of inquiry rather than an NPRM, said the American Television Alliance in comments posted Tuesday in docket 16-142. “We are not sure that we fully grasp the parameters of NAB’s proposed rulemaking,” ATVA said. “We remain uncertain as to exactly what sort of arrangements and combinations NAB is asking the FCC to bless and cannot identify the public interest justification behind any such arrangements and combinations.” The NAB proposal could be read to allow broadcast stations to get around ownership and simulcast rules with different arrangements of ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 multicast streams, ATVA said. The proposal could create “a potential sea change in broadcast regulation,” which is why an NOI is the correct next step, ATVA said.

The FCC’s proposed rules for foreign-sponsored programming are too broad and threaten “to interfere with core First Amendment activities,” said NPR in comments posted Tuesday in docket 20-299 (see 2010260052). The NPRM “would appear to require everyone involved in funding, producing, acquiring, distributing and broadcasting programming” to research potential financial supporters and providers of content “on a routine basis no matter how innocuous the putative ‘sponsor,’” NPR said. The proposal assumes identifying foreign-sponsored content is easier than it really is and all foreign government-sponsored content is political, NPR said. It also should clarify that sponsor identification isn’t required “when a broadcaster exercises sole and independent editorial control” over content. “Unless expressly limited, these facets of the NPRM’s expanded sponsor identification obligation would pose significant obstacles to broadcasters like NPR,” the filing said. The agency should reconsider whether such rules are needed or limit their scope, NPR said.

Numerous broadcast interests backed NAB's petition to clarify how multicast streams of TV stations simulcasting in the ATSC 3.0 transition will be treated under FCC licensing rule (see 2011100067). Public TV participation in next-generation broadcasting has been hampered and public stations might not get all the public interest benefits of ATSC 3.0 due to a problem with the 2017 ATSC 3.0 order, PBS and America’s Public Television Stations said Monday in docket 16-142. Public stations shouldn't have to choose between continuing to broadcast their existing multicast streams and taking part in next-gen key deployments, they said, backing NAB's petition for clarification on multicast streams and simulcasting. Those NAB-sought clarifications are needed so stations can "allocate scarce spectrum resources to meet consumer demand" during the years of transitioning to ATSC 3.0, Gray Television said. It said if not by clarification, the FCC should establish by rulemaking that a station transitioning to ATSC 3.0 can partner with one or more stations to host its multicast channels in ATSC 1.0 even where it won't simulcast all of those channels on its ATSC 3.0 signal. Those also filing comments in recent days backing NAB included Graham, Pearl and E.W. Scripps.

Waiving the nine-year-old freeze on rulemaking petitions from full-power television stations requesting channel substitutions, the FCC Media Bureau granted Sander's petition to move KGW Portland, Oregon, from channel 8 to channel 26, says Monday's Federal Register. The bureau said the substitution "will permit the station to better serve its viewers, who have experienced reception problems with VHF channel 8."

Nexstar Media began broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 on its Denver stations KDVR and KWGN-TV, it said Wednesday. When all 2021 deployments of 3.0 are done, about a third of TV households reached by a Nexstar station will receive a NextGenTV signal, said Brett Jenkins, Nexstar executive vice president-chief technology officer.

Nexstar's WGN America cable network will be part of the Hulu + Live TV lineup starting Jan. 19, Nexstar said Friday. This restores Nexstar’s ABC-affiliated stations, the broadcaster said. It follows similar agreements with YouTube TV and fuboTV (see report, Dec. 14 issue).

Maintain the waiver process rather than relax rules to let broadcasters use ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission systems (see 2012110052), said New America’s Open Technology Institute in a call with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Monday, per an FCC filing posted Thursday in docket 20-74. Proposed changes would “undermine the Commission’s recent Report and Order that expands rural broadband access leveraging television white space devices,” OTI said. If DTS deployments with more than minimum spillover beyond a station’s current contour are allowed, FCC should say such transmissions are unlicensed and don’t get interference protection, OTI said.

Nexstar will buy consumer product rating company BestReviews from Tribune Publishing for $160 million, Nexstar announced Wednesday. Nexstar plans to “quickly scale” the online review service “through increased content syndication and brand awareness,” Chief Financial Officer Tom Carter said. This means a substantial return on Tribune’s investment, Noble Capital Markets’ Michael Kupinski emailed investors Thursday. The deal is expected to close by year-end.

FCC OK'ing all-digital AM operation takes effect Jan. 4, said a public notice Thursday. The changes, which include a voluntary transition and don't alter interference rules, were unanimously approved in October (see 2010270035).