The FCC should narrowly tailor new rules on sponsorship identification requirements for foreign-government-supplied content (see 2009150059), said NAB in a call with Media Bureau staff Tuesday, according to a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-299. The agency “may inadvertently sweep in other content, unduly burdening speech and creating unjustified compliance burdens,” NAB said. The group asked why the proposed rules apply only to broadcasters and not those who have either not demonstrated an ability in the past to be free from foreign influence (e.g., certain online platforms) or are similarly situated to broadcasters (e.g., MVPDs).”

The FCC Enforcement Bureau went after owners of properties hosting pirate broadcasting operations, flexing new powers enabled by the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act. “It is unacceptable -- and plainly illegal under the new law -- for landlords and property managers to simply opt to ignore pirate radio operation,” Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold said Thursday. “Parties that knowingly facilitate illegal broadcasting on their property are liable for fines of up to $2 million.” The bureau sent out a new type of notice, called a notice of illegal pirate radio broadcasting, to two New York property managers. Bronstein Properties received one and Benedict Realty Group two (here and here), for three city buildings that the agency said host pirate radio operations. The notices give the companies 10 days to respond, warning that failure to do so could still lead to the determination that the companies knowingly allowed an unlicensed radio station to operate. The bureau released an order Thursday implementing provisions of the Pirate Act, including fines for property owners and a section allowing the agency to proceed immediately to skip the “notice of violation” stage. “We move directly to an order here because implementation of new section 511 entails no exercise of our administrative discretion and, therefore, notice and comment procedures are unnecessary,” the order said.

The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment on the University of Missouri’s request to change its KOMU-TV Columbia from VHF channel 8 to UHF channel 27, said an NPRM Wednesday. The station “regularly receives complaints from viewers who report being able to receive all other signals in the market, including a low power television station operating on a UHF channel, but not KOMU-TV,” the NPRM said.

The FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai violated administrative procedure requirements when it used the same record as evidence for a 2017 reconsideration order loosening ownership rules that the prior commission had used to justify keeping them, said the public interest group respondents in a brief filed Wednesday in the broadcasters' and FCC's Supreme Court appeal of Prometheus IV (see 2011170057). The FCC “first concluded that largely retaining local rules was necessary for the public interest,” said groups including Prometheus Radio Project, Common Cause and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters. “One year later, upon reconsideration of the same record after a change in Commissioners, the Commission reversed course.” The brief countered broadcaster and FCC arguments that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ retention of jurisdiction has stalled broadcast deregulation for years. “Any purported ‘freezing’ of ownership rules is the Commission’s doing, not the Third Circuit’s,” the document said. "The Commission itself re-adopted most of its rules in 2008 and 2016. The Commission (until now) declined to repeal the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule entirely, and the Commission took nearly ten years between this 'quadrennial' review and the last one." The respondents’ argument “isn’t so much about diversity as about the basic tenets of administrative law,” said University of Minnesota assistant professor-media law Christopher Terry. He said it’s hard to tell how the justices, some of whom seem focused on the question of judicial deference to federal agencies, will react. "The appellate court reviewed the FCC's work and found it failed the bare minimum for a federal agency,” said United Church of Christ Office of Communication attorney Cheryl Leanza on the office's website: “The lower court should clearly be upheld." The 3rd Circuit “rejected bad FCC media ownership rule changes four times because each time the agency ignored the Court’s demand for evidence and a reasoned explanation,” said former Commissioner Michael Copps, now special adviser to Common Cause, in a release. The FCC didn’t comment. Oral argument is Jan. 19.

The FCC Media Bureau Audio Division fined Imani Communications $3,000 for a late renewal application for WBFZ-FM Selma, Alabama, said a forfeiture order Tuesday. WBFZ’s license renewal should have been filed by October 2019 but wasn’t until March 2020, the order said. Imani “provided no explanation for its untimely filing of the application” and hasn’t responded to the previously issued notice of apparent liability on the matter, the order said. Imani didn’t comment.

Dish Network and Cox Media Group's multiyear carriage agreement lets local channels return to Dish, the MVPD said Sunday. This ends a five-month blackout (see 2007220077).

Microsoft, ACT|The App Association and business group Voices for Innovation want the FCC to shelve ATSC 3.0-connected rule changes to allow distributed transmission systems (DTS), but public TV and NAB say the rule changes would help finalize transition plans and serve viewers (see 2011100067). “Allowing the extension of the DTS signal beyond a station’s protected contour would adversely and unnecessarily impact the availability of television white spaces spectrum,” said Microsoft in a call last week with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, according to a filing in docket 20-74. “The proposed rule changes will provide unneeded service area expansions to broadcasters that will substantially reduce available spectrum for TV white spaces,” said Voices for Innovation in an ex parte filing posted Friday. The FCC's “laudable work” on TVWS “is already being placed in jeopardy” by the DTS proposal, said ACT. “Contrary to some claims, amendment of these rules would not change the interference protections to which broadcasters are entitled and would not change the size of ‘white spaces’ exclusion zones,” said NAB and America’s Public Television Stations in a call with Rosenworcel aides. “We urge the Commission to move forward with these technical changes.”

The next NAB Show planned as a physical event is attracting “strong early exhibit sales,” with more than 540 companies from 31 countries contracting for 330,000 square feet of space in the Las Vegas Convention Center, said the association Thursday. COVID-19 forced the show’s rescheduling to Oct. 9-13 from its customary April dates. NAB is “on a path to building a critical event that will reunite the industry and create a much-needed forum for building momentum going into 2022,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president-conventions and business operations. Despite COVID-19's uncertainty, “the initial demand has exceeded our expectations,” said Eric Trabb, senior vice president-business development.

Five TV stations in the Detroit area will turn on ATSC 3.0, plus a program to test automotive applications for the new standard, said a news release Thursday. The stations involved are owned by Graham Media, E.W. Scripps, CBS and Fox. The broadcasters are also using a portion of their spectrum for “the Motown 3.0 Open Test Track” to provide research and development for the automotive industry to “road test proof-of-concepts and connected car solutions” using the IP capabilities of 3.0. Those tests involve using the spectrum to send data files to cars, the release said. Initial participants include LG Electronics, Amazon Web Services and LTN Global, the release said.

DTS integrated Entercom’s Radio.com into its DTS Connected Radio platform, said the technology company Wednesday. The portfolios of Radio.com’s radio station partners will be “accurately and consistently represented” in the DTS Connected Radio ecosystem with artwork, artist and album information, songs and playlists, while enhancing discovery and personalization of broadcasters’ content, DTS said. DTS Connected Radio also enables continued station listening from local Entercom broadcast stations via streams provided by Radio.com when a vehicle drives out of broadcast range, it said. DTS Connected Radio supports operations in 48 countries with over 48,000 radio stations.