The BBC is encouraging viewers to share comments about the broadcaster’s livestreaming trials of 29 World Cup matches in 4K with hybrid log-gamma HDR over its iPlayer internet catchup service (see 1805300003), said Andy Quested, head of BBC production standards, at the SES Ultra HD Conference Tuesday in London. The BBC is posting continuous information updates on its blog. It’s stressing that the broadcasts are only a trial, to find out what can and can’t be done with livestreaming in 4K HDR. For the World Cup, “we are using a mix of HD and UHD cameras, with the feed from wireless HD cameras and HD studio cameras upscaled to UHD,” said Quested. Many of the viewer comments concerned latency, with the sound and picture drifting significantly out of sync, he said. In some instances, iPlayer viewers hear cheers from their neighbors’ live-broadcast HD feeds, well ahead of seeing the action livestreamed on their TVs in UHD, he said. Quested recalled how early streaming experiments left the sound and picture several minutes out of sync, because the signals needed to travel around the world by different routes. Things are much better now, he said, but there is still room for improvement in IP latency. Internet speed is all-important, Quested said. “People forget about what the kids are doing with games consoles upstairs, and what other people are doing in flats down the street,” he said. “And an Ethernet cable connection will generally be more reliable than Wi-Fi. In many respects, where we are now with UHD and HDR gets us back to where we were with the old Arriflex Super 16 cameras.”

The FCC Media Bureau mailed the second batch of its equal employment opportunity audit letters for 2018 on June 19, said a public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest. “Each year, approximately five percent of all radio and television stations are selected for EEO audits,” the letter said. A list of the stations affected is online.

More than 30 radio licensees have written the FCC to support the proposed C4 FM class since docket 18-184 opened June 5, though the Federal Register hasn't published the notice of inquiry. “I fully support the FM Class C4/73.215 petition for rulemaking filed by MMTC and SSR Communications,” said Simmons Broadcasting CEO Bob Simmons. “The ability to increase power on our two Class A stations to 12kW and more effectively compete would be a huge benefit to our position in the markets we serve.” Most of the letters appear similar, and text apparently inadvertently included in one indicates the letters are part of an organized campaign. “[T]hen add something about your situation, such as your track record of community service, awards, emergency coverage, et cetera” said a letter from Wilbur Martin, manager of WABO Waynesboro, Mississippi. SSR Communications owner Matthew Wesolowski originally proposed the C4 FM class in a petition to the FCC, and told us he asked supporters to write in to demonstrate interest in the potential new class.

The FCC should create an incubator program that includes both radio and TV broadcasters, NAB said in a meeting Thursday with staff from the Media Bureau and the Office of General Counsel, according to an ex parte filing in docket 17-289.“Several commenters have endorsed inclusion of television stations in the program, and we are not aware of any commenter who has urged the Commission to limit the incubator program to radio,” NAB said. The incubator program also should include measures “that will foster public trust in the program” such as requiring information about an incubated entity’s finances and possible connections to the incubatee, NAB said.

Media measurement company Data Plus Math signed a “preferred partner agreement” with Verance to deploy Verance’s Aspect audio watermark technology as an “analytics and attribution measurement” tool for stations adopting ATSC 3.0, they said Wednesday. This “will introduce a Next Gen TV compliant multi-touch, multi-TV approach to attribution and help local programmers better analyze and monetize their inventory,” they said.

Comments on Ocean State Television's petition seeking to move its WPXQ-TV Block Island, Rhode Island, to Newport as the community of license, giving Newport its first local full-power TV service, are due July 13, replies July 30, said a notice scheduled for Wednesday's Federal Register. Newport is a larger community than Block Island and this won’t involve changing station facilities, the NPRM said (see 1805150037).

An incubator program could help first-time station owners raise equity, said BIA Capital Strategies and BIA Advisory Services in a letter posted Tuesday in FCC docket 17-289. “Because there are serious obstacles for obtaining such financing, we support an FCC incubator program that would promote investment by established broadcasters in new entrants.” Lenders to broadcasting decreased, and investors already hesitant to back established broadcasters are unlikely to consider new station owners, BIA said. It’s ”difficult for even established broadcast owners” to get financing, it said. Earlier its analysis was used to make the case for a national 50 percent TV ownership cap (see 1806110058).

The FCC Enforcement Bureau rejected an unlicensed radio operator’s petition for reconsideration of his $15,000 forfeiture, said an order released Friday. The petition by Ivan Angeles, fined for operating a pirate station in Passaic, New Jersey, was filed late, and claimed he wasn’t notified of the notice of apparent liability against him. The bureau sent a copy of the NAL to Angeles’ last known address as required by the law, the order said.

The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment on Gray Television’s bid to be allowed to own two top-four stations in the same market, said a public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. The top-four showing concerns Gray’s proposed buy of South Dakota stations KDLT-TV Sioux Falls and satellite KDLV-TV Mitchell from Red River Broadcast. Since Gray already owns KSFY-TV Sioux Falls, and the stations are ranked second and third in the market, a top-four showing is necessary, the PN said. Petitions to deny are due July 9.

Comments on proposed changes to the way the FCC handles interference between FM translators and full-power FM stations are due July 6, replies Aug. 6, the Media Bureau said in a public notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The NPRM in docket 18-119 seeks comment on setting a minimum number of listener complaints, setting a limit on how far from a station’s contour interference can occur, and relaxing relocation rules for translators (see 1805100057).