The full FCC dismissed a December application for review (AFR) from Delta Radio Network challenging the Media bureau’s previous dismissal of a facilities modification application, said an order Thursday. It was approved by commissioners as part of the consent agenda for their meeting that day, and removed from the meeting lineup when it was OK'ed beforehand. The facilities modification application was dismissed because DRN’s application had a “red light” status, indicating DRN was delinquent on a debt owed to the FCC. DRN argued the red light designation should have been ignored because the company was in bankruptcy proceedings. The bureau argued DRN’s bankruptcy petition was dismissed and moot. In the AFR, DNR repeated the bankruptcy argument and said the agency should grant waivers of red light status to broadcasters losing money in their operations, the order said. The bureau dismissed the waiver argument as a new legal argument and thus not valid for an AFR, and dismissed the bankruptcy argument as moot again, the order said.

The FCC improperly reviewed the UHF discount on its own instead of considering it along with the national TV ownership cap, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said in meetings Tuesday with Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and Media Bureau acting Chief Michelle Carey, according to an ex parte filing. Local TV stations compete with “multitudes” of other communication media, Sook said. He was also critical of the top-four ownership rule and the eight-voices test, saying neither reflects an accurate view of the broadcast marketplace. Sook also spoke on ownership diversity, and in support of efforts to increase minority ownership, the filing said. Sook said he supports the minority tax certificate and is open to a minority incubator program advocated by Clyburn, the filing said. The agency may soon restore the UHF discount, over the objection of Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (see 1702210027).

Triveni Digital will market a series of ATSC 3.0 "starter kits" that will bring broadcasters "up to speed” with the next-generation TV standard in a "real-world environment," the company said in a Wednesday announcement. The kits will be introduced throughout the year and “encompass everything from file-based monitoring to live encoding and over-the-air transmission options,” it said. Triveni plans to demonstrate the kits for the first time at the NAB Show in late April, where it will exhibit in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s North Hall, it said. Triveni Chief Science Officer Rich Chernock chairs ATSC’s Technology Group 3, which is supervising ATSC 3.0's framing.

FCC updates to its catalog of reimbursable expenses are effective as of Tuesday, said Tuesday’s Federal Register. Updates include a provision tying the costs in the catalog to a price index to allow for cost changes over time (see 1702090053).

Univision will receive about $376 million in incentive auction proceeds, while Raycom didn't announce its monetary gains but said it will be relinquishing spectrum in the Cleveland market. Univision's gains are on the higher end of the results announced by major broadcasters. Fox and Sinclair were each over $300 million, Gray Television announced a yield of $90.8 million, and Tribune Media $190 million (see 1702100064). CBS and Scripps didn't sell any or much spectrum in the auction, they said. Raycom Media “strategically evaluated opportunities that could bring value to the company yet not compromise our core mission to serve our local communities,” Raycom's news release said. Its WUAB Lorain “will relocate to another broadcast channel per published FCC timelines,” Raycom said.

The FCC should eliminate its newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule, said the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents black-owned media companies, in a letter in docket 14-50. Media is no longer dominated by TV networks and large metropolitan newspapers, it's dominated by even larger internet entities that aren't under FCC jurisdiction, NNPA said. Powerful online news aggregators such as Facebook are “a real threat" to local journalism, and those smaller, local entities shouldn’t be hampered by FCC regulations, NNPA said. “Today’s challenge is to ensure that these trusted community voices remain strong and economically viable against their unregulated rivals.” Cross-ownership rules restrict investment in media outlets and prevent them from innovating or upgrading their businesses, NNPA said.

IHeartCommunications opposes AM revitalization proposals that would ”add interference into the AM band” said iHeart representatives in a meeting Tuesday with aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, said an ex parte filing in docket 13-249. The radio station owner opposes proposals that would reduce interference protections for AMs.

Cayman Islands-based Corvex Master Fund will be allowed to buy up to 14.99 percent of Pandora, the FCC Media Bureau said in a declaratory ruling Tuesday. “The public interest would not be served by prohibiting the proposed additional foreign ownership of Pandora Media by Corvex.” Corvex's request was unopposed, the bureau said. Corvex is based in the Cayman Islands but controlled by U.S. citizens. It asked the FCC to preapprove up to 14.99 percent, though it's only currently seeking 9.99 percent ownership (see 1608120061). A declaratory ruling that allowed Pandora to buy KXMZ(FM) Box Elder, South Dakota, included a condition that the FCC must grant approval for foreign entities that want to acquire more than 5 percent of the company, and requires Pandora to seek FCC permission to go above 49.99 percent foreign owned. Another Cayman-based company, Matrix Master Fund, is also seeking a stake in the music streaming company (see 1612210063).

The FCC “and other stakeholders” should “work together to ensure the hasty deployment of [incentive auction] spectrum so that consumers and the entire economy can reap the benefits as quickly as possible,” said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Telecom Policy analyst Doug Brake in a statement Monday. “While the $19.63 billion bidding total might not be as eye-popping as some had imagined, this auction was a success and transferred a significant amount of spectrum to highly valued mobile broadband services.” To reap the benefits of the auction, broadcasters have to be repacked, and “the faster this repacking process takes place, clearing this fresh spectrum to be put into service, the sooner we see the true benefits of this historic auction,” Brake said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's alacrity in decision​-making may mean a ruling will come soon on the petition to create a new class of FM stations, said a Fletcher Heald blog post. The proposal, which Pai spoke in favor of while still a commissioner, would create a new FM C4 class, at a power level between the current FM Class A and the C3 class. The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and SSR Communications CEO Matthew Wesolowski filed the petition in 2013 proposing the new class. MMTC President Emeritus David Honig recently asked the FCC to issue an NPRM on Class C4 FM. “Given the speed at which Chairman Pai is making decisions, we should know soon what the state of this petition is,” said Fletcher Heald, which has broadcast clients.