Hemisphere Media Group's request for a declaratory ruling on foreign ownership (see 1607280056) is similar to the Pandora matter previously approved by the FCC, said Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford in a blog post Tuesday. Hemisphere “is a public company, and thinks that, from time to time, its foreign ownership might exceed 25%.” Oxenford said. The FCC decision on the Hemisphere petition and on petitions by Univision and Frontier Media “may give us an idea on where the Commission is heading on its broader review of its foreign ownership rules,” Oxenford said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a Free Access and Broadcast Telemedia request that the court publish its June 28 judgment (see 1606290057) rejecting Free Access’s challenge of the incentive auction rules, said a D.C. Circuit order. FAB’s claim was rejected because it doesn’t own a low-power TV station and thus lacked standing. FAB plans to file an en banc appeal of the judgment later this month, an official connected with the case emailed. The D.C. Circuit hasn't ruled on a similar challenge from Mako Communications.

Sinclair Broadcast agreed to a $9.49 million settlement with the FCC over violations of the good faith negotiation and licensing rules, said a consent decree released Friday. The consent decree included the dismissal of all pending claims against Sinclair in the Media Bureau, and the FCC now will issue license renewals for 90 TV stations, Sinclair said in a news release. “This Consent Decree and the dismissals of other pending matters, brings closure to all of these issues and allows Sinclair to focus on the future,” Sinclair said in the release. According to the consent decree, the Media Bureau found that Sinclair represented numerous stations it had sharing agreements with in retrans negotiations, after the FCC had implemented rules against joint negotiation, the consent decree said. It also resolves complaints filed against Sinclair for violations of the news distortion policy and local television ownership rule, the consent decree said. Sinclair also agreed to create a compliance plan for self-reporting rule violations, the consent decree said. "2017 will begin a new era for broadcasting, with the post-auction repack and the initial rollout of Next Generation TV (or ATSC 3.0), and clearing this backlog sets the stage for that," Rebecca Hanson, Sinclair's senior vice president-strategy and policy, said in the release.

Two German inventors, working for Thomson in France, have come up with a new idea for smoothing the transition to new TV technologies, such as with the migration to 4K from 2K. A U.S. patent application published Thursday at the Patent and Trademark Office, based on an August 2014 international filing from Thomson Licensing, describes methods that effectively give the viewer local control of editing tools similar to those used by broadcasters to pan and zoom in on especially interesting parts of a wide high-resolution view. With the introduction of new TV standards comes the availability of newly increased “spatial and/or temporal resolution,” says the application, which names Malte Borsum and Axel Kochale as the inventors. But viewers who watch TV on an existing set that’s not upgraded for the new standards obviously “cannot take any advantage of the improved technology,” it says. “Usually, the full image is downscaled.” The application envisions a new 4K set-top with one output for viewers who own a 4K TV, and extra outputs for 2K sets or mobile devices. These extra outputs can either down-convert the 4K image to 2K, or offer crop, pan and zoom options, it says. The set-top then expands selected parts of the 4K image to fill the 2K TV or mobile screen with full HD resolution, it says. Image expansion can be programmed, user-controlled or governed by metadata that the broadcaster sends over the air or the internet, it says. Zooming may be auto-centered along horizon lines or contoured to fit the shape of a soccer field, and manually manipulated by the user, it says. If a broadcaster sends metadata, the set-top can be taught to remember previous settings and self-adjusts the image at prescribed scene cuts, it says. The metadata can be buried in the digital stream or embedded in the picture as brief flashes of QR code. Though the idea is mainly aimed at smoothing migration from old to new TV standards, says Thomson, it can also be more widely used to give all viewers interactive control of what they see on screen.

The FCC doesn't have the authority to require companies to continue providing video description even after they've fallen out of the top tier of video providers that are mandated to do so by Congress, said NAB and Time Warner in reply comments in docket 11-43. “These rule changes would exceed the Commission’s statutory authority and impose undue burdens on providers,” NAB said. The 21st Century Video Accessibility Act “does not authorize the Commission to increase the number of networks covered by the rules or adopt the no backsliding proposal,” said NAB. If the FCC does increase the amount of video description required, it should increase the flexibility of what constitutes video description, Time Warner said. “Greater flexibility as to what described content may be counted toward the Rule’s quarterly requirement is needed,” said Time Warner. Any new rules should recognize the position of smaller cable providers, said the American Cable Association. Smaller carriers aren't well-situated to identify in program guides what content is video described, and any implementation of final rules should allow more time for smaller operators, ACA said.

Lobbying continues for and against loosening media ownership rules, filings last week in FCC docket 14-50 show, as a draft order might largely stick to some current rules with possible leeway for broadcasters and/or ways for them to get case-by-case OK for owning daily newspapers in the same market as stations (see 1607210055). Common Cause Special Adviser and ex-Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps told Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Chief of Staff David Grossman that he hopes the agency will keep the cross-ownership rule. "This rule is as timely and important now as when it was instituted," wrote Copps. "Diversity of ownership and viewpoint have been harmed by media industry consolidation, and our civic dialogue has suffered from fewer voices in communities." A shuttered paper "can no longer provide a viewpoint or serve as a 'voice,'" wrote NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan. "The only result that can rationally be expected from the continued prohibition is to hasten the demise of print newspapers." National Hispanic Media Coalition General Counsel Jessica González told Grossman that NHMC opposes NAB's calls to nix the cross-ownership rule, she said. "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ordered the FCC to first examine the impact of its rules on ownership diversity prior to relaxing any rules." United Church of Christ Policy Adviser Cheryl Leanza said she told an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel the cross-ownership rule can't be relaxed "without a study to address the likely impact on ownership rates by women and people of color without a significant risk of being reversed on review."

Years-late paperwork meant Walker Broadcasting wasn't able to participate in the TV incentive auction well before Feb. 22, 2012, the Spectrum Act enactment date, the FCC said in a brief (in Pacer) Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in opposition to Walker's appeal of the FCC's March denial of its application for review of a Media Bureau decision. Walker, in its brief (in Pacer) filed last month with the D.C. Circuit, said failure to include an interference study in its 2009 license application for WFBT Bath, New York, isn't basis for dismissal of the license or forfeiture of the construction permit "as confirmed by an examination of precedent, and as a matter of equity." Walker said "every known instance" of late filings of mobile interference studies has resulted in granting the pending license application, making FCC denial of WFBT's arbitrary and capricious. The agency also should have requested the interference study in writing before canceling the construction permit, Walker said. By not submitting that paperwork deadline on time, the permit was automatically forfeited, and Walker waited until 2015 to try to revive the permit -- and thus be eligible to take part in the auction --- by submitting overdue non-interference showing paperwork, the FCC said. The commission in its brief rejected Walker's claim that the agency had implicitly waived the automatic forfeiture rule, saying it wasn't required to dismiss Walker's pending license application in order to effectuate the automatic forfeiture. The agency said it was justified in treating Walker differently than other stations that had missed noninterference showing deadlines, since those two already were providing service to the public when their construction periods expired.

Beasley Broadcast will buy Greater Media for $240 million, Beasley said in a news release Wednesday. The deal will get Beasley 21 radio stations in seven markets, including new markets in Detroit and New Jersey, the release said. The transaction is expected to “significantly broaden Beasley’s local radio broadcasting and digital platform, scale and revenue base by adding stations that are geographically complementary to the Company’s operating base,” it said. Beasley said it plans to divest some Charlotte, North Carolina, radio stations to get FCC OK, and will end up with 73 stations when the transaction closes. The deal is expected to close in Q4.

A rule that prevents a broadcaster from owning multiple stations in the same designated market area unless eight other full-power stations are in that DMA “ignores current marketplace realities and lacks an evidentiary basis,” NAB said in an ex parte filing in FCC docket 14-50 Wednesday. The agency has “consistently failed to undertake even a basic economic analysis” of the rule, and most DMAs lack eight independent TV stations, NAB said. Since the FCC has never analyzed it, keeping the eight voices rule in place is “arbitrary and capricious,” NAB said. An economic study by Kevin Caves and Hal Singer of Economists Incorporated commissioned by the association shows the rule “proscribes transactions that would likely be deemed procompetitive under conventional competition analysis.” Advertising rates in DMAs with eight or more stations are no higher than in DMAs with fewer stations, NAB said. There's no empirical basis for keeping the rule, NAB said.

The FCC tribal radio priority rule has led to additional tribal-owned radio stations but “there is more work to be done,” said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in a speech Wednesday to the Tribal Radio Summit. “It is critical that we continue to collaborate in developing the next path forward,” Clyburn said, according to prepared remarks. “I am hopeful that our actions and our presence affirm how committed we are to promoting the deployment of communications services in Indian Country.” Broadcast and broadband are “intersecting in today’s communications marketplace” and can drive each other's growth, she said. “Vertical real-estate for a broadcast facility can be leveraged to deploy other wireless services including broadband. Existing fiber loops can be harnessed to provide broadcast relays between studios and towers.” Tribally licensed radio is “critically important,” Clyburn said.