The FCC’s eagerly awaited franchise order (CD Dec 21 p1) limits cities’ ability to regulate Bell video rollouts and impose fees on the new entrants to underwrite municipal data networks and public access channels. The Commission reiterated previous comments by Chmn. Martin and other officials that local franchise authorities (LFAs) can’t make telcos build out video systems to all homes in an area as a condition of a permit to sell TV service. Mon.’s order said the Telecom Act precludes cities from imposing franchise fees on products other than cable, including broadband service and public, educational and govt. (PEG) access channels beyond the cost of supporting “PEG services and equipment.”

Cable operators got some clarity on VoIP interconnection rules from an FCC order saying incumbent LECs must give them interconnection rights and exchange traffic with cable systems. The Wireline Bureau order approved a Time Warner Cable (TWC) request seeking interconnection rights for certain types of phone calls. The order came after cable operators had argued before the Commission for such rights, and exactly a year after TWC complained to the agency about a S.C. PSC denial of a certificate it said it needed for interconnection agreements to sell VoIP (CD March 6 p12).

A proposed $24 million kids-TV fine against Univision raised First Amendment worries among some industry officials because of concern that the Commission would overstep its bounds in setting the record penalty. The consent decree between the broadcaster and Chmn. Martin appears to amount to the regulation of programming, said broadcast and other lawyers. They said broadcasters have wide latitude in determining which programs are educational shows under the 1990 Children’s TV Act.

This month’s FCC agenda meeting will be a field hearing on media ownership, officials said. The Feb. 23 meeting will be the 3rd of 6 ownership hearings Chmn. Martin has promised, an FCC official said. The meeting will be outside D.C. but the Commission hasn’t said where. Martin has tried to combine field hearings with agenda meetings, FCC officials said. The previous 2 ownership hearings occurred in L.A. and Nashville. Martin has said publicly he wants the 3rd hearing this month.

EchoStar’s carriage dispute with Court TV (CD Jan 24 p14) shows little sign of ending soon since neither side seems inclined to strike a deal, sources said. The dispute, already over a month old, concerns how much of the “per-sub fee” the DBS provider will pay to carry the channel. EchoStar has gone to war with other networks on how much to pay monthly for each of its 12.8 million subscribers. Court TV says it’s seen in 86 million U.S. homes.

An order that would close off Mediacom’s options at the FCC in regard to a carriage complaint (CD Feb 1 p3) recently dismissed by the Media Bureau is circulating on the 8th floor, said industry and FCC officials. A proposal drafted by Bureau aides reaffirms a Jan. 4 finding of no grounds for the FCC to intervene in a carriage feud between Mediacom and Sinclair, Commission officials said. The dispute could be settled as soon as the weekend and carriage restored, said Sinclair Gen. Counsel Barry Faber.

Cable operators lobbied the 8th floor for extensions of the CableCARD deadline even as some industry officials are privately skeptical the requests will be granted. Fueling such skepticism were comments by FCC Chmn. Martin that he will take a hard line on granting some requests (CD Jan 11 p1). FCC officials believe Martin is poised to deny NCTA’s request but is in no hurry to follow through because he has already telegraphed his intentions to industry.

The FCC may stand fast on its policy of not fining TV broadcasters for violence in a report expected soon and sought by Congress in 2004, said an FCC official. The report will surface as commissioners, legislators and advocacy groups voice concern over what they deem a growing problem (CD Jan 12 p11). The report answers a request by lawmakers including Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), then House Commerce Committee chmn., that the Commission study violent programming’s effect on children. Chmn. Martin has circulated a draft for colleagues’ comments, said FCC officials. Martin decides what the report contains, since it’s not a rulemaking, said a staffer.

Clear Channel agreed to sell 76 radio stations in 17 markets, putting the company a step closer to meeting a plan to sell hundreds of properties in smaller markets (CD Jan 22 p5). The stations are being sold to 7 companies, said documents from the broadcaster. The deals presage more sales soon by Clear Channel, said brokers. “I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few weeks we see another 40, 50, 60 stations, maybe even more sold,” said BIA Vp Mark Fratrik. Clear Channel said Nov. 16 it was trying to sell 448 radio and 42 TV stations, separate from its $26.7 billion takeover by leveraged buyout firms.

Advocates of ending the FCC newspaper-broadcast cross ownership (NBCO) ban got a lift from Chmn. Martin. Comments he made at a Wed. press briefing echoed those of many broadcasters in the Commission’s media ownership review (CD Jan 18 p7). “All other rules have been updated since” the mid-70s NBCO ban, he said. The FCC’s 2003 lifting of the rule was backed by 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia in its remand of the agency’s last media ownership rulemaking, he said. “The court there agreed with the Commission that an outright prohibition was no longer necessary,” Martin said: “So the Commission is going to have to come up with some new rule.” He hopes to hold the 3rd of 6 FCC field hearings on revamping media ownership rules in Feb. or March, he said. He didn’t say where it will be; industry officials have said it may be in Me. Ten media ownership studies commissioned by the FCC will be ready in the spring, Martin said. Most filing reply comments in the media ownership review agreed the NBCO ban is outdated. Filers, including Belo, Media General and the Newspaper Assn. of America, criticized those who argued that NBCO rules should stay because burgeoning online media hasn’t shrunk the role of broadcasters and print publications. “The vast majority of commenters providing empirical data and reasoned analysis support elimination of the flat ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership as well as relaxing of the local TV cross-ownership rule,” Belo said, citing Cox, Gray, Gannett, Hearst-Argyle, Nexstar, Sinclair and Tribune. “A small handful of parties persist in attempting to persuade the Commission that the media marketplace has not changed in any meaningful respect over the past three decades,” Belo said. Among those disagreeing are a slew of trade groups saying they represent “free community papers” and the National Assn. of Black Owned Broadcasters. Those arguing for overturning the NBCO are “generally ignoring the historic waves of consolidation,” said Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Assn. The African- American broadcasters group said the FCC shouldn’t relax ownership limits, and asked the agency to “continue to urge Congress to reinstate the minority tax certificate policy.” That’s just what the FCC has done, telling lawmakers several times over the years that it would back restoration of the tax credit, Martin said. Ultimately, it’s Congress’s decision, Martin said.