An FCC digital radio order continues to circulate on the 8th floor, with FCC Chmn. Martin granting another 10-day extension, 2 sources said. The earlier extension expired around Wed., we're told. In a Tues. meeting, media activists pressed a Martin staffer for public interest obligations on radio multicasting, said an ex parte filing. The Commission likely will impose only light public interest obligations, a person lobbying the FCC on the item said. Such obligations likely will include limited public disclosure by broadcasters, said the source.

Time Warner Cable (TW) faces an uphill battle challenging a Media Bureau order against it in a carriage dispute (CD Aug 4 p5), said 2 cable lawyers. TW lashed out at the FCC for not letting it answer an emergency complaint by NFL Network before requiring it restore carriage of the channel. Time Warner threatened to go to court if the FCC doesn’t act early today (Mon.) on a petition for reconsideration. TW acquiesced early Fri. after balking at an FCC demand to restore the network to 1.2 million subscribers acquired in the Adelphia deal.

Time Warner Cable said it won’t restore NFL Network, after removing it from systems it acquired. The FCC had intervened a 2nd time this week in a cable contract dispute (CD Aug 1 p9). The company balked at a Thurs. FCC order to “reinstate carriage” of the sports channel to Adelphia and Comcast subscribers. “At this point in time we have not moved forward to do that,” Mark Harrad, Time Warner Cable senior vp-communications, told us: “You cannot carry programming without a license to do so.”

An amateur radio operator convicted of child molestation was ordered to appear before an FCC administrative law judge to show why his license shouldn’t be revoked. Robert Landis, operator of N6FRV, is living in a Cal. mental hospital, said an order to show cause from Enforcement Bureau Chief Kris Monteith. His license expires Nov. 1. FCC “broadcast character” policy lets the agency weigh the personal background of license holders, Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman said. He wants the Commission to be more proactive in revoking licenses when owners are indicted. “The Commission blinds itself to indictments and other indicia of questionable character and waits to be notified of convictions until after licenses are granted,” he told us: “They have to do a difficult and onerous revocation proceeding.”

Susquehanna must pay $10 million to a firm involved in its 1996 purchase of WHMA(FM) Anniston, Ala., said a 2-1 decision by 11th U.S. Appeals Court, Atlanta. A lower court’s finding in favor of Bridge Capital Investors was upheld by Judges Susan Black and Emmett Ripley Cox. Susquehanna agreed to pay the money if it was able to move the station to the “more lucrative” Atlanta area within 6 years, said the ruling. The station was renamed WWWQ(FM) College Park, Ga., FCC records show. Susquehanna argued it didn’t have to pay the money because an FCC order approving the move wasn’t complete until 2005, as a person objecting to the relocation held it up. Two judges disagreed. “The parties… unambiguously agreed to make the $10 million additional payment contingent” on the FCC construction permit, granted in 2000, said Black. Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff kept the obligation after selling all its radio stations, former CFO John Finlayson told us: “We're disappointed, but we have not made any decision yet as to whether or not we are going forward” with an appeal. Finlayson said he and 3 partners took over the rest of Susquehanna’s assets -- office buildings and apartments.

DTV licenses could be issued soon to stations in line for 6-month waivers of an FCC “use it or lose it” deadline for DTV compliance, said 2 attorneys for companies involved. The FCC hasn’t acted publicly on the waivers. The stations say they're now compliant. They finished building antennas and other DTV gear after seeking waivers on a July 7 deadline to be sending digital signals to at least 80% of viewers (CD July 18 p1). Stations usually operate at full digital power about a week to take signal and other measurements before seeking licenses, another broadcast lawyer said.

Exhibitor space at NAB’s Radio Show has sold out. About 16,400 sq. feet has been reserved at the Sept. 20-22 gathering in Dallas, said NAB officials. That’s a 6.5% increase from last year’s show, with 15,400 sq. feet of space, said a spokesman. “We've sold every square inch we can sell,” Chris Brown, exec. vp-conventions & business operations, told us: “We have a waiting list.” This year’s 113 exhibitors include ABC Radio, the FCC and National Weather Service, up from 2005’s 112. Demand for space may be up due to greater interest in HD Radio, among other factors, said an NAB spokesman.

Verizon’s FiOS fiber TV franchise suit will get its 1st hearing Aug. 8 in U.S. Dist. Court, Baltimore. Judge Marvin Garbis will hear Verizon’s request for an injunction against a Montgomery Count, Md., franchise rule, court documents said. The telco’s suit seeks an injunction against the county cable franchise law and challenges as contrary to FCC rules a 5% tax the county wants to put on broadband sales (CD July 3 p3). Garbis said the parties each may call a technology expert at the hearing. The county July 20 asked the court to deny the injunction. Talks began in May 2005 on Verizon’s request for a franchise to sell video over fiber lines, the county said: “Verizon offers no argument at all that any of these provisions are invalid, except inasmuch as they allegedly infringe on the company’s free speech rights.” The case was moved from Greenbelt, Md., where it was filed, because Verizon’s state unit is based in Baltimore, a company spokeswoman told us.

The FCC is unlikely to try to block CBS’s appeal of an indecency fine stemming from Janet Jackson’s breast-baring incident by arguing that the case shouldn’t be heard because it’s in the wrong court, said sources familiar with the lawsuit. CBS Fri. said it’s paying the $550,000 fine for the Super Bowl display only so it can challenge FCC rejection of its petition for reconsideration in the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia.

The FCC got a 10-day extension to vote on a digital radio order circulating on the 8th floor for weeks, we're told. The item likely will be voted on outside an open meeting, said 4 sources. Three commissioners would vote for it, we're told. Executives expect the order to let AM stations transmit digitally at night and to allow radio multicasting, long sought by broadcasters (CD July 17 p11). Media activists are buttonholing commissioners’ aides, pressing for public interest rules, a source said. The FCC should encourage broadcasters to let others use spectrum in adjacent channels through so-called time brokerage deals, Media Access Project, New America Foundation, Prometheus Radio and other groups told an aide to Comr. McDowell. The agency should learn what’s being multicast and if there’s “reasonable access for political speech,” the group said in an ex parte on the July 25 meeting. The groups sought a further notice of proposed rulemaking on using multicasting for indoor GPS, a public interest issue. “With a 3-2 majority, the radio broadcast industry is expected to be able to get what it wants without having to compromise” on public interest duties Comrs. Adelstein and Copps want, a report by New America’s Jim Snider said: “Unfortunately, at this late stage in the digital radio transition, the practical options for a digital dividend are far fewer than they were at the beginning of radio’s digital transition.”