CEA alumna Julie Kearney will return to replace Jamie Hedlund as vice president of regulatory affairs. Hedlund is leaving the association Jan. 15 for another job that’s expected to be announced this week, he told us, declining to say what the new position is. Kearney has been National Public Radio’s director of public policy and legislation. She left CEA for NPR in mid-2008 (CD May 1/08 p14). NPR doesn’t have a replacement for Kearney, whose last day there is Jan. 15, a spokeswoman for the public radio programmer said. Kearney said she’s “thrilled” to be returning to the CEA “at a time when there are so many exciting issues to tackle.”
FCC decisions on whether to intervene in two disputes between broadcasters and cable operators with carriage contracts set to have expired at 11:59 p.m. EST New Year’s Eve (CD Dec 31 p1) were likely to be made at the last-minute, agency officials said. As of midday Thursday, talks for new deals between News Corp.’s Fox stations and Time Warner Cable and Sinclair’s outlets and Mediacom systems were continuing, said agency and industry officials. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski appeared likely to wait to decide what action to take until talks end or new deals are reached, they said.
Time Warner Cable is willing to enter binding arbitration for a new contract to carry Fox affiliates owned by News Corp., CEO Glenn Britt wrote Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Britt said the cable operator also is open to the other suggestions floated by Kerry in his letter to both sides last week (CD Dec 23 p8) if the companies can’t end the impasse before the existing contract expires around 11:59 p.m. Thursday. FCC officials have been optimistic the sides can at least agree to a temporary extension of the existing contract (CD Dec 30 p1), but a top News Corp. executive wasn’t open to arbitration.
Attention to a program access order circulated Dec. 16 at the FCC is expected to increase starting next week, with renewed lobbying by industry on the item and more internal discussion at the regulator, agency officials said. The Media Bureau item hasn’t appeared to be subject to extensive internal discussion amongst commissioners’ offices since it was circulated (CD Dec 16 p8). No revision to the order has since circulated, commission officials said.
The FCC has asked broadcasting and cable executives to settle two carriage disputes that would leave millions of subscribers without cable access to signals from several dozen TV stations starting New Year’s day if unresolved, agency officials said. Chairman Julius Genachowski has asked agency officials to encourage Fox and Time Warner Cable, in one dispute (CD Dec 22 p9), and Mediacom and Sinclair, at a contractual impasse, to sign new deals or temporarily extend existing ones before deadlines around 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, they said. If no deal is reached by then, cable subscribers won’t be able to view stations owned by Fox parent News Corp. and by Sinclair if those broadcasters pull the plug. A Sinclair executive said he doesn’t expect a deal to be reached before New Year’s Day.
Three forthcoming FCC radio orders likely will allow FM stations to increase digital power levels, set up a priority for some tribes to get new outlets, and declare winners for 60 licensees from a 2003 application window, said commission and industry officials. Media Bureau draft orders addressing an April rulemaking notice on rural radio services (CD April 22 p12) and the order on the auction both circulated in the past several weeks, they said. Neither is due for a quick vote, but they're not expected to be controversial among FCC members, officials said.
Some municipalities asking the FCC to rule on Comcast’s treatment of public, educational and governmental channels agreed to take steps to withdraw their petition if an agreement between both sides is reached, a lawyer for the city of Dearborn, Mich., told us. Last week, Comcast and Dearborn and several other communities reached an agreement in principle to settle their litigation in U.S. District Court in Detroit (CD Dec 24 p7). “Technically, the parties agree to petition the FCC to treat the petition as withdrawn if the court approves the settlement,” Joseph Van Eaton of Miller Van Eaton said Monday.
The No. 2 FCC Media Bureau official, who has worked at the commission for decades, is retiring at year-end. Roy Stewart has been senior deputy bureau chief for several years. He has been a go-between for the FCC and broadcasters, privately answering questions from lawyers and speaking publicly at industry trade shows. Stewart previously was a Mass Media Bureau chief. Stewart didn’t reply to inquiries about his plans.
Comcast stands to have two fewer FCC proceedings against it. One was dismissed by a commission judge after it was settled, and the company reached an agreement in principle to end the other, filings Tuesday and Wednesday show. After months of on-again, off-again talks about expanding the distribution of the channel carrying Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles baseball games (CD Aug 3 p6), the cable operator and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network reached a deal. About 24 hours after both the companies filed a request to dismiss the case with the administrative law judge hearing it, he obliged.
Broadcasters are holding off for now on publicizing economic research on the value of the airwaves used by TV stations, as the FCC looks to reallocate some of the industry’s spectrum, industry officials told us. Some broadcasters have said they looked forward to being able to unveil such an analysis after the CEA funded a study that found it would cost much less than the spectrum is worth to provide subscription TV to those reliant on over-the-air TV (CD Nov 2 p1)). Such analysis by broadcasters is being done now and may be filed with the FCC as soon as next month, industry officials said.