Proposals supported by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin would hurt minority channels and “stifle” cable and satellite TV diversity, said Black Leadership Forum Executive Director Gary Flowers. In a letter to the FCC, he criticized Martin’s plan for small businesses to get guaranteed cable carriage by leasing digital spectrum from broadcasters. “This appears to be the ‘consolation’ prize for all the other efforts by the FCC to undermine minority programmers,” he wrote. Expanding broadcasters’ “must carry” rights would hurt SiTV and TV One, he said. Executives of those cable channels opposed expanded must- carry rules and leased access in letters this week to the House and Senate Commerce committees (CD Oct 17 p18). Flowers joined SiTV and TV One in opposing cable a la carte, a Martin priority. “The civil rights community is so unanimous on this question that it seems that it no longer an even debatable proposition,” Flowers said, adding that Martin “has been, in our judgement, fairly criticized for promoting this very unpopular idea.” Flowers wrote commissioners because of a long interest in a la carte and its potential pitfalls for minorities, he said in an interview. Flowers wouldn’t say whether anyone from the cable industry asked him to chime in. Under an a la carte system, cable subscribers might skip minority- oriented cable channels, he said. Bundling ensures that channel surfing viewers watch such programming, said Flowers. Martin told an Oct. 14 Rainbow/PUSH conference that leased access and a la carte would help minorities. Rainbow/PUSH belongs to the Black Leadership Forum, as do the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP and others.

FCC Chairman Martin is taking steps to get votes soon on a variety of media issues, the most controversial of which is likely to be a comprehensive rewrite of ownership rules that’s been long in the making. Martin’s office has told other commissioners he wants them to vote by Dec. 18 on an ownership rewrite order, said two FCC officials. But all commissioners haven’t agreed on the schedule. Late last week, the chairman started circulating on the eighth floor an annual report on video competition covering the year through June 30, 2006, said three officials. Commissioners approved the previous year’s report on Feb. 10, 2006, so Martin seems to be getting a jump start on a vote for the 2006 study.

Don’t impose new rules on digital or multicast radio broadcasts, the FCC was told by NAB, state broadcaster groups, National Public Radio and the developer of technology for the in-band on-channel streams. Comments responded to a May 31 notice asking if the FCC should impose public-interest obligations on digital radio beyond what it now requires of analog stations (CD June 4 p4). Microsoft, fighting with broadcasters over white spaces devices, agreed with industry that digital radio rules could stifle the new medium’s development. Broadcasters and public-interest groups disagreed about whether stations should post public inspection files on the Web.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s effort to change leased- access rules is running into early cable industry opposition. Intensifying his rhetoric against cable, Martin for perhaps the first time said publicly Friday that he wants to cut the rates that cable operators charge to lease channel space to independent programmers. Speaking to the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, he chastised cable for raising rates and refusing to sell channels piecemeal. Martin urged more video competition (CD Oct 15 p6).

All the FCC commissioners agreed to hold their next meeting Oct. 31 and combine it with a hearing on how well broadcasters serve their communities, agency officials said. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had asked his colleagues to hold their monthly meeting the last day of the month after commissioners were unable to meet earlier because of schedule conflicts (CD Sept 27 p1), officials said.

The largest-ever FCC inspector general’s report is deeply flawed, said one of several senators who had requested the study, along with former bureau staffers and opponents of media consolidation. They said the report glossed over significant problems at the agency and its Media Bureau. The IG unfairly singled out Kenneth Ferree - the bureau chief in 2003 and 2004 when two reports were held back -- as the only agency official deserving administrative punishment, said three people who worked in the office at the time. The IG didn’t fully explain why the two reports weren’t released, two staffers said. Another said the IG should have interviewed him. The IG’s office said the report, written independently, was thorough. FCC officials declined to comment, referring questions to the IG.

A bill requiring better coordination among the FCC, NTIA and other agencies on DTV education was introduced late Tuesday by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. SB-2125 fulfils Kohl’s promise at a hearing by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, which he chairs, to deal with what he called a lack of educational oversight (CD Sept 20 p2). The Preparing America’s Seniors for the Digital Television Transition Act has no co-sponsors, Kohl’s spokeswoman said. It calls for a federal task force made up of the FCC, NTIA and U.S. Administration on Aging to find ways to help seniors install digital converter boxes. The bill would tweak NTIA’s $1.5 billion converter box program by extending the life of $40 coupons to four months from three. It would give “priority consideration” to coupon-seekers who don’t subscribe to pay TV. The $1 billion first round of NTIA’s program is open to all households. The bill would extend eligibility for coupons to residents of nursing home and similar. Broadcasters would have to air at least a minute daily of public service ads on the transition, at least 30 seconds 5 to 11 p.m. Every cable operator and satellite provider would have to “develop a plan on how to notify subscribers about the transition and any associated costs,” according to a summary of the bill. Converter box makers would have to operate toll-free phone numbers to inform callers about installation. FCC fines levied against retailers found violating analog set labeling rules would help pay for the task force.

Pressure against unlicensed portable broadband devices gained with stepped-up lobbying this week by cable operators against white space devices. The NCTA for the first time Tuesday began lobbying commissioners’ offices to make the case that power levels for proposed devices are too high, said officials. It fears white-space transmissions could hinder reception of cable channels by interfering with TV sets, VCRs and other gear that lets subscribers get pay TV, said Vice President and Associate General Counsel Loretta Polk. Cox Communications also made the eighth-floor rounds this week.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said broadcasters can afford multicast programming only if the commission gives them rights to get guaranteed carriage on cable systems. Speaking Tuesday to a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference on DTV, Martin said consumers could more easily be persuaded to buy digital converter boxes if broadcasters got multicast must-carry rights. The comments come after the chairman pulled an order requiring such carriage from the June 2006 meeting agenda after he failed to win support from Commissioner Robert McDowell. By linking his carriage plan to helping Spanish-language broadcasters pay for multicast programming, Martin also continues recent efforts by him and colleagues to link favorite proposals to minority media initiatives (CD Sept 24 p1).

Broadcasters and minority activists agree the FCC should relax media ownership rules (CD Sept 28 p9) to help women and people of color buy radio and TV stations, they said in filings. Clear Channel, the NAB, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and 29 groups led by the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) also agreed on how the FCC should define firms eligible for relief. Instead of targeting only minorities, the commission should exempt disadvantaged businesses from several limits on the number of stations that can be owned by a single company in each city, they said.