The FCC must submit written arguments supporting its video franchise order by July 23 under a briefing schedule set by the 6th U.S. Appeals Court, Cincinnati, said 2 lawyers involved in the case. Petitioner briefs must be filed with the court by June 18 in Alliance for Community Media v. FCC, said attorneys including Alan Fishel, who represents the public access channel group. The FCC was sued by the Alliance and cities and counties over a March order setting time limits for municipalities to negotiate franchises with new video entrants. Bells and the FCC say the change was needed because some cities lagged on contract talks; municipalities said their right to oversee video businesses was trampled (CD April 24 p2). The 6th Circuit set an Aug. 9 deadline for reply briefs. Judges likely will decide to hear oral arguments after all the paperwork is in, the attorneys said.

Hundreds of broadcasters got new DTV deadlines from the FCC, which gave several dozen 21 months to finish building antennas and install other gear to transmit digitally throughout their service areas. Most of the 325 stations getting more time to comply with FCC rules (CD May 21 p14) won 6-month reprieves from the commissioners. Many broadcasters already had received 2 extensions from the Media Bureau. A DTV notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), released Fri. like the waivers, proposes to make it harder to get further delays But the waivers appear to set a precedent for licensees facing several types of difficulties to petition for postponements. The DTV orders and NPRM were approved 5-0 at last month’s agenda meeting (CD April 26 Special Bulletin p2).

Congress won’t leap to regulate TV violence and instead will give industry a chance to show controls aren’t needed, officials on both sides of the a la carte issue told us. Besides, the last pass at indecency legislation took many years. The entertainment industry will try to show Congress that legislation and regulation aren’t the best weapons against objectionable programming, Creative Coalition Exec. Dir. Robin Bronk told a Hill panel. Industry may get that chance because even those who say there’s too much media violence prefer self-regulation to govt. intervention, Parents TV Council Senior Dir. of Programs Melissa Caldwell told us.

LAS VEGAS -- Calling himself no enemy of cable, FCC Chmn. Martin said he sides with that industry when it’s the new entrant in fields like VoIP, but sometimes favors upstarts in businesses that cable dominates, including pay TV. In a brief speech to NCTA here, taking no audience questions before leaving the stage, he cited matters he had recently sided with cable on. For example, he said, he’s circulating a rulemaking to resolve Cox’s complaint that it couldn’t sell phone service to apartment dwellers.

LAS VEGAS - NCTA isn’t optimistic its CableCARD waiver will be granted by the FCC because 5 waivers granted have little to do with the group’s broad request, said Pres. Kyle McSlarrow. The 3 set-top box integration and navigation ban waivers given Fri. (CD May 7 p1) were based on unique circumstances that don’t seem to relate to NCTA’s request, McSlarrow said at the NCTA show here. He spoke to us after a DTV panel at which participants including NTIA Dir. John Kneuer and FCC Comr. Tate reiterated that public education about the transition is paramount.

The FCC Fri. granted 3 more CableCARD waivers, raising hopes that others could get relief from a July 2007 set-top box integration and navigation ban that NCTA contends will increase industry costs by millions of dollars annually. Charter got a one-year reprieve from the ban because it showed a $20 billion-plus debt load would make it difficult to afford CableCARD boxes it contended are more expensive than stripped down devices, said a Media Bureau order. GCI Cable got a waiver conditioned on moving to an all-digital network by Feb. 17, 2009. Millennium Telcom got a similar exemption because it guaranteed it would start such a network by the end of this year. CEA had contended the waivers weren’t necessary.

The FCC continues to field CableCARD waiver requests even though some in industry and on the 8th floor wonder when a slew of pending requests will see action. The latest request, by P.R. Cable Acquisition Corp., seeks an exemption from the July, 2007, set-top box security and navigation integration ban. The company wants to keep using what it calls inexpensive boxes to reach customers among the island’s residents, more than half of whom fall below the poverty line, it said. P.R. Cable deserves the same relief given to another small operator, Bend Cable (CD Jan 11 p1), it said. P.R. Cable already runs an all-digital network, while Bend’s Jan. waiver was conditioned on operating one, P.R. Cable, which does business as Choice Cable, said: “The continued ability to deploy low-cost integrated devices is critical to Choice’s ability to maintain an all-digital network through the DTV transition in February 2009, and indeed to its survival.” Earlier this year, Liberty Cablevision, another P.R. cable operator, sought a CableCARD waiver (CD Feb 16 p9), citing poverty and all-digital operations. FCC Chmn. Martin has signaled he may be inclined to grant waivers or deadline extensions to companies operating all-digital networks. Other waiver-seekers visited the 8th-floor last week, ex parte filings showed. Officials from WideOpenWest, including CEO Colleen Abdoulah, met Thurs. with Michelle Carey, Martin’s media advisor. An RCN representative spoke by phone with Carey and, separately, with an aide to Comr. McDowell. Carey met with officials from Beyond Broadband Technology, now at work on a downloadable security solution championed by some on the 8th floor. Beyond Broadband officials held separate meetings with Media Bureau Chief Monica Desai and aides to Comrs. Adelstein, Copps, McDowell and Tate. Communications lawyers are uncertain when the Bureau will act on a slew of pending CableCARD waivers, they have said. Comcast is awaiting action on a petition to the full Commission; we're told that as of last week that petition wasn’t circulating among all commissioners.

Completion of some FCC media ownership studies has been delayed because authors were waiting for data and contracts from the agency, said some of the researchers. Publication of the full batch of 10 economic studies has been delayed, said FCC and industry officials, and the slowdown is a reason the Commission’s media ownership review may take more time than expected at first. Another reason is the need to complete a series of 6 ownership hearings and several localism meetings. The 4th ownership hearing is scheduled for today (Mon.) in Tampa.

Commissioners spent little time discussing how to define broadcast TV violence in readying an FCC report on the subject sent late Wed. to Congress (CD April 26 p1), agency officials said. Commissioners probably didn’t come up with a definition because doing so would be difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy goal, Comr. Adelstein told us. The FCC report did little to buttress a finding that Congress can require DBS and cable operators to sell channels individually because it’s unclear whether that’s legal, said another agency official involved in the document’s preparation. A la carte raises constitutional concerns, Comr. McDowell told us. The report was approved 5-0, said a 3rd FCC official. Adelstein said he concurred.

Commissioners unanimously approved 2 DTV rulemakings that could pave the way for cable operators to be required to air must-carry stations’ analog and digital signals while ensuring all broadcasters transmit in digital by Feb. 17, 2009. The dual-carriage notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) asks whether cable operators must carry both signals after the DTV transition, Media Bureau officials told the FCC at its meeting late Wed. The other NPRM solicits public input on whether all stations must meet the DTV deadline, even those experiencing equipment or construction challenges, said Bureau officials.