FCC Chmn. Martin stopped short of recommending that Congress limit TV violence. But in comments preceding release of a long-awaited Commission report on the subject, he said Supreme Court rulings let legislators to apply narrow restrictions. “Whenever government considers such regulations, it must do so with great care and deliberation,” Martin said in a written statement: “The Supreme Court has ruled that the government could apply regulations when the government’s interest was ’substantial’ and the restriction was ‘narrowly tailored.'”

The FCC’s April 30 media ownership hearing will include 4 hours of public testimony, according to a schedule of the Tampa event released late Mon. The meeting will include a panel on media ownership in that market and a discussion on “perspectives on media ownership,” the FCC said. Former Comr. Henry Rivera, moderator of the first 2 hearings, won’t moderate the Tampa meeting, the 4th of 6th gatherings promised by Chmn. Martin. Louis Sigalos, chief of the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau’s consumer affairs & outreach div., will direct the discussion. Rivera told us he’s not directing the Tampa debate, because Martin didn’t ask him to. He said Martin may be giving “him a break” from moderating the hearings, which can get heated.

FCC commissioner negotiations on a DTV rulemaking slated for a Wed. vote are likely to center around how strongly the item (CD April 12 p1) endorses a proposal by Chmn. Martin that cable operators carry analog and digital signals of certain TV stations, said FCC and industry officials. They said Chmn. Martin likely will get at least 2 additional votes for the 2nd further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPRM), but it’s uncertain whether everyone will support it. Getting the nod from all commissioners, including Democratic Comrs. Adelstein and Copps, may depend on “watering down” tentative conclusions in a draft FNPRM Martin’s office circulated on the 8th floor, said a cable lawyer. Several other media- related items were also set for an April 25 vote, including a DTV labeling order.

LAS VEGAS -- Broadcasters would have “first responder” status in federal disaster areas under a bill Sen. Landrieu (D-La.) said she will introduce this week. The First Response Broadcasters Act of 2007 would give TV and radio stations priority access to fuel, water, food and other supplies in bad storms and earthquakes, Landrieu told the NAB conference here. The bill would keep FEMA from denying journalists access to disaster areas and bar officials from seizing broadcasters’ supplies. Offering no details, Landrieu said “low-level FEMA officials” tried to appropriate Gulf Coast broadcasters’ supplies after hurricane Katrina. The bill has some momentum, with support from influential members of Congress in addition to Landrieu, she said.

Clear Channel agreed to sell stations in 11 more markets, as it divests hundreds of properties in smaller cities to focus on urban areas that may have better growth prospects (CD Jan 22 p5). Brokers said the company’s deal to sell 52 stations points to a strong market for radio properties though many are on the block -- from Clear Channel and others. A strong market bodes well for Clear Channel efforts to divest all stations in designated market areas below the top 100, said a broker and an appraiser. They expect the sales to proceed despite investor uncertainty on whether shareholders will approve the company’s $26.7 billion takeover.

RCN may carry college games from an upstart network a la carte if established regional sports networks (RSNs) make similar deals. RCN said it would be easier to sell channels individually with an FCC waiver of the CableCARD set-top box integration ban. The company has a preliminary deal to carry America Channel linear programs and VoD content, the companies said Thurs., without disclosing terms. America Channel is among independent networks pushing the FCC to help them get carriage on large cable operators. The channel has deals with telco TV providers including AT&T and Verizon, but hasn’t begun programming. The America Channel plans to begin TV programming in the fall, CEO Doron Gorshein told us. “The agreement also contemplates provision of America Channel on a pure a la carte basis, should America Channel’s RSN competitors similarly agree to make their programming available,” said RCN. “We hope that this will set an example for the regional sports networks that are controlled by incumbent cable operators like Comcast and the large national sports networks so we can negotiate similarly flexible agreements with them,” RCN Senior Vp Richard Ramlall told us, saying the a la carte proposal is in line with what some FCC commissioners and legislators have urged. Comcast said the America Channel isn’t an RSN. Customers need a digital set- top to get a la carte cable, Ramlall said, calling it “one more reason why we need a limited waiver from the FCC to enable us to continue to offer them a low cost set top box.”

Confusion about copyright law is epidemic among those who post video to sites such as YouTube, the American U. Center for Social Media said. Researchers surveyed some 50 frequent online video makers, interviewing about a dozen. They found that even those who want to obey copyright laws -- many of the students interviewed study video production and hope to make a living at it -- lack a decent understanding of basic copyright rules such as fair use. TV and film programming rarely was used by survey respondents incorporating copyrighted material into their works. Instead, most students interviewed said they use copyrighted music to accompany original video or stills. The study’s authors urged a “better general understanding of the use rights of creators.” Online video sites’ terms of service agreements often are confusingly dense, and service providers can play a role in “broadening of understanding,” the study said.

The FCC formally signed off on Citadel’s $2.7 billion merger with ABC Radio (CD March 23 p15), issuing an order that approved the license transfer. Commissioners voted 5-0 for the deal at the March agenda meeting, but the order wasn’t released until Wed. In the order, the FCC renewed 16 stations’ licenses and fined Citadel $42,000 for rule violations. The company drew a $21,000 penalty for violating kids-TV rules. The other fines were for lacking public- record inspection files at several stations - some violations first aired by rival Red Wolf Bcstg. But the FCC found that Red Wolf didn’t provide enough evidence that Citadel lied to the agency in seeking to block the Citadel’s request for an FM translator station. Red Wolf also accused Citadel of payola. The FCC lumped Citadel in among 4 radio companies that agency officials have said will face $12.5 million in total fines for allegedly taking bribes to play music - but the Commission decided not to act on Red Wolf’s allegations. Red Wolf will sue the FCC in U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., to appeal the license transfer approval, said Arthur Belendiuk, who represents the small broadcaster. “The FCC failed to consider, among other things, Citadel’s numerous violations of the sponsorship identification rule,” he told us: “The FCC’s decision is contrary to the specific requirement of the Communications Act.” The FCC gave Citadel 6 months to sell 11 FM stations that don’t comply with FCC ownership limits, using a trust to divest the properties. The assets: KBZU Albuquerque; Me. stations WCLZ Brunswick and WCYI Lewiston; WYLZ Pinconning, Mich.; KNEK Washington, La.; WMGL Ravenel, S.C.; KKWD Bethany, Okla.; KINB Kingfisher, Okla.; and, in Ark., KVLO Humnoke, KZPK Cabot and KARN Sheridan.

The FCC can’t regulate deals between cable operators and owners of multiple-dwelling units (MDUs) because Congress didn’t authorize the agency to intervene in private contracts of that sort, said some communications lawyers and apartment trade groups. The Commission would violate the rights of cable operators and property owners alike if it decides it has authority under the Telecom Act to remedy anticompetitive video contracts. Last Thurs., commissioners voted to take a first step, seeking public comment in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) tentatively concluding the FCC has such authority. The NPRM addresses allegations by SureWest and Verizon that exclusive video deals make it harder for them to sell packages of video, phone and broadband (CD March 23 p7).

The FCC unanimously approved Univision’s $13.7 billion takeover by 5 leveraged buyout firms, as expected (CD March 19 p10). Democratic commissioners wrote concurrences expressing concerns that may anticipate issues in reviews of future broadcast mergers. Comr. Copps said a reason he concurred was because the FCC failed to address how debt issued to take the publicly traded broadcaster private will affect the company. “The Commission has never analyzed the consequences of this type of transaction,” he said in prepared comments: “I, for one, have some real questions about how the assumption of massive amounts of debt will affect a media company’s stewardship.”