The FCC should promptly act on the Media and Democracy Project’s petition to deny the license of Fox station WTXF-TV Philadelphia, said the Media Action Center in an informal objection filed Thursday. The MAD petition isn't considered likely to lead to FCC action (see 2307060065). “It is not the marketplace, but the interests of the people that should determine what is broadcast,” said the filing. “Fox has failed in its duty to put the interests of the people it serves above its corporate profits.” MAD previously filed a petition against the renewal of the then-Entercom owned KDND Sacramento, which was designated for hearing over the death of a listener in radio contest, a matter cited by MAD in their petition against WTXF. Fox didn't comment.
The FCC should look into and discourage local broadcasters from encrypting their ATSC 3.0 signals with DRM, said a filing from YouTube personality Tyler Kleinle, aka Antenna Man, posted in docket 16-142 Tuesday. “That broadcasters are behaving this badly so early in the launch of NextGen TV has me deeply concerned about the future of free over-the-air TV,” said the filing. Antenna Man and fellow YouTuber Lon Seidman asked their viewers to sign a petition and file comments at the agency against broadcasters encrypting their signals with DRM. Broadcasters have begun encrypting their signals, though the makers of external ATSC 3.0 tuners haven’t completed a certification process that would allow those devices to decode the signal, thus cutting off users of those devices from the 3.0 signal, the filing said. Broadcasters in ATSC 3.0 consortium Pearl TV “do not seem to have any care for antenna viewers who lost access to local channels because of DRM encryption,” said the filing. “The certification process for a tuner to decode DRM appears to be extremely complex and expensive,” the filing said. Pearl TV didn’t comment. “Free over-the-air TV is something that should be free and open to the public on any tuner available without encryption,” said Antenna Man in a video urging the public to put pressure on the agency.
The FCC Media Bureau approved two TV channel reassignments for Sinclair Broadcast stations, said public notices last week. Sinclair Broadcast’s KCFW-TV Kalispell, Montana, will switch from Channel 9 to 17, and KCBY-TV Coos Bay, Oregon, will move from 11 to 34, the filings said.
The FCC shouldn’t punt on removing interference protections intended to keep FM stations from interfering with Channel 6 TV stations in an upcoming order on FM6 stations (see 2306290056), said low-power FM entity REC Networks in a call with Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner and Media Bureau staff Friday, according to an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 03-185. The protections are outdated, and tests by NPR Labs and others show that modern digital TVs aren’t affected by the same interference issues as receivers from the 1960s and '70s, the filing said. “There has been a 100 percent elimination of such receivers from service because of the DTV transition,” the filing said. “There has been no objection to the removal of the FM to TV6 protection requirements brought forward by any secondary television user of Channel 6,” REC said.
The FCC must respond to the NAB’s mandamus petition on the 2018 quadrennial review within 30 days, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in an order released Friday. A reply from NAB is due 10 days later. NAB filed the petition in April (see 2304250029 seeking to compel the agency to complete the 2018 review of broadcast ownership rules before commencing the 2022 iteration.
Sixteen state attorneys general signed a letter Wednesday cautioning Zero Emission Transportation Association and the Electric Drive Transportation Association about their member companies’ plans to leave AM radio receivers out of their electric vehicles. “Without access to their main consumers -- automobile owners -- AM stations and the lifesaving signals they provide, might cease to exist,” said the letter, signed by AGs from Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Utah and others. It's “vitally important” for officials to be able to deliver emergency information, and AM is “the backbone” of the emergency alert system, the letter said. “In light of the essential role AM radios play in the safety and well-being of Americans across the country, we urge your members to reconsider the decisions to eliminate AM radios in electric cars.”
A Gaffney, South Carolina, AM licensee must pay delinquent regulatory fees, said the FCC Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director in an order to pay or show cause Friday. Hope Broadcasting owes about $8,200 regulatory fees from fiscal years 2010, 2022 and 2012-2016, the order said. The broadcaster has 60 days to pay the fees or give the agency reasons why the fees should be waived or deferred.
Sens. Ted Cruz. R-Texas, and Ed Markey, D-Mass., sent letters Friday cautioning automakers that have removed or plan to remove AM radio receivers from their cars, said an NAB news release. “Preserving AM radio not only aligns with the growing recognition of its significance but also demonstrates a commitment to public safety and meeting consumer expectations,” said the letters to BMW, Tesla, Mazda, Volkswagen, Polestar, Volvo and Rivian. “We request that you respond to this letter with a commitment to keep AM radio in all your new vehicles.” Markey and Cruz are authors of a bill to require AM reception and playback in all new cars (see 2306060088). “We urge your firm to reconsider any plans to remove AM radio from your vehicles,” said the letter sent to BMW. The letters request responses from the automakers by July 7.
The FCC unanimously approved an ATSC 3.0 order and Further NPRM moving the substantially similar and physical layer sunsets to July 17, 2027, and seeking comment on the 3.0 patent marketplace (see 2306210051). The agency will “initiate a review approximately one year before the requirement is set to expire to seek comment on whether it should be extended based on marketplace conditions at that time,” the order said. The order also clarifies the agency’s stance on hosting multicast channels and allows such arrangements to be approved through license modifications, permits lateral hosting arrangements authorized through special temporary authority, and says the agency doesn’t believe market forces are enough to prevent broadcasters from leaving some 1.0 viewers behind. “Some broadcasters state that they have every incentive to ‘maximize’ viewership, but those arguments more correctly appear to focus on maximizing profits, which will not necessarily support the needs of [over-the-air] OTA 1.0 viewers for the length of the transition,” said the order. The originating station and not the host station is responsible for regulatory compliance for multicast streams in ATSC 3.0 sharing arrangements, and noncommercial educational stations are allowed to participate in such arrangements, the order said. “We find that departing from our licensing regime is appropriate because it is limited to the temporary broadcast transition to 3.0 and to specific situations for which there is a clear need,” the order said. In the FNPRM, the agency seeks comment on the ATSC 3.0 standard essential patent (SEP) marketplace, and on whether patent holders are licensing them under the “reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms” required by the Advanced Television Systems Committee. “We seek additional comment on the state of this market, particularly from the perspective of parties, or the representatives of parties, that do not hold SEPs but have licensed or attempted to license them,” said the FNPRM. “Are SEP holders complying with the ATSC RAND requirements?” "The steps the Commission has taken today -- to facilitate the hosting of multicast programming and provide an end date to a rule mandating identical ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 broadcasts -- will help make that transition possible," said NAB in a release.
Gray Television and Paramount Global reached a deal to renew all of Gray’s CBS network affiliations, which cover 52 markets, said a Gray news release Thursday. “Gray’s CBS affiliates will continue to be available locally to subscribers on Paramount+ and widely distributed across all traditional and virtual MVPD platforms,” the release said. Gray is the largest independent owner of CBS affiliates in the country, the release said.