The FCC Media Bureau canceled three notices of apparent liability connected with late license renewal applications. The bureau made errors in determining when the stations were required to file renewal applications. The three canceled NALs were for Radio Hatteras, Pirate Media Group and CTC Media Group.

Entertainment Media Trust’s former bankruptcy trustee Donald Samson can exit the broadcaster’s license proceeding and doesn’t have to respond to discovery requests as a party to the case, FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin ordered, posted in docket 19-156 Monday (see 2001080040). EMT’s stations were transferred to Samson during the bankruptcy proceeding but transferred back to EMT when the bankruptcy was withdrawn. “Now that the bankruptcy matter has been dismissed and control of the licenses has been transferred back to EMT, there is no reason to continue Trustee Samson’s involvement as a party to this matter,” Halprin ruled. Petitioner Mark Kern argued that despite the end of the bankruptcy proceeding, Samson was still obligated to provide the court with documents about his communications with EMT. Halprin ruled Kern could still seek that information, under rules on obtaining information from those who aren’t party. A footnote said Samson indicated he hasn’t had any written communications with Robert Romanik, the convicted felon the Enforcement Bureau argued controls EMT’s stations.

Scripps Broadcasting agreed to a $1.13 million settlement with the FCC Enforcement Bureau over tower lighting violations, said an order and consent decree released Monday. Scripps’s predecessor in owning the towers -- Cordillera Communications -- failed to do daily lighting inspections, neglected to completely log lightning failures and didn’t notify the FCC in time of the acquisition of two antenna structures, the order said. Scripps agreed to accept liability for the violations when it bought 10 stations from Cordillera in 2019 (see 1904040078). “This action will help promote aviation safety near antenna structures,” said the Enforcement Bureau. The violations were discovered during an investigation of a 2018 collision between a small aircraft and one of the towers. No evidence was found connecting the crash to the violations. The 11 towers involved in the violation are in California, Louisiana, Kentucky, Montana and Texas. Scripps has to implement a compliance plan, file reports for two years, and report future violations within 15 days of discovery.

Sony’s decision putting ATSC 3.0 compatibility in its X900H series of LED-backlit 4K LCD TVs leaves it alone among the three TV vendors introducing 3.0 goods at CES in not reserving NEXTGEN TV (see 2001080031) for the upper-most tiers of their 2020 premium product lines. LG is building 3.0 compatibility into its higher tiers of 8K and 4K OLED TV products, and Samsung is emphasizing 3.0 capability in its top-of-the-line 8K QLED TVs for 2020 (see 2001060026).

The withdrawal of Entertainment Media Trust’s bankruptcy trustee from the broadcaster's license hearing proceeding is being held up by EMT’s unpaid regulatory fees, trustee Donald Samson said in a status report posted in FCC docket 19-156 Wednesday. With the bankruptcy proceedings ended by EMT, Samson filed an application to transfer EMT’s licenses back to the broadcaster, but action on the application “is being withheld due to a ‘red light’ for unpaid regulatory fees owed by EMT,” the filing said. Samson is “working with the Media Bureau staff, many of whom were on extended leave over the holidays, to allow the application to be processed expeditiously and without payment of the fees.”

The Missouri Broadcasters Association won at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday when a three-judge panel affirmed a lower court decision a Missouri state law barring alcohol sellers from advertising discounts violates the First Amendment. The law restricted speech, had arbitrary exceptions and the state has other alternatives to combat overconsumption of alcohol without limiting speech, such as increasing taxes on alcohol, the court said. “Missouri did not present any evidence showing overconsumption or underage drinking is less frequent in Missouri than in states without similar advertising restrictions.” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt didn't comment.

The FCC Media Bureau plans a webinar Jan. 23 at 1:30 p.m. EST on changes to children’s TV reports after FCC revision of kidvid rules (see 1911150064), said a public notice in Wednesday’s Daily Digest.

The University of Arkansas board agreed to pay $76,000 for violating FCC policies around noncommercial underwriting, said an Enforcement Bureau order in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. The UA affiliated Cossatot Community College’s Arkansas FM stations KPBU De Queen and KTYC Nashville aired spots promoting underwriters' products and services, a consent decree said. Other broadcasters reported the violations -- from September 2016 -- and the licensee admitted to them after receiving FCC letters of inquiry. The agency hasn’t adopted quantitative guidelines on underwriting announcements but “has found that the longer the announcement, the more likely it is to contain material that is inconsistent with their ‘identification only’ purpose, the order said. The FCC “expects that licensees will exercise reasonable ‘good faith’ judgment in this area and affords some latitude to the judgments of licensees who do so.” The school must implement compliance and education programs and file compliance reports for five years.

Using analog TV channel 6 to provide primarily audio content as a “Franken FM” radio station is “a waste of spectrum,” said Mark Heller, president of Wisconsin AM licensee WTRW, in comments filed early in FCC docket 03-185. Low-power TV stations broadcasting signals receivable on FM typically air only a title slide and station identification on the visual portion of their transmission, Heller said. “There is absolutely no audience” for title slides or weather radar images, he said: Open up those frequencies for FM stations, Heller said. The approximately 50 LPTV stations running as “Franken FMs” could be converted to FM “without a single listener complaint” and cease “generating heat, wasting electricity” with unwatched visual feeds, Heller said.

Comments are due March 9, replies April 6 on an FCC proposal to allow all-digital AM broadcasting, says Tuesday’s Federal Register (see 1911240003).