S&P downgraded Cumulus Media after the radio broadcast group announced it didn't make a $23.6 million interest payment on its 7.75 percent senior notes due 2019. The move on the payment -- due Nov. 1 -- was likely strategic, with the aim of preserving cash or pressuring bondholders into a subpar debt exchange, S&P said. It also said a debt restructuring is probably imminent. It said it lowered its corporate credit rating on Cumulus from CCC to D and its issue-level rating on the senior notes from CC to D. Cumulus said the nonpayment and downgrade don't "mitigate that the company is performing well and ... will have no impact on its operating constituents."
Entravision Communications closed on its buys of NBC affiliate KMIR-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate KPSE-LD, both of Palm Springs, California, from OTA Broadcasting, it said Thursday. Entravision said the stations make Palm Springs one of the company's largest media clusters. It also owns Univision- and UniMas-affiliated TV stations and two FM radio stations there.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued eight warnings Wednesday and Thursday for unlicensed transmitter operation, said notices of violation. They went to operators and property owners in New Jersey (Ludwig Freiberg, William Batiste and Milka Placencia), New York (Vladimir Rosario), Florida (Eglon Garvey, Rocheney Charles and Judith Oreste) and Pennsylvania ( Richard Hairston and Jonathan Alcantara).
FCC relaxation of rules for AM directional arrays takes effect Dec. 4 (see 1709250049), with notification expected in Friday's Federal Register.
The case for a Viacom/CBS combination "is increasingly hard ... to ignore" for controlling shareholder National Amusements Inc. since it would boost Viacom's negotiating leverage with distributors, give big savings via synergies, provide more content for CBS All Access, and give Viacom time and capital for investing in its core networks, Credit Suisse analyst Omar Sheikh wrote investors Wednesday. He said NAI might be more open now to a CBS sale of Paramount than a year ago when previous deal talks ended (see 1612120060). NAI didn't comment.
The window for filing FM translator construction permit applications for stations granted non-mutually exclusive license applications in the last translator application window is Dec. 1-21, said a Media Bureau public notice Wednesday. Eligible stations are listed in an attachment.
The 2017 filing window for biennial broadcast ownership reports will stretch from Dec. 1 to March 2, and the FCC Media Bureau plans a public information session on the new electronic version of Forms 323 and 323-E Nov. 28 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., said a public notice Monday. “Those wishing to attend in person are asked to register by sending an e-mail to form323@fcc.gov no later than November 22.”
The FCC Enforcement Bureau imposed a penalty of $3,800 against Irvington, New Jersey, pirate radio operator Jean Yves Tullias, said a forfeiture order adopted Wednesday. A notice of apparent liability proposing a $15,000 penalty was issued against Tullias in 2015 for unlicensed operation, the order said. Tullias told the FCC his ability to pay a substantial fine is limited, so the bureau reduced the amount. “We have previously rejected inability to pay claims in cases of repeated intentional and malicious acts or otherwise egregious violations,” the order said. “We therefore warn Mr. Tullias that we may impose significantly higher penalties regardless of his financial circumstances if the forfeiture imposed here does not serve as a sufficient deterrent.”
The FCC’s long retention of local ownership rules “depended upon the agency closing its eyes and covering its ears” said NAB Senior Deputy General Counsel Jerianne Timmerman in a blog post Friday. “Broadcasters and newspaper owners must compete with myriad other outlets for viewers, listeners, readers and advertisers.” Relaxing the media ownership rules (see 1710260049) will increase broadcasters’ ability to remain in business in the face of mounting competition, she said. A broadcaster’s ability to function in the public interest is premised on broadcasting remaining an economically viable business, Timmerman said. “The reformed local TV rule will permit two local stations to combine and jointly bear the substantial costs of maintaining local news operations,” she said. The proposed rule changes show the FCC “not only recognizes the realities of the 21st century media marketplace, but also is willing to take the manufactured political heat that will undoubtedly accompany this update of the rules,” Timmerman said.
The FCC Media Bureau dismissed a petition for reconsideration from Texas Public Radio of a call sign assignment for being filed late and a repeat of a previously rejected appeal, said an order released Wednesday. TPR challenged the agency’s call sign assignment for KCTI(FM) Gonzales, Texas. TPR is the licensee of KCTI (AM) Gonzales. TPR argued no consent was provided by KCTI-FM’s former owners or TPR to use the KCTI call sign, but the bureau ruled consent was provided, that TPR’s argument was a repeat of an earlier rejected appeal, and the recon petition was filed too late to be valid.