Meredith is launching businesses in audio content, QR codes and direct-to consumer products, the company announced at CES Monday. The new unit is called Meredith Innovation Group, and includes Meredith Product Studio, the voice AI-focused-Meredith Voice Network, and Meredith Smart Codes, which uses QR codes on magazine pages to gather “ad performance and attribution data for advertisers,” said the broadcaster/publisher.

NPR estimates 53 million U.S. adults own at least one voice-activated smart speaker, and smart speakers owned through December increased 78 percent year over year, it said Monday. Edison Research canvassed 1,002 respondents by phone for NPR just after Christmas and found the average smart speaker home now owns 2.3 such devices, up 35 percent from an average 1.7 the same time last year, it said. Other findings: (1) 52 percent of all U.S. smart speaker owners report using their device daily; (2) an estimated 14 million people in the U.S. got their first smart speaker in 2018; (3) roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population took ownership of a smart speaker between Black Friday and New Year’s Eve.

Broadcasters are receiving phone calls from scammers posing as FCC officials during the federal shutdown, Pillsbury Winthrop broadcast attorney Scott Flick blogged. Callers claim to be collecting “FCC fees,” Flick said Friday. “The first of these calls that we heard about occurred within six hours of the FCC shutting down.” Scammers likely believe it will be hard for broadcasters to check with the FCC about the caller’s legitimacy with the shutdown in place, Flick said. Phone scammers often seek payment in gift cards, Flick said: The FCC “will not allow you to pay your regulatory fees with gift cards, and certainly doesn’t do it over the telephone.” He noted that people can't complain to the FTC during the impasse.

It’s not clear how interested parties will raise issues about the FCC’s draft agenda items for the Jan. 30 meeting with staff furloughed, Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford blogged Friday. The rules on what FCC services are available during the shutdown (see 1901040008) are “complex and open to interpretation,” Oxenford said. Though the agency didn’t mention it in the shutdown PN (see 1901020048), the online public file database has been shuttered while the FCC is closed, Oxenford said. That means public file updates such as quarterly issues programs lists -- due Thursday -- can’t be uploaded, he said. Broadcasters are required to provide access to backups of their political files when the FCC is offline, Oxenford said. “Luckily, with few elections taking place at the moment, this should not generally be a widespread issue, but it could obviously become an issue should the shutdown persist." The agency didn't comment right away.

Gray Television completed its buy of Raycom (see 1901030013), it said in a news release Thursday. That deal’s consummation led in turn to the completion of the sales of divestitures to Scripps and Tegna, those companies said in releases. Gray/Raycom was approved in December (see 1812200065). “Gray now owns the first or second highest rated television station in 85 markets,” said Gray’s release. The divestiture to Scripps sent three ABC affiliates in Florida and Texas to the company, while the sale to Tegna involved stations in Ohio and Texas.

Market modification petitions filed by the Stephens County, Georgia, board of county commissioners lack “required evidence,” said four broadcasters in a joint opposition filing posted Friday. Stephens County wants to be added to the local TV markets of four Atlanta stations, but the broadcasters -- who own stations in South Carolina -- said the Atlanta stations don’t cover content local to Stephens County and the county doesn’t have a history of receiving Atlanta television broadcasts. That the Atlanta stations are in the same state as Stephens County “is neither exclusive nor dispositive,” said broadcasters WYFF Hearst Television, Meredith Corporation, Nexstar and WLOS Licensee. “Neither Congress nor the Commission ever declared or suggested” that a station’s in-state location is more important in considering market modification requests than local focus, history and coverage, the broadcasters said. “There is no evidence that the Atlanta Stations that would be imported into Stephens County have expressed a specific desire to be carried in that county or an intention to provide localized programming that is specifically targeted to the county,” the filing said.

As of Friday, there had been 137 separate programming blackouts in 2018, compared with 213 in 2017, the American TV Alliance said. It said more involving ABC affiliates on Verizon Fios, Nexstar-owned local stations on TDS and Tribune Broadcasting stations and Tribune's WGN America network on Charter Communications could happen Monday. It claimed broadcasters "are notorious" for using live sports and other must-see TV programming at year's end as leverage. Over-the-air broadcasters "are committed to negotiating fairly with pay-TV providers for retransmitting the most-watched programming on television [and] it's unfortunate when pay-TV providers decide to use consumers as pawns during these negotiations rather than work towards a mutually beneficial agreement,” NAB emailed. "99% of retransmission deals are reached with no disruption in service to consumers.”

The FCC "failed" to address its obligation “to promote race and gender diversity in broadcast ownership,” said anti-consolidation groups challenging the 2014 quadrennial review, ownership reconsideration order, and broadcast incubator program in a brief (in Pacer) with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday. Opening briefs are also due from the other petitioners: the Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and a group of broadcasters. Anti-consolidation groups in the case are Free Press, Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America, Media Mobilizing Project, United Church of Christ and Prometheus Radio Project. “We’re suing the FCC for repeatedly failing to foster a media system that reflects the diversity of the American people,” said Free Press Deputy Director Jessica Gonzalez. "The federal court in Philadelphia has told the FCC three times that it must take a hard look at how consolidation might harm ownership by women and people of color,” said Cheryl Leanza, who represents UCC and is lead counsel on the joint brief. “The FCC continues to whistle in the dark but take no action," said Leanza. The FCC’s response is due Feb. 14, and oral argument is expected in spring. The agency didn't comment.

Birach Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) faces a proposed forfeiture of $18,000 for keeping its WPON(AM) Walled Lake, Michigan, silent for longer than authorized and failing to disclose material facts, said a notice of apparent liability and short-term renewal order by the FCC Media Bureau Friday. WPON was granted special temporary authority to go silent for a few months in 2005 but remained silent for long periods through 2010, said the NAL. When it applied for another STA in 2010, BBC didn’t disclose the station’s repeated silences in the intervening years, the NAL said. “BBC’s conduct has fallen far short of that which would warrant routine license renewal." The license is being renewed for one year: “This limited renewal period will afford the Commission an opportunity to review the Station’s compliance.”

Elimination of requirements broadcasters send paper copies of certain contracts into the FCC takes effect Jan. 22, said Friday's Federal Register. The change was OK'd at the October commissioners' meeting (see 1810230037).