Arguments the FCC lacks authority to relax children’s TV rules are “specious,” NAB replied, posted Wednesday in docket 18-202. Falling audiences for broadcast children’s content obligate modernizing rules, NAB said. ”Children do not rely on commercial stations’ E/I [educational and informative] content, even in OTA [over-the-air] homes.” The association responded to comments from a collection of children’s media groups, including Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Center for Digital Democracy and Common Sense Kids Action. The record doesn’t show that nonbroadcast platforms provide “significant educational programming for children,” those groups replied. “Despite changes in viewing habits, large numbers of children still watch broadcast television.” The National Hispanic Media Coalition said the FCC should “pause” the proceeding to gather more information or risk not complying with the Administrative Procedure Act: “Neither the NPRM nor the comments filed in the record meaningfully evaluate the potential unintended effects of deregulation.” Others also urged the FCC to reset the proceeding and gather more information. “A doctor should not prescribe a litany of prescriptions before carefully examining a patient and diagnosing an illness; and neither should the FCC prescribe a litany of prescriptive remedies without a more thorough examination of what ails the Kid Vid issue,” said the Parents Television Council. Continue requiring broadcaster kids' TV reports, the children’s media groups said: “Neither broadcasters nor MVPDs should be allowed to simply certify compliance with the [Children’s Television Act] when there is no viable way to verify their compliance.” Current filing rules are a burden on small cable companies and broadcasters, said the American Cable Association and every broadcast commenter. Some content companies, such as Litton Entertainment, argued allowing broadcasters to satisfy requirements with children’s shows aired only on multicast channels will discourage production of new kid content. Lower ad revenue on multicast channels would destroy the market for new educational children’s shows, Litton said. “Allowing broadcasters to move all E/I programming to lesser-watched multicast streams would mean lower-quality (i.e., standard definition, not closed-captioned or video-described) programming and significantly fewer viewers,” said Hearst. Ion and broadcast network affiliate associations praised the FCC’s efforts, saying the media landscape “more than justifies the rule changes proposed by the Commission, and supported by most of the comments, because they will serve the public interest.”

The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force is seeking comments due Nov. 21, replies Dec. 6 on a catalog of reimbursable expenses for low-power TV, translators and FM stations affected by the post-incentive auction repacking, said a public notice in Monday’s Daily Digest. The catalog largely “mirrors” the one used for full-power stations but is geared toward equipment more appropriate for these broadcasters, the PN said. The list “is not exhaustive,” the PN said, and broadcasters can submit expenses not in the catalog for reimbursement, “together with cost justification documentation,” the catalog says. “Hard” expenses like antennas and “soft” costs such as legal services are included, the PN said. The catalog doesn’t contain costs for interim facilities for LPTV and translator stations, because a low-power reimbursement NPRM tentatively concluded those expenses aren’t reimbursable, the PN said.

Equal time rules for broadcast political advertisements could one day be tested by candidates campaigning on social media, said Media Bureau Assistant Division Chief Robert Baker on the FCC podcast. Traditionally, candidates running write-in campaigns have been considered eligible for equal time on stations if they can demonstrate they are campaigning, Baker said: “They're giving speeches, they've got campaign materials, they have campaign headquarters and the kinds of things that are indicative of being a candidate.” The rise of digital and social media campaigning is complicating that determination, he said. “We just had a presidential election campaign where the successful person running for president used social media in ways that will indicate, I think, for a lot of people are a much different way of campaigning." Policy remains unchanged, but “one of these days it's going to be tested,” he said. Baker’s role at the FCC is “not to be a cop and not to punish people if at all possible to avoid,” he said. In his 25 years heading the bureau’s political ad efforts, his office has gone from 15 lawyers to two and now issues far fewer complaints than his predecessor. Baker is “there to help” and lawyers and broadcasters trust they can ask questions without getting in trouble, he said. “They know I don't write things down,” Baker said. “We've eliminated a couple thousand potential disputes and those disputes are inefficient for many reasons,” he said. “Certainly, they waste the resources of the FCC.”

Total registered attendance for the two-day NAB Show New York was 15,097, a 6.1 percent increase over that of the 2017 event, said NAB Friday. Last week's show attracted more than 300 exhibitors, including 67 companies that exhibited for the first time, it said. The 2019 event is set for Oct. 16-17.

The FCC Wireless and Media bureaus seek comment on procedures for Auction 100, an FY 2019 auction of 13 FM translator construction permits, said a public notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The auction is open only to entities that had mutually exclusive permit applications in a previous translator window. Comments are due Nov. 15, replies Nov. 28, the PN said.

The FCC shouldn’t create a protected contour beyond which FM translator stations are allowed to interfere with full-power stations, said NPR in a meeting Tuesday with Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner and Media Bureau staff. NPR recommended “relying on engineering criteria in addressing interference concerns at the FM translator station application stage,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-119. The post-incentive auction repack will cause “significant disruption” to public radio, it said. The agency should maximize reimbursement payouts to radio, cover project management costs, and do away with “impractical and unnecessary” proposals for graduated reimbursement, it said.

Though anticipated deployment of ATSC 3.0 on a national scale was the talk of NAB Show New York (see 1810170047), the standard is “not part of the conversation” among investors, said an analyst there Thursday. “I’m talking to people who live and die by their spreadsheets,” and 3.0 now is a “blank sell,” said Marci Ryvicker, Wolfe Research's new managing director (see 1810120003) and self-described “mouthpiece for Wall Street.” Investors she works with typically “plug numbers” into their spreadsheets, “and out pops a value,” said the former Wells Fargo managing director. “Right now, what we’re putting in for ATSC 3.0 is nothing.” She knows "there’s going to be a value. I have no idea what that value is, so we’re sort of waiting.” Many on Wall Street will be “waiting to see how the TV industry is transformed” as the result of 3.0, said Ryvicker. “There’s a lot of hope that this is going to transform an industry” that many there think “is dying,” she said. “There’s a lot of life that can be breathed into the industry.” Ryvicker’s big 3.0 worry is that “by the time this is out, and we’re using it, have we moved on to some other technology?" She also thinks 3.0 technology “could be awesome, but if the content isn’t there, it doesn’t matter.”

Ion, licensee of WUPX-TV Morehead, Kentucky, wants to amend the DTV table of allotments to delete Channel 21 at Morehead and substitute Channel 21 at Richmond, Kentucky, said an NPRM Thursday. Comments will be due 15 days, replies 25 days, after Federal Register publication.

The FCC Media Bureau ordered Alaska Educational Radio System to pay $8,000 for discontinuing operations of FM translators K223BJ Eagle River and K283AZ Anchorage, said a forfeiture order Thursday. A separate order canceled a $20,000 AERS notice of apparent liability for a forfeiture in response to the broadcaster's surrender of its license for KABN(FM) Kasilof. Forfeiture was in response to AERS seemingly operating KABN multiple times outside licensed parameters and discontinuing station operations without authority, said the bureau.

Scripps hopes to close before year's end on a $150 million cash purchase of digital audio technology company Triton, it said Wednesday. It said Triton, which is used in streaming music and podcasting applications, gives it a bigger footprint as it looks to expand its digital audio play. Scripps CEO Adam Symson said TV station acquisition is still its top merger-and-acquisitions priority.