The FCC didn’t properly provide notice of the market comparability standard used in the incubator order, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters in a petition for review (in Pacer) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The incubator NPRM referred to allowing broadcast ownership waivers given through the program to be granted in similarly sized markets to those where the incubation occurs, but the order says the two markets must be only in the same market size tier, and the comparable market can’t have fewer independent owners, the petition said. “The difference between these two concepts is substantial." The standard in the order allows broadcasters in markets “that are substantially smaller with at least 45 full power radio stations to use the waiver in any of the ten largest (measured by size or by revenues) markets,” the petition said. It's ”arbitrary and capricious" and “an abuse of discretion,” the petition said. Prometheus Radio Project also appealed (see 1809040065). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Thursday he's concerned litigation could slow down incubator implementation (see 1809270059).

Rendering a “premium TV experience without the premium price” of a pay-TV subscription is the positioning behind TiVo’s 4K-capable Bolt OTA DVR that combines over-the-air reception through an HD antenna with streaming capability via an onboard modem, said the company Thursday. TiVo designed the product to resonate with the 25 percent of pay TV homes that describe themselves as “cord-cutter intenders” -- those that are weighing dropping their cable or satellite subscriptions for budgetary reasons, said the company. “Cord cutter regretters have already moved to using only internet TV services, including streaming apps, but are now rethinking their decision based on missing programming choices and inferior viewing experiences,” it said. The Bolt “helps these customers regain a premium TV experience without needing to re-subscribe to a pay-TV service that charges them for channels they don’t want, or requires them to rent set-top boxes,” it said. The product becomes available for sale Friday at $249, plus a $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annual service fee. "The new device and plan provides consumers with significant hardware and performance updates, including 4K, dual and mobile streams plus popular, fan-favorite TiVo features like SkipMode and OnePass," emailed a TiVo spokeswoman Thursday when we asked what consumers get for their monthly or yearly service fees.

The FCC and Congress should consider competition from companies outside the radio industry, said numerous broadcast comments Monday in docket 18-227, responding to the FCC call for information on the state of audio competition. The Media Bureau should “root out” the “increasingly dangerous myth that radio broadcasting constitutes a separate market for economic competition,” Sun Broadcasting and WBOC said. “The increasing share of local advertising revenues earned by online and mobile outlets, including the digital giants, has squeezed radio stations’ share of local ad revenues,” said NAB. “No longer are there silos, where radio stations compete only with each other for advertising revenue and listeners,” filed Connoisseur Media, Townsquare Media, Mid-West Family Broadcasting, Midwest Communications and the Frandsen family stations. MusicFIRST Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition said radio broadcasters enjoy a competitive advantage, and limits on ownership should remain. “History has made clear” relaxing ownership rules would “substantially reduce competition among AM/FM radio stations,” they said,

Hearst launched Hearst Anyscreen, an over-the-top advertising platform for Hearst-owned programming, it said Monday. It said Anyscreen ties Hearst TV station local content and content from a variety of other programmers to ad inventory, with audience targeting across a variety of connected TV platforms, including Roku, Android TV, Apple TV, DirecTV Now, Google Chromecast and Sling TV.

E.W. Scripps expects political advertising revenue to grow by more than half in 2018 compared with the last midterm elections in 2014, it said Monday: 2018 political advertising revenue for Scripps will top its $75 million total from 2014 and its $101 million from 2016.

The FCC shouldn’t fast-track relaxing the rules on where FM translators can relocate after being bumped from their frequencies for interfering with full-power FM stations, said the LPFM Coalition in supplemental comments posted in docket 18-119 Monday. The coalition accused NAB of mischaracterizing the coalition’s position on the matter in the association's replies (see 1809060051). NAB said the coalition “supports a prohibition against any translator channel changes that reduce spectrum opportunities for LPFM operators.” The coalition comments instead argued FCC action on translator interference must comport with the Local Community Radio Act, and preclusion studies could assist with interference disputes. The Administrative Procedure Act “requires an agency to ignore such incorrect information,” the coalition said. "Reject both NAB’s mis-statements and its ill-founded fast-track channel hopping proposal.” NAB "looks forward to the Commission’s resolution of this proceeding and appreciates the Commission’s efforts to provide translator licensees with more certainty while protecting the existing service provided by FM broadcasters,” a spokesperson said.

The FCC Media Bureau granted Ion’s request to change its WPXQ-TV community of license and the DTV table of allotments from Block Island, Rhode Island, to Newport, on condition the company continue to serve Block Island, said an order Tuesday (see 1806120016). “The record supports the general conclusion that Newport is a vibrant year-round community, while Block Island may be associated with more seasonal occupancy.”

The FCC Media Bureau granted Hemisphere Media’s request for a remedial declaratory ruling authorizing a change in the company’s foreign ownership after the fact, said an order in docket 18-134 in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. The bureau in 2017 approved Hemisphere's request to be up to 49.9 percent foreign owned, to allow it to be owned by a trust controlled by Mexican nationals. Hemisphere applied for the new declaratory ruling after a change in membership of the trust (see 1805040037). “The requested modification is minor, administrative, and does not result in a material change in control,” the bureau said.

Requirements that broadcasters provide public notice of license applications are “superfluous and simply do not result in public comment,” said NAB meeting with aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Thursday, recounted a filing posted Monday in docket 17-264 (see 1808170047). The FCC should allow broadcasters to fulfill the requirements with on-air announcements that refer the public to websites, NAB said. “The record in this proceeding cannot support retention of the print newspaper requirement with regard to any stations or applications,” NAB said. “Stations that cannot generate on-air notices should either be permitted to place notices online or be exempt from the requirement.”

The European Broadcasting Union is teaming with NAB Pilot to “co-fund” development of a voice-controlled “hybrid radio” prototype combining over-the-air reception with internet connectivity, said EBU Friday. They are demonstrating the prototype at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, it said. The prototype shows how Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant can be used “to make smart decisions about the best way to listen to a radio station,” it said. Voice commands can determine whether to use over-the-air or streaming to tune the station “based on broadcaster parameters and the available hardware in the device,” it said. EBU and Pilot plan to “release the proof of concept code on a royalty-free basis to manufacturers for use in production implementations of voice assistant devices,” it said.