The FCC Media Bureau approved a request from a Mexican-owned company to be allowed to buy the licensee of two FM stations, said an order Tuesday. The order grants a request for a foreign ownership declaratory ruling to allow Delaware-based limited liability company SMG -- owned by two Mexican investors -- to be allowed to increase its stake in broadcaster Grupo Multimedia from 25 percent to 100 percent, and grants the transfer application. Grupo is the licensee KQMX Lost Hills, California, and KRPH Morristown, Arizona. The foreign ownership request was given the nod by DOJ, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security and the application and petition were unopposed, the order said.
Puerto Rico broadcasters affected by 2017 hurricanes with mutually exclusive FM translator applications from Auction 100 can request a waiver to move to any available non–reserved band channel, the FCC Media and Wireless bureaus said in a public notice Tuesday. Permitting MX applicants in Puerto Rico to resolve their mutual exclusivities by allowing them to move to any available non-reserved band channel -- rather than waiting for a new auction filing window -- will expedite construction of new broadcast facilities, the PN said. Applicants must still comply with all other requirements for technical amendments and file by the June 14 close of the settlement window, the PN said. The Puerto Rico Broadcasters Association made the request (see 1804050047 and 1804060027).
The broadcast TV industry's 12- to 18-month outlook “remains stable,” Moody's emailed investors Monday. “Companies will continue to face serious headwinds as declining viewership drives down advertising revenue and consequently hinders earnings growth.” Ad revenue will continue to experience negative growth, analyst Jason Cuomo said. "Broadcasters' earnings are heavily influenced by the health of the advertising market, given their revenue mix is still weighted toward ad revenues, but today this ad-supported business model is under attack." Viewership of the top-four news channels is declining, and broadcasters are losing market share to Google and Facebook, Moody’s said. The ad market problems are being balanced by retransmission consent rates, “up by approximately 23% in 2017, much higher than previously anticipated,” Moody’s said. “Cyclical events, including the Olympics and mid-term Congressional elections, will provide an additional lift for broadcasters in 2018.”
Mutually exclusive full-power and Class A TV stations seeking alternate channels and expanded facilities in the post-incentive auction repacking have until July 30 to resolve conflicts, said the FCC Media Bureau and Incentive Auction Task Force in a public notice Monday. “Following the close of the settlement period on July 30, 2018, the staff will dismiss all applications whose mutual exclusivity has not been resolved.” The PN lists 8 pairs of mutually exclusive stations, including some owned by CBS, Ion and Nexstar. “Proposals to resolve mutual exclusivity must be submitted as amendments to pending applications via LMS and must not create new mutual exclusivity or application conflicts," the PN said.
The FCC Media Bureau modified the repacking phase of two TV stations to bring their repacking phase in line with the rest of their markets, said letters released Friday. WQED Pittsburgh was moved from phase 9 to phase 4, and KTXL Sacramento was moved from phase 8 to phase 9. The letters said both stations verbally consented.
The FCC should exempt noncommercial educational stations from ATSC 3.0 simulcasting rules, representatives from America’s Public Television Stations, CPB and PBS told an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai Thursday, said a filing posted Friday in docket 16-142. “Without such an exemption, the simulcasting mandate will preclude many public television stations from pursuing a transition to ATSC 3.0 and delivering its many public service benefits to viewers.” Public TV (PTV) stations derive income from viewer donations, and are largely licensed to entities such as universities that have no incentive to leave viewers behind by ceasing to transmit in a standard they can’t receive, the groups said. Simulcasting is “uniquely challenging” for NCEs because the must-carry rules for such stations “are not connected to DMA boundaries,” the filing said of designated market areas. “Regulatory certainty of an exemption will ensure that PTV stations can invest confidently in their futures.”
The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on Connecticut Public Broadcasting’s petition to amend the DTV table of allotments (see 1708240050) to change the community of license for its WEDW from Bridgeport to Stamford, said an FCC public notice Thursday. "CBPI’s proposal warrants consideration.” The PN said the petition doesn’t “propose to change WEDW’s licensed facilities as part of its allotment request and its existing principal community contour will cover the entire community of Stamford from the station’s currently-licensed transmission facilities.” WEDW channel-shares with WZME Bridgeport, and CPBI pointed out that Stamford doesn't currently have a full power TV station licensed to it despite being the third largest city in Connecticut, the PN said.
The U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit gave anti-media consolidation groups until May 9 to file supplemental documents with the court demonstrating they have standing to challenge restoration of the UHF discount, said an order (in Pacer). “Petitioners’ affidavit(s) must be filed, together with a brief explaining (a) why this court should consider them, and (b) how they have satisfied their burden to establish their standing.” The groups' standing was the subject of considerable scrutiny at oral argument last week (see 1804240072), but the judges hearing the case said the matter could be addressed with supplemental filings. Standing is a serious consideration, but it’s unlikely the court would have offered that possibility if it intended to reject the case on standing grounds, several broadcast attorneys told us. The FCC has to May 16 to respond.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $25,000 forfeiture for Winston Tulloch, an alleged pirate radio operator in Paterson, New Jersey, said a notice of apparent liability released Wednesday. An unauthorized station was observed operating out of properties connected with Tulloch numerous times since 2015, and the station repeatedly gave Tulloch’s personal phone number on air as a contact for potential advertisers, the NAL said. The FCC “has repeatedly warned Mr. Tulloch that operation of this unlicensed station was illegal and that continued operation could result in further enforcement action,” the NAL said.
An FCC extension giving 39 radio stations 60 more days to comply with online public file rules could indicate that “likely soon” stations out of compliance could face penalties, blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford Wednesday. The original deadline was March 1.The extension was mainly for “stations with very small staffs or those affected by recent hurricanes or otherwise non-operational,” Oxenford said. Since the three-year license renewal cycle for radio stations begins in 2019, the FCC will have ample opportunity to monitor public file compliance and penalize stations in violation, Oxenford said.