The FCC should launch a rulemaking on creating a Class C4 FM allocation, Commissioner Ajit Pai said Thursday in a speech at the 2016 Radio Show, prepared remarks show. “Class C4 FM stations would have more power than Class A FM stations but less power than Class C3 FM stations.” A C4 allocation would allow hundreds of Class A FM stations to upgrade to Class C4 FM stations, Pai said. “They could broadcast with increased power and provide service to more Americans so long as they didn’t impact the existing service contours of other stations.” The FCC received positive feedback on the idea and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council supports it, Pai said. “An NPRM would allow us to ask the right questions, explore the advantages and disadvantages of the proposal, and receive the views of all stakeholders.” Pai also urged the wireless industry to expand the activation of FM chips in smartphones. The Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council recommended activated FM chips as a way to further disseminate emergency alert system messages, Pai noted. “I wholeheartedly support CSRIC’s recommendation and will continue to urge the wireless industry to activate FM chips in smartphones.” Pai also praised FCC efforts to open windows for FM translators, saying it received 671 applications and granted 624 during the first window. In the ongoing second window, the commission received 268 applications and granted 200 of them, Pai said. Pai also said he would push for the FCC to take up more aspects of the AM revitalization proposal in 2017.

The FCC should define the protected contour for TV stations using ATSC 3.0 just as it does for the current standard, NAB told staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Media Bureau in a meeting Tuesday. “Next Generation TV will have the same interference characteristics as the current television transmission standard, and petitioners have requested no changes to the emission mask or power levels,” said a filing posted Thursday to docket 16-142. “There is no need for the Commission to make any changes to its regulatory processes for applications associated with or affected by the use of the new standard.” The association also continued its recent push to get the agency to issue an NPRM on ATSC 3.0, which CEO Gordon Smith has said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said could come in months (see 1609070065).

Correction: What NAB CEO Gordon Smith said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told him is that the agency would take up ATSC 3.0 once it finished some other ongoing proceedings (see 1609130043), (see 1609070065).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted Free Access and Broadcast Telemedia's request for more time to amend its opening brief in its challenge of incentive auction rules, according to a court order. FAB wanted the extra time to account for the D.C. Circuit's decision against Mako's similar challenge (see 1608300056), FAB said in an unopposed motion Tuesday. FAB wanted 14 days to file an amended brief "reflecting the Mako decision, but otherwise raising no new issues," the motion said. FAB's amended brief is now due Sept. 28.

NAB will work with the nonprofit Partnership for Drug-Free Kids to raise awareness about the national opioid epidemic, the association said in a news release Tuesday. CBS TV Network, ABC-owned TV stations and iHeartMedia have carried more than $15 million in public service announcements from the partnership on the issue, NAB said. Broadcasters will produce more PSAs, develop long-form programming and news reports on the problem, hold town hall meetings and “provide critical information online,” NAB said.

Gannett invested in and partnered with Digg, a web-content and news curator. Gannett said it led the company's Series C investment round "to provide USA TODAY NETWORK access to Digg’s industry-leading data." Digg gets access to the network for personalization and geo-targeting content, Gannett said in a Tuesday news release, and its executive is joining the privately held Digg's board (see 1609130022).

The FCC should “promptly” begin a rulemaking on approving ATSC 3.0, said NAB officials and America's Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler in meetings with aides to all regular FCC commissioners Thursday, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-142. “Broadcasters representing hundreds of stations support Commission approval of broadcasters’ voluntary use of the new standard.” In comments on a petition requesting approval for the new standard, NAB and numerous broadcast filers asked for the NPRM to be issued in October.

Cadence Design Systems claims it has the industry’s first SoC designs approved for use with Dolby AC-4 decoders, the chipmaker said in a Monday announcement. AC-4 decoders will be “critical” for next-generation TV and set-top applications, including those for ATSC 3.0, the company said. In a separate announcement Monday, Cadence also said it's offering immediate availability of an MPEG-H audio decoder for ATSC 3.0 and other global next-gen broadcast systems. MPEG-H Audio “is a future broadcast standard and is expected to be one of the key audio technologies adopted worldwide for new TVs,” Cadence said. Working in “close collaboration” with Fraunhofer, a developer of MPEG-H with Qualcomm and Technicolor, Cadence is first to market with an implementation for a “licensable” MPEG-H digital signal processor, it said. ATSC by year-end “likely” will recommend adoption of AC-4 as the ATSC 3.0 audio codec for North America and MPEG-H for South Korea, ATSC officials told us at the NAB Show (see 1604180080).

The Audio Engineering Society and NAB Show New York will collocate their 2017 conventions at the Javits Center, they said in a joint Monday announcement. AES set its 2017 convention for Oct. 18-21, and NAB Show New York will be Oct. 18-19, they said: “The adjacent location of these events creates the most comprehensive and largest media and entertainment event held on the East Coast with more than 600 exhibitors.”

FoxFur Communications agreed to a $16,000 settlement with the FCC Media Bureau over a “time brokerage agreement” that led to FoxFur's having “an unauthorized attributable interest” in eight radio stations in the Syracuse, New York, area, said a consent decree released Monday. The deals involved the exchange of several stations in March and April and simultaneous agreements to broker 100 percent of the programming for some of the stations.