Nearly every legislator who spoke at Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the American Music Fairness Act (HR-4130) appeared sympathetic to compensating performers for radio play of their songs, though many also emphasized protections for broadcasters. Many gave credence to both sides. The most aggressive questions went to NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “The government has the responsibility to protect the property rights of its citizens,” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., told LeGeyt, noting broadcasters require compensation when their own content is used by others.
A survey by an ATSC 3.0 industry group shows consumer demand for the technology's enhanced emergency information capabilities, said Sinclair and subsidiary One Media, which sponsored the research. The survey, done by the NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance, showed “almost two-thirds of American consumers” want geotargeted alerts. Over half want the ability to curate which alerts are received and the ability to opt in to a stream of emergency information. “Almost two thirds of American consumers said they would pay an extra $5” for a mobile phone with enhanced emergency information and “almost half said they would pay an extra $10,” the release said.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a notice of violation Thursday to a California low-power FM station for violating rules on monitoring emergency alert system sources. Dream Ahead the Empowerment Initiative’s station KLDI-LP Lodi was found to be monitoring only one AM station for possible EAS alerts after the station’s EAS logs were reviewed, the notice said. “KLDI-LP was not monitoring two required EAS sources and was not monitoring the correct EAS sources.” Dream Ahead couldn’t be reached for comment.
The 2021 nationwide emergency alert system test showed improvement over the 2019 version, but difficulties with primary entry point stations and low participation by low-power broadcasters affected the results, the FCC reported last week on the Aug. 11 test. The agency also issued a report on the simultaneous wireless emergency alert test (see 2112300045).
Jenner & Block elects lawyers to the partnership, including Jacob Tracer, member of Content, Media and Entertainment Practice focusing on "intellectual property and complex commercial disputes," and Camillie Landron, member of Communications, Internet and Technology Practice, working on FCC spectrum and other telecom issues and with the "space and satellite industries."
Completed surveys after the August nationwide wireless emergency alert test (see 2108110067) showed the test message was received by about 90% opting into the test with a compatible device, said an FCC Public Safety Bureau report released Thursday. The test “successfully demonstrated that the nationwide WEA system would largely perform as designed if needed for a national emergency” but showed the need to address some deficiencies, the report said: “Over 10% of mobile devices failed to receive the test message intended for them. Thirty-two percent of respondents completing the survey report receiving a duplicate test message.” Most received an alert within two minutes of transmission, the report said. The bureau said “AT&T and Verizon offer a WEA service that is similarly reliable,” and T-Mobile’s appears to be “reliable,” but there isn’t enough data to make a “statistically significant finding.” The bureau found major differences between wireless generations. Some 66.7% of those with 3G devices didn’t receive a message, compared with 8.4% with 4G and 9.3% with 5G phones. Results were similar among manufacturers and operating systems. The bureau said it will “continue to examine the reliability of older WEA-capable mobile devices that are not technically capable of receiving a State/Local WEA Test Alert and WEA’s end-to-end latency for non-nationwide activations.” The bureau also plans to work with FEMA to “evaluate the accuracy and latency of WEA geo-targeting,” address “the challenges of opting in to receive State/Local WEA Test Alerts and “promote an evenly distributed sample of survey respondents.” The bureau also plans to examine why 10.2% of devices didn’t receive the nationwide test while others got a duplicate message, and which smaller carriers aren’t participating in the program and encourage them to do so, the report said.
Satellite, wireline, wireless and broadcast industry groups almost uniformly opposed FCC proposals for stricter network resiliency requirements, in comments posted in docket 21-346 through Friday. Providers work voluntarily to share information and preserve their networks, so the FCC should “avoid unnecessary and burdensome additional regulation” said NTCA, similar to NAB, USTelecom and others. The FCC “shouldn’t take an overly prescriptive approach to unpredictable and highly variable events,” said the Competitive Carriers Association.
Citing a GAO report identifying fraud risks in E-rate's competitive bidding process, FCC commissioners during a meeting Tuesday unanimously approved an NPRM to establish a central online bidding portal and seek comment on requiring additional documentation from applicants (see 2111300047). The NPRM had a tweak that Commissioner Brendan Carr sought. Members also adopted 4-0 an NPRM on revising the commission’s non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) spectrum sharing rules and proposals to improve emergency alert system accessibility.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $20,000 forfeiture against Beasley Media over a radio show transmitting unauthorized emergency alert system tones, said a notice of apparent liability Friday. The tones aired in September 2020 during a programming block paid for by the Doug Basham Radio Show on KDWN(AM) Las Vegas, and were broadcast by Basham as a “stunt,” the NAL said. A subchannel of Beasley’s, KKLZ(FM) Las Vegas, and Beasley FM translator K268CS Las Vegas, retransmitted the signal, airing the tones as well. A Beasley employee confronted Basham “immediately” after the tones aired and notified KWDN’s program director, the NAL said. The bureau adjusted the proposed violation upward because of the rebroadcasts and the large market involved. Beasley didn’t comment.
An NPRM and notice of inquiry on accessibility in emergency alert system messages are likely to be unanimously approved as-is, said FCC and industry officials in interviews. Alerting industry officials said the agency’s proposals need fine-tuning, but strong industry pushback isn’t expected. Accessible alerts are “certainly a laudable goal,” said Sage Alerting President Harold Price. Comments on the item would go to docket 15-94.