The FCC delayed two spectrum auctions, due to COVID-19, in an announcement Wednesday.
Jonathan Make
Jonathan Make, Executive Editor, is a journalist for publications including Communications Daily. He joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2005, after covering the industry at Bloomberg. He moved to Washington in 2003 to research the Federal Communications Commission as part of a master’s degree in media and public affairs at George Washington University. He’s immediate past president of the Society of Professional Journalists local chapter. You can follow Make on Instagram, Medium and Twitter: @makejdm.
Additional MVPDs endorsed requests there be no blackouts of TV station programming on pay TV during the COVID-19 pandemic. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and NAB CEO Gordon Smith and others sought similar pledges (see 2003180036). Comcast agrees, a spokesperson emailed Wednesday. "We all need to work together to avoid service disruptions during this time.” Dish Network "is committed to ensuring that our customers have access to critical local news coverage regarding COVID-19,” said Senior Vice President-Programming Andy LeCuyer in a statement. “We appreciate the cooperation of broadcasters who share our goal, and together we've restored 49 channels across 39 markets, while continuing to work toward long-term agreements."
Some communications stakeholders are on board with calls to halt retransmission consent blackouts for the next 60 days during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tuesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made such a request, and ACA Connects quickly endorsed it. NAB CEO Gordon Smith in Q&A with us Wednesday made a similar request and supported broadcasters doing their part. After he spoke, some cable operators made similar comments.
Communications challenges posed by the novel coronavirus prompted NAB CEO Gordon Smith to seek help from other industries. He hopes for no retransmission consent blackouts of TV stations' content on MVPDs. And he wants social media platforms to work with broadcasters to combat fake news.
Dozens of ISPs of all sizes agreed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's suggestion the industry not take adverse action against customers for the next two months amid the coronavirus pandemic, he announced Friday morning. Those companies won't terminate service to any residential or small-business customers because of inability to pay due to such disruptions; will waive any related late fees; and will open their Wi-Fi hot spots to anyone. Pai is also seeking that the providers make other changes, including related to bandwidth caps.
The FCC is encouraging staff to work remotely due to the coronavirus, we were told Thursday. This was expected. See here.
Due to the coronavirus, the FCC closed its building to visitors, Chairman Ajit Pai announced Thursday afternoon. He also noted in a series of tweets that the agency is encouraging its employees to work remotely, as we had just reported. See here. The commission cited the need for social distancing, which some experts say can help limit the spread of COVID-19.
NAB's annual show next month was canceled. CEO Gordon Smith cited the coronavirus.
The coronavirus is affecting more FCC-related events, with FCBA postponing all of its March gatherings (see 2003090055). An aide to a commissioner may quarantine herself due to possible exposure. For now, NAB's annual show in Las Vegas remains on, it said Monday (see 2003090030).
FCBA postponed one program and is sticking with all others for now. The coronavirus prompted conferences and other gatherings to go virtual or be put off (see 2003050069). Thursday's FCBA International Telecom Committee brown bag lunch with wireless and international aides to FCC members will be rescheduled for a date to be determined soon, the event webpage said. "Due to the availability and limitations of the FCC staff, we’ve decided it best to reschedule," emailed FCBA Executive Director Kerry Loughney. She told us Friday she hopes the group's "other events will move forward." The commission last week suspended "until further notice any FCC involvement in non-critical large gatherings that involve participants from across the country and/or around the world." See our news bulletin. The agency didn't comment now. Many are watching whether the FCC sends commissioners and staffers to the NAB Show next month (see 2003060047). FCBA lists eight future events through next month that haven't been postponed. The organization livestreamed a Friday program on Congressional Budget Office scoring of FCC spectrum auctions (see 2003060053) for commission staff, in addition to holding it in person as had been planned. Brattle Group principal Coleman Bazelon, who led the presentation, said FCC staff who had registered to attend “were told that they’re not supposed to go to public gatherings anymore.” Bazelon noted he went to the agency’s headquarters Wednesday and was asked both about his travel during the previous two weeks and “if I was planning to” travel to any locations where coronavirus outbreaks have occurred. DOJ and the FTC had scheduled a Wednesday event on their draft vertical mergers and acquisitions guidelines, and another March 18. There has been no word on whether those gatherings would occur, and the agencies didn't comment. We filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FTC Friday seeking such details.