A draft order that would allow FM broadcasters to use computer modeling to verify the pattern of their directional antennas is expected to be unanimously approved at Thursday’s open meeting, FCC and industry officials told us. The final version isn’t expected to be much changed from the draft order, and would allow antenna manufacturers to do the modeling and still require the construction of full-size or scale models the first time the pattern of a particular type of antenna is verified using a particular modeling software.
Broadcasters are looking for intervention by either the FCC or Congress to allow them to run ads for marijuana products in states where cannabis or medical marijuana have been legalized, said broadcast attorneys and industry officials in interviews. Because marijuana remains a federally controlled substance, broadcasters fear losing their FCC licenses for running the ads even where cannabis is legal, attorneys told us. State broadcast associations and NAB have been pushing for legislation on the issue, but NAB Executive Vice President-Government Relations Shawn Donilon said at an NAB 2022 panel in April that those could “prove elusive” in the current Congress. Donilon said then NAB could seek potential relief at the FCC in the meantime, but industry officials told us no such request is imminent. Agency clarification on the matter would likely be enough to satisfy broadcasters, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Frank Montero.
Broadcasters are reducing their expectations for a resurgence in auto advertising revenue and are concerned about inflation but are seeing bigger numbers from travel and other categories that were diminished by COVID-19, said executives on recent Q1 earnings calls for Cumulus, Nexstar, Gray, and Sinclair. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook referenced supply chain concerns Tuesday but said “there are many bright spots” among broadcast ad categories. “Experiential-based businesses entertainment and travel are back in a big way,” said Sook, echoed on the other companies’ earnings calls.
The FCC should require licensees to collect and report diversity data from the companies that provide their media content, including on streaming services, said a petition Thursday from programmer Fuse Media and several public interest groups including the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge and Common Cause. The petition doesn’t limit the proposal to companies overseen by the Media Bureau, but loops in broadband licensees such as Google and Amazon. “Collecting data from all of the regulatee’s services will not only provide a fuller picture of the regulatee’s overall commitment to diversity but would allow the Commission to compare viewpoint diversity and competition across different services,” said the petition.
Mexico needs to invest heavily in infrastructure and education and address local regulatory barriers and high spectrum costs to realize the potential of 5G, said telecom executives, regulators and academics in an AT&T Mexico-hosted webinar Friday. Mexico has the spectrum needed to offer 5G, but it will be “as if this spectrum didn’t exist” without the proper supporting infrastructure, said Instituto Federal De Telecommunicaciones (IFT) Commissioner Javier Juarez Mojica, via an interpreter. The IFT is Mexico’s federal communications regulatory agency.
LAS VEGAS -- No nationwide test of the emergency alert system will be held in 2022 to allow Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a comprehensive survey instrument to gauge the effectiveness of wireless emergency alerts, announced FEMA officials on an NAB Show 2022 panel Monday. “We are planning for that in the early part of 2023,” said Antwane Johnson, acting deputy assistant administrator-FEMA National Continuity Programs Directorate. Gathering data on previous nationwide WEA tests has been difficult, necessitating the survey effort, said Al Kenyon, FEMA customer support branch chief-integrated public alert warning system, in an interview Tuesday.
LAS VEGAS -- FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel kept her cards close on future FCC broadcasting policy during a Q&A at the NAB Show 2022 Monday but pleased many broadcasters by repeatedly emphasizing her admiration for local broadcasting. “Your power is that you’re not like everyone else,” Rosenworcel told NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt and the broadcasters. “What makes you unique is that you’re local.” Her “appreciation for local was apparent,” said Salem CEO David Santrella in an interview after her remarks: “When two parties get together to negotiate something, if one has no appreciation for what the other brings to the table, the negotiation rarely goes well.”
LAS VEGAS -- Broadcasters have made great progress toward realizing the promise of ATSC 3.0, but for the transition to succeed long term they need the FCC to sunset the requirement that 3.0 broadcasts be "substantially similar" to ATSC 1.0 content, said several broadcast executives on multiple weekend panels at the NAB Show 2022.
The 2022 NAB Show is projected to have about 55% of the attendance of the last in-person show in 2019, but broadcasters told us it feels like a step toward the industry getting back to where it was pre-COVID-19. The show runs April 23-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The FCC should focus efforts to improve the emergency alert system on the internet-based common alerting protocol (CAP) system rather than the legacy daisy chain EAS, said broadcast alerting equipment manufacturers and cable groups in comments posted this week in docket 15-94. A notice of inquiry sought comments on possible improvements to the legacy system to make it more accessible and increase the amount of text in alerts.