FCC bureaus Friday afternoon undid numerous orders and other items (see 1702030058) enacted under former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, reversing actions on zero rating, media ownership, video streaming and other matters. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn criticized it as “Take out the trash day” and a “Friday news dump.” The reversed items are all “last minute actions” that weren't supported by a majority of commissioners when they were taken and that “ran contrary to the wishes expressed by the leadership of our congressional oversight committees,” said Chairman Ajit Pai in a statement Friday. "In some cases, Commissioners were given no advance notice of these midnight regulations." The actions also were a subject of our earlier story (see 1701240020).
Entercom will buy CBS Radio in an all-stock transaction and become one of the nation's largest radio broadcasters, they announced. The deal could help make radio a more viable target for advertising dollars and investment, radio industry officials told us. To comply with FCC rules, the proposed deal will include the divestiture of about 15 stations, Entercom CEO David Field said during an investor call. Industry officials said they don't expect federal regulators to block the deal.
The FCC will advance broadcasters closer to a new standard by considering a draft NPRM in docket 16-142 on ATSC 3.0 at commissioners’ Feb. 23 meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai announced Thursday. The FCC also will consider a draft order in docket 13-249 that would remove the 40-mile limit on where FM translators can be placed by AM stations. Though both items are still on circulation, Pai released the full text of the items as part of a “pilot program” intended to increase FCC transparency, he said. (see 1702020051).
Though FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hasn't closed the set-top docket as was requested by legislators last week (see 1701250079), industry and public interest officials told us they don't expect the item to return in any form while Pai leads the commission. The set-top item was pulled from circulation (see 1701280001) and Pai said Tuesday it's among 23 pending items (see 1701310056) left over from the administration of previous Chairman Tom Wheeler for which next steps are being determined. Pai wouldn't comment on the item's future.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai instituted a small process tweak, avoided questions on net neutrality and got an item unanimously approved and as expected (see 1701240071) at his first commissioners’ meeting in charge of the agency Tuesday. Pai indicated Tuesday’s item removing requirements that gave the public access to broadcast and cable facilities is part of a concerted plan to remove or update older regulations, and discussed his plans to tackle the digital divide (see 1701310033). He released few details of the FCC’s position on other issues, including set-top boxes, media ownership and net neutrality. Staff is still reviewing 23 pending items from the Tom Wheeler administration as part of the process of deciding how the FCC will handle them going forward, Pai said.
The FCC should update its dated equal employment opportunity rules to allow jobs posted on the internet to be considered “widely disseminated,” said a host of broadcast commenters in docket 16-410 in time for Monday’s comment deadline. “Requiring broadcasters to continue to promote jobs through outdated mediums such as classified ads is an unnecessary burden, and one which should be revisited in the digital age,” said Sinclair. “Punishing broadcasters for focusing their recruitment efforts online in lieu of less popular methods is counter-productive.” So many sources for job postings have moved online that it’s now difficult to comply with rules that require job postings be widely disseminated outside the Internet, Nexstar said. “Newspaper employment ads often produce no responses and are far more costly than available internet sources,” said the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. The current rule perpetuates a “false dichotomy” between online-only sources and the online presence of brick and mortar businesses, Raycom and Meredith said. The Multicultural Media, Internet & Telecom Council agreed that the rules should be updated but added some caveats. The FCC needs to make sure the job notices are widely available and don’t use too much insider jargon, said MMTC. ”The online postings must use common natural search terms like ‘broadcast jobs’, so they will not be hidden in the all-too-common online ‘echo chambers’ that now separate us from one another online.” The agency also should take steps to make sure job postings stay open for a sufficient amount of time, and continue to encourage broadcaster relationships with “resources that are likely to include diverse candidates,” said the group.
FCC suggestions Friday of upcoming relief for broadcasters of incentive auction prohibited communications rules aren't enough, according to interviews with their lawyers and filings in docket 12-268. Attorneys told us Friday that they welcomed the release of more information about the repacking (see 1701270064). There were few surprises in the transition scheduling plan and accompanying post-auction procedures public notice, many lawyers said.
“Some relief” for broadcasters from the incentive auction's prohibited communications rules “may be appropriate” when the confidential letters containing broadcaster channel assignments are sent out, said the Incentive Auction Task Force in the transition plan public notice Friday. Though the IATF made some concessions to broadcasters on matters such as temporary channel sharing and the effect of the weather on the repacking schedule, the agency will proceed with the expected phased transition plan (see 1611160033) that prioritizes clearing wireless spectrum, the PN said.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and FCC Republicans aren’t likely to agree all the time but she looks forward to the new “trio” making the most of its opportunities, she said in Q&A at NAB Wednesday. In the speech, Clyburn said industry and Congress should do more to promote ownership diversity, and backed the return of the minority tax credit. “The status quo is not working,” Clyburn said. “None of us is satisfied.” Though she hasn’t met with Chairman Ajit Pai to discuss the FCC's new direction, she expects such a meeting to occur soon, she said.
The FCC acted arbitrarily in eliminating the UHF discount and should reinstate it, said NAB and numerous broadcasters in replies posted in docket 13-236 Tuesday in response to a reconsideration petition by Ion Media and Trinity Christian Center. “The FCC’s decision to artificially separate the UHF Discount from the national audience reach cap and eliminate it without considering the effect on the overall cap was the worst kind of results-driven decision-making,” said those two jointly. Broadcasters criticized the argument the UHF discount is no longer technically merited, and that the FCC doesn’t have the authority to reverse the decision to eliminate it. Bringing back the discount is seen as an early goal of the new agency, industry officials said (see 1701110067).