House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., raised concerns Thursday about the Standard General/Tegna deal amid the FCC's ongoing review of the proposed purchase (see 2209200057). "We are concerned that this transaction would violate the FCC’s mandate by restricting access to local news coverage, cutting jobs at local television stations, and raising prices on consumers," the House leaders said in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The leaders' claims followed the FCC Media Bureau's request last week for additional information on Standard/Tegna, its second inquiry on the proposed transaction.
An FCC draft order on improving the accessibility of Emergency Alert System messages is expected to be unanimously improved at Thursday’s meeting, but it isn’t clear if proposed deadlines for updating MVPD set-top equipment will change before the item is adopted, said industry and FCC officials. NCTA and ACA Connects seek changes to the draft language. The agency is also expected to unanimously approve an uncontroversial draft NPRM on removing references to analog TV in the agency’s rules now that there are no more remaining analog TV services.
An item circulated to FCC commissioner offices last week involves possible updates to the foreign-sponsored content rules, according to broadcast industry officials. The item is expected to be an NPRM seeking comment on updates to the rules, following the July U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision striking down some of the requirements in July, officials said.
NAB took direct aim at geotargeted radio proponent GeoBroadcast Solutions founder and CEO Chris Devine, detailing in an ex parte filing “credible and public accusations” of “fraudulent and deceitful conduct” against Devine and alleging the company’s support among smaller broadcasters may not be as broad as it appears. The FCC should “take a close and exacting look at the record and proceed with extreme caution,” before authorizing the changes to FM booster rules called for by GBS and other geotargeted radio supporters, NAB said in the filing posted in docket 20-401 Friday.
To close the digital literacy gap and maximize federal dollars for increasing broadband access, programs and institutions need to focus on local solutions, existing community programs, and community anchor institutions like libraries, said numerous panelists at the FCC Communications Equity and Diversity Council’s virtual Digital Skills Gap Symposium and Town Hall Thursday. The symposium is intended to help inform the CEDC’s efforts to create a national plan and toolkit for digital upskilling in connection with the Digital Equity Act, said CEDC Chair Heather Gate.
Law professors and advocacy groups consider Friday’s 2-1 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding Texas social media law HB 20 in NetChoice v. Ken Paxton an outlier with uncertain effects on social media platforms, but they widely expect the matter to go to the Supreme Court. “This is far from over; there are a lot of hurdles between here and this law taking effect,” said Tech Freedom Internet Policy Counsel Corbin Barthold Monday during a livestreamed panel on the decision. “It is really unclear how platforms could continue to function,” said Blake Reid, director-University of Colorado Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic. Plaintiff NetChoice declined to comment on whether it will appeal the case.
No one has ever applied to participate in the FCC’s broadcast incubator program, according to an FCC spokesperson. Created in 2018, then tied up in the Prometheus court proceedings (see 2104010067) for years afterward, the program aimed at providing more access to capital for minority and female radio station owners was reinstated in 2021 but a year later is seen by some as dead. The agency hasn't received any applications and doesn't track informal inquiries, an FCC spokesperson told us. “I think those interested in promoting diversity in the industry have pretty much given up on this program,” said former FCC Commissioner Henry Rivera, a longtime participant in FCC diversity efforts. “NAB has been supportive of this program since its creation and encourages the FCC to promote this important initiative as it actively encourages greater diversity in broadcast ownership,” an NAB spokesperson emailed. “It is an incomplete success,” said David Honig, of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council.
The prospects for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act are uncertain after a Senate Judiciary markup hearing Thursday in which co-sponsor Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., supported an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that led JCPA sponsor Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to withdraw the legislation. The result was “a surprise,” said Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in an interview. “Sen. Klobuchar thought she had an agreement with Sen. Kennedy, but he switched his position.” The JCPA (S-673) would create a limited antitrust exemption to allow news publishers to collectively bargain with tech platforms for the use of their content.
If the FCC doesn’t allow the substantially similar requirement for ATSC 3.0 broadcasters to sunset in June, an extension should be short and include a predictable endpoint, said NAB and Pearl TV in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 16-422.
The FCC won’t include funds for indirect full-time equivalents connected with aspects of the USF in calculating broadcaster regulatory fees but rejected many other broadcast proposals for reduced fees, said the FY2022 regulatory fees order and notice of inquiry released Friday. Radio stations that faced a 13% reg fee increase from 2021 will instead have an increase of 7% or 8%, broadcast industry officials said. Commissioners adopted the order unanimously Thursday. “Regulatory fees are not based on a precise allocation of specific employees with certain work assignments each year and instead are based on a higher-level approach,” said the order. Regulatory fees must be collected before the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year.