The FCC unanimously approved an FY 2025 regulatory fee order Thursday that hewed closely to the agency’s June NPRM. The order, released Friday, reclassifies 61 indirect full-time equivalents (FTEs) as direct FTEs but rejects calls to create new categories of regulatory fee payors. The FCC will add a new fee category only when “significant FTE resources of a core bureau are being spent on oversight and regulatory activities with respect to a specific service,” the order said. “Such circumstances have not been presented here.” The order will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register, and fees will be due by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
An FCC order on FY 2025 regulatory fees is expected to be unanimously approved soon and will likely contain few surprises, according to industry and FCC officials (see 2506050061). The draft order, circulated to the 10th floor last week, changes how fees are assessed in line with proposals in the June NPRM, but it doesn’t take up calls from broadcasters and satellite companies to expand the base of regulatory fee payors. FCC officials told us they anticipate that the order will be issued in time to allow fees to be paid by the deadline at the end of September.
A federal judge has ordered the FCC to produce information about the Department of Government Efficiency’s activities at the agency in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit from journalist Nina Burleigh and public interest group Frequency Forward. The information released so far in response to the FOIA shows that one of the DOGE staffers detailed to the FCC may have had ties to its regulatees, including SpaceX.
Nexstar’s profitability and plans to acquire Tegna undercut broadcaster arguments for doing away with the national ownership cap, said MVPDs, civil rights groups, Newsmax and others in comment filings in docket 17-318. Replies were due Friday.
New questions in the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s previously routine equal employment opportunity (EEO) audit letters appear to be aimed at seeking out broadcaster diversity hiring programs and grievances against them.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed Standard General’s lawsuit accusing former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Allen Media CEO Byron Allen and Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen of conspiring to block Standard’s attempted purchase of Tegna in 2023, according to an opinion issued Tuesday. Standard’s attempt to buy Tegna for $8.6 billion unraveled after the matter was designated for hearing (see 2404250059). Nexstar on Tuesday announced its plan to buy Tegna (see 2508190042).
Nexstar agreed to purchase Tegna in a $6.2 billion deal that could receive regulatory approval only if the national ownership cap is relaxed or eliminated, Nexstar said in a news release and conference call Tuesday. If the deal is consummated, Nexstar would control 265 TV stations, become the largest owner of affiliates for "all four of the biggest networks, and reach 80% of U.S. households. The current rule caps audience reach for a single station owner at 39%, but the FCC has a proceeding that will possibly change the cap. Reply comments in the proceeding are due in docket 17-318 Friday. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said he doesn't “want to presume where [FCC Chairman Brendan Carr] will come out in his national ownership proceeding” but also that Nexstar feels “very, very positive about moving forward to the regulatory approval process.”
CPB said Monday it can no longer administer the Next Generation Warning System, which, America’s Public Television Stations said, could threaten public safety. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a $40 million NGWS grant to states and tribal nations earlier this month. “With CPB’s closure imminent, FEMA should assume responsibility for disbursing the funds as Congress intended,” said a CPB release. If FEMA doesn’t assume the program, “most of the FY 2022 funding -- and all funds from FY 2023 and FY 2024 -- will go undistributed,” CPB added. That would leave communities, “especially those in rural and disaster-prone areas, without the upgrades Congress intended.”
The FCC’s new direct final rule process doesn’t give enough time and information to the public, provides too much authority to the bureaus, and is of questionable legality, said local governments, public interest groups and civil rights groups in filings in docket 25-133 last week. All the comments objected to the DFR process, rather than specific rules the process is being used to eliminate in orders voted at the FCC’s July (see 2507240055) and August (see 2508070037) meetings.
TV broadcasters are positioning for a wave of deals in anticipation of changes to FCC limits on broadcast ownership, according to broadcasters, media brokers and recent announcements from station groups. Sinclair Broadcast announced in a release Monday that it's evaluating “all value-enhancing opportunities,” and Nexstar and Tegna are reportedly negotiating a possible deal. The rumors are likely an indication of pent-up demand but could also be aimed at mollifying shareholders, said broadcasters and media brokers.