An FCC draft order on FM6 low-power TV stations is expected to change little from the draft version and to be unanimously approved Thursday, FCC and industry officials said. The stations -- sometimes called “Franken FMs”-- broadcast primarily audio content that can be picked up with FM radio receivers and “will get to stay on the air and continue serving the public,” said Wiley broadcast attorney Ari Melzer, who represents several FM6 broadcasters.

AUSTIN – NARUC's Telecom Committee supported permanent annual funding for the affordable connectivity program (ACP) in a nearly unanimous vote at the association’s conference Tuesday. Congress will fear ending ACP if enough people sign up, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council CEO Robert Branson told state commissioners on a diversity panel Monday. Panelists said it’s important for digital equity efforts to keep the program that’s meant to help low-income communities afford broadband.

NTIA is fully engaged in the development of a national spectrum strategy (see 2301090035) and intends to release it this year, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson told the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee Tuesday. “We’re deep into it,” he said, noting that NTIA is working closely with the White House and at the other federal agencies, including the FCC. “People are deeply engaged right now,” he said. The meeting was CSMAC's first to include an in-person option since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

Senate leaders are facing continued pressure to use floor time to confirm a trio of FCC nominees, or at least new Democratic pick Anna Gomez, before Congress leaves on the month-plus August recess at the end of July amid apparent Republican holds that would prevent approving her via unanimous consent. A GOP-led proposal to hold back either Gomez or incumbent Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks for pairing with two Republican FTC picks, meanwhile, continues to draw at best a tepid reception from supporters of ending the FCC’s two-year 2-2 partisan tie. The Commerce Committee advanced Gomez, Starks and Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr last week on voice votes tinged with partisan opposition (see 2307120073).

The AI working group led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., won’t rush to introduce legislation, members of the group told us after their second Senate AI briefing (see 2307110049).

Other cable operators are likely watching Charter Communications' plans to roll out a video package without regional sports networks (RSNs) and may follow suit, but those efforts are too little too late in the face of cord cutting, cable TV and video industry watchers tell us. Charter's cheaper Spectrum Select Signature video tier will roll out in Q3, the cabler said last week.

Industry officials say they’re hearing little about when the FCC will approve final rules for the 5.9 GHz band. FCC commissioners approved an order in November 2020 opening 45 MHz of the band for Wi-Fi, while allocating 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology. Follow-up work remains.

Requiring a warrant for backdoor searches is one way to curb surveillance abuse under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, House Judiciary Committee members were told Friday during a hearing on FISA reauthorization (see 2306130053).

The House Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) subcommittees advanced their FY 2024 spending bills Friday with proposals to significantly cut annual funding to NTIA and other tech-related Commerce Department agencies and end CPB’s traditional “two-year advance funding status” (see 2307130069). The subpanels advanced their respective bills on voice votes that belied vocal Democratic opposition to the proposed cuts that are expected to reappear when the full Appropriations Committee considers the measures.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action cases involving the University of North Carolina and Harvard could be used by opponents of an anticipated FCC order on equal employment opportunity data collection (see 2304190035 and could have repercussions for future FCC diversity initiatives and for industry diversity, equality and inclusion policies, said employment, civil rights and telecom attorneys in interviews.