Several new and low-cost ATSC 3.0 receivers will be showcased at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Pearl TV said in a news release Friday. CES runs from Tuesday to Jan. 10 in Las Vegas. A low-cost USB receiver from Tolka will enable existing Android and Fire TVs to receive 3.0 broadcasts, and ADTH is introducing a receiver that works without an internet connection, the release said. “In 2025, RCA is also coming to market with two new NEXTGEN TV sets that will join TV options already available from Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Hisense, and TCL,” said Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle in the release. Schelle also touted release of an interactive gaming channel on 3.0 in Las Vegas called GameLoop TV. It includes a “Play Now” feature that “allows NEXTGEN TV viewers to instantly play games showcased on the channel simply using their TV remote or mobile phone.” Broadcasters will also promote availability of high dynamic range on 3.0 stations into February, continuing an effort that began in December, the release said. During sports broadcasts, stations are indicating onscreen when local 3.0 programming is available in HDR, the release said. "We're very excited to announce that broadcast stations throughout the country are adding HDR10+ capability in their NEXTGEN TV broadcast services to accommodate a broad array of TV manufacturers,” Schelle said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should consider the 6th Circuit’s recent ruling against the FCC’s net neutrality rules as it weighs Radio Communications Corporation’s legal challenge against the agency’s implementation of the Low Power Protection Act (see (2411180040), RCC said in a letter filed in docket 24-1004 Thursday. The ruling, in Ohio Telecom v. FCC, said that the agency can’t alter a statutory definition by adding to it when trying to determine what the best reading is, RCC said. The FCC “altered the LPPA, which on its face protects Low Power Licensees, to protect full-power licensees who are not even referenced in the statute,” said RCC. The low-power broadcaster has argued that the FCC’s implementation of the LPPA protects full-power stations by limiting upgrades to Class A status to a narrow selection of low-power TV stations in small markets. The limits on market size in the FCC’s rules directly mirror the language of the LPPA, the agency has said. A previous attempt by RCC to add to the record in the case after oral argument led to dueling letters between the broadcaster and the FCC and a motion to strike (see 2411250053).

Gray Television will change its name to Gray Media effective Wednesday, said a Gray news release Monday. The change, which Gray's board unanimously approved, “aligns the company’s formal name with the widespread practice over the past few years of referring to the company as ‘Gray Media' or simply ‘Gray’ both internally and externally,” the release said. “Our reach has diversified beyond local media, and we’re investing time and resources into new business models and technologies -- more now than at any other time in the company’s 127-year history," said Gray Executive Chairman Hilton Howell in the release. The new name “reflects our ongoing transformation and continued desire to lead the way in traditional and new media, alongside our leading broadcast stations.” Gray’s trading symbols won't change, the release said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a warning to a Piqua, Ohio, property owner for allegedly hosting a pirate radio broadcast, said a notice posted Monday. Property owner John Scarbrough could face a penalty of more than $2.3 million, it said. The notice was sent concerning illegal broadcasts on 99.5 MHz and 100.3 MHz. The Columbia, Ohio, EB field office, on May 21 and June 11, found radio signals on those frequencies were emanating from the Piqua property, the notice said. Scarbrough has 10 business days to respond.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a warning to the Brockton, Massachusetts, property owners allegedly hosting pirate radio broadcasters, threatening penalties of more than $2 million, said a notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The notice was sent to Maridane Aunaxe and Marie Aunaxe over illegal broadcasts on 87.9 MHz emanating from their property on Dec. 7, 2023, and again on Jan. 12, 2024, the notice said. “You are hereby notified and warned that the FCC may issue a fine of up to $2,391,097 if, following the response period set forth below, we determine that you have continued to permit any individual or entity to engage in pirate radio broadcasting.”

The FCC’s workforce diversity data collection effort “is not analogous” to SEC diversity rules the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided against earlier this month, the FCC said in a filing in docket 24-60219 Monday. The National Religious Broadcasters, Texas Association of Broadcasters and the American Family Association have argued that the 5th Circuit should apply the same logic from its en banc ruling in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC to their challenge of the FCC’s equal employment opportunity order (see 2412180012). The FCC’s collection of Form 395-B isn’t linked to diversity goals, and agency rules prohibit use of the data in enforcement actions, the FCC said. The SEC’s rules were aimed at furthering “diversity objectives,” the filing said. The FCC also has a broader authority to regulate broadcast media, the filing said. “The FCC has long understood that authority to allow the collection and disclosure of demographic data from broadcasters, and Congress has ratified that view.”

Paramount Global agreed to a $244,952 civil penalty to resolve several enforcement proceedings against CBS over the broadcast of recorded or simulated emergency alert system tones on its programming, said an order and consent decree released Friday. The violations involved a May 2023 episode of the CBS sitcom Young Sheldon that ran on 227 stations, a CBS News radio report in June 2024 that had three seconds of EAS tones, and an Entertainment Tonight segment in October 2023 that included a one-second tone. The broadcaster self-reported the incidents, the consent decree said. Broadcasters are barred from transmitting EAS tones in circumstances other than a national or state emergency. Using simulated or actual EAS tones for non-authorized purposes can lead to alert fatigue in the public and result in false activation of the EAS that can spread false information, the consent decree said. Along with the penalty, the settlement requires Paramount to create procedures to ensure employees follow EAS rules, distribute a compliance manual to all employees, and file compliance reports with the agency for three years.

The Media Bureau has granted NAB’s request for an expedited retroactive extension of the audible crawl waiver, said an order Friday. The waiver applies from Nov. 26, 2024 -- the date of the last waiver’s expiration – until May 27, 2025, or until the FCC rules on NAB’s separate petition for a longer term waiver. Broadcasters have said that the expiration of the waiver, which had been continuously in effect since 2015, caused stations to pull radar maps from their severe weather coverage (see 2412170056). “We note that this action will maintain the status quo that existed prior to the expiration of the waiver on November 26, 2024, while the underlying petition is considered and this action does not prejudge the issues pending in that underlying petition,” the order said. Because the waiver would maintain the status quo from before it expired and no one has opposed NAB’s request, “we conclude that special circumstances warrant a further temporary waiver from this aspect of the Audible Crawl Rule for a brief period,” the order said. Though NAB asked for the temporary waiver until the FCC rules on the longer term request, the order limited it to six months because “grant of a temporary waiver that does not include a specific time period would be inconsistent with our prior actions in this area,” the order said. “Consistent with prior waivers, we continue to strongly encourage broadcasters to provide the critical details of graphically displayed emergency information in an accessible manner whenever possible during the pendency of this waiver.”

Oral argument in the legal challenge against the FCC’s collection of workforce diversity data is scheduled for Feb. 4 in New Orleans, said a notice Thursday from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in docket No. 24-60219. The National Religious Broadcasters, American Family Association and Texas Association of Broadcasters want the court to roll back the FCC’s February equal employment opportunity order for exceeding the agency’s authority and being unconstitutional. The FCC has said collecting the data and making it publicly available will improve diversity in the broadcast workforce (see 2410210044).

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should apply to the FCC’s collection of workforce demographic data from broadcasters the same reasoning it used in a recent ruling against the SEC, said the National Religious Broadcasters and other petitioners in a Tuesday filing in docket 24-60219. On Dec. 11, the 5th Circuit ruled en banc in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC that the agency lacked the authority to require companies to publicly disclose information about the race, gender and sexual orientation of their boards of directors. In that ruling, the court said the SEC was “stepping outside of its normal regulatory domain” with the requirement. “If Congress had granted a diversity mandate to any agency (an altogether unclear assumption), we would have expected Congress to give it to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or even the Department of Justice,” said the 5th Circuit in the en banc opinion. The FCC’s order requiring broadcasters to submit employee demographic data is a similar overreach, said NRB and fellow petitioners the Texas Association of Broadcasters and the American Family Association.