Consumer confidence toward the overall economy and tech spending rose in March, after February declines (see 1602230048), CTA said in a Wednesday report. CTA’s index of consumer expectations, which measures consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy as a whole, jumped 6.6 points in March as consumer worries about an economic downturn and the stock markets’ volatility subsided, it said. CTA’s index of consumer technology expectations, which measures consumer expectations about tech spending, increased 1.5 points in March, it said.

Gray Television said it sold KRDK-TV Valley City, North Dakota, in 2014 with the understanding the station's new licensee, Parker Broadcasting of Dakota License, wouldn't seek mandatory carriage for the station on Cable One's Channel 4 but instead would look for another channel on multichannel video programming distributors serving the Fargo region. Parker's Cable One must-carry complaint (see 1603040033) could lead to "substantial consumer confusion and dislocation," Gray said in an FCC filing Tuesday in docket 16-69, urging Parker's complaint be dismissed. Cable One said earlier this month in its own filing in the docket that barring any FCC action, it will start carriage of KRDK on Channel 4 around July 1, though it urged the agency "to expeditiously resolve an outstanding dispute as to which station/service in the Fargo-Valley City DMA has the right to cable carriage on channel 4." Gray said the complaint had to be filed within 60 days of Cable One's denial of carriage request, and that deadline actually was in late 2015 since Parker's first demand for carriage of KRDK was in August. Gray also said the FCC should settle KRDK must-carry rights permanently, and the program and system information protocol waiver Gray proposed in 2015 would do that by reassigning KRDK to a virtual channel "where it can begin to build its own viewership on a new channel that would be uniform for both over-the-air and MVPD viewers." Parker didn't comment Wednesday.

Verizon lobbied FCC officials against online services blackouts by broadcasters during retransmission consent disputes with multichannel video programming distributors, as the telco and other MVPDs seek to change retrans rules. The agency should find a violation of the good-faith retrans standard when a programming blackout is extended to online services that otherwise would be available to MVPD broadband subscribers, the telco said its representatives told front-office and other Media Bureau staff including Deputy Chief Michelle Carey and Associate Chief Nancy Murphy, plus acting FCC Chief Economist Jonathan Levy and Susan Aaron from the Office of General Counsel. "Blacking out a signal just before the airing of marquee programming, such as the Super Bowl or the Oscars, should constitute per se evidence of bad faith," said Verizon in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 10-71. Other retrans requests included that there should be interim carriage of stations' programming after a contract has expired. NAB has said some MVPDs are essentially asking the commission to require stations be carried without broadcaster consent (see 1603170056). “There’s nothing surprising in this wish list from Verizon, which abhors government intervention in a free market except when asking the FCC to block local TV stations from getting fair value for popular content," an NAB spokesman responded Tuesday. "Retrans rules provide incentives for both broadcasters and pay-TV companies to reach mutually beneficial agreements. That’s why 99 percent of agreements are reached with no fanfare and no disruption in service.”

Gannett said it bought a minority stake in Spirited Media, which runs Philadelphia-based mobile news website Billy Penn. Gannett didn’t disclose how much it paid for its stake. Gannett said its investment in Spirited Media will allow the company “to expand its mobile-first approach in the Philadelphia market and launch into new local markets.” Spirited Media “has a proven track record of producing high-quality journalism and delivering engaging experiences for local markets,” said Gannett CEO Bob Dickey in a Monday news release. Billy Penn was nominated for an Online Journalism Award for its coverage of the 2015 Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia, which killed eight people and injured 200 others.

Wave might be suspicious of broadcasters' intentions with "additional station" language in retransmission consent talks, but that "certainly is not enough to allow the Commission to engage in any kind of reasoned decision-making," NAB said in a filing Friday in FCC docket 15-216. The filing was in response to a previous Wave filing complaining about such language, which would allow a broadcast group owner to bring in other stations that either were bought or ceded their retrans negotiation rights to that agreement (see 1603100048). NAB said existing joint-negotiation rules obviate the need for the current retrans consent proceeding, saying if additional station language is a problem, the FCC "must have clear articulation of that problem and be able to explain why a rule is necessary to prevent their operation." Wave hasn't given any basis for banning such negotiation proposals, NAB said: "While perhaps cathartic, mere listing of objectionable subjects that don't present any concrete harms and are outside the scope of the Commission's authority is not enough to warrant the dramatic step of adding regulations." Wave didn't comment.

AT&T and Univision extended the pause in their retransmission consent dispute, and access to the flagship Univision network and some other stations was to remain on U-verse, until 1 a.m. EDT Saturday, Univision said in a news release Friday. Univision's other remaining networks would remain unavailable, it said. Several short-term extensions have delayed the blackout (see 1603170045, 1603160051 and 1603080045).

Confidential letters informing broadcasters of the status of their applications to participate in the incentive auction were to go out Friday, the Wireless Bureau said in a public notice that day. The mailings include the passwords and authenticators that will be used by broadcast participants to access the auction software to commit to how they want their spectrum treated in the proceeding. The window to make initial commitments opens at 10 a.m. EDT March 28 and closes at 6 p.m. EDT March 29, the PN said. “Late initial commitments will not be accepted,” the PN said. A “preview period” during which auction participants can familiarize themselves with the commitment software will open 10 a.m. EDT March 24, and close as soon as the actual window opens March 28, the PN said. The FCC will use the commitments to determine an initial clearing target for the incentive auction, and send final status letters after that target is announced, the PN said. “Educational materials for the clock rounds of the reverse auction will be available in the coming weeks,” the PN said.

Six makers of popular candies pledged not to advertise their products directly to school-age children under 12 years of age on TV, radio, print, Internet and on mobile devices, the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and National Confectioners Association said in a news release Wednesday. FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez hailed the announcement in a statement, saying the Children's Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI) is "the type of self-regulatory solution the FTC has long advocated." The initiative follows the same principles as another self-regulatory program called the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, CBBB said. CCAI Director Maureen Enright told us Thursday that "we believe it's a significant step forward" for smaller confectionery companies to make a public commitment about being transparent and accountable on this issue. CFBAI will independently monitor compliance and release periodic reports. Some companies include Ferrara Candy, Ghirardelli Chocolate and Jelly Belly Candy. Ferrero, Hershey, Mars, Mondelez International and Nestle are among those that don't advertise to children under the CFBAI program.

The AT&T/Univision detente in their retransmission consent dispute, with access to the flagship Univision network and some other stations remaining on U-verse, was to extend until 1 a.m. Friday, Univision said in a news release Thursday. Univision's other remaining networks would remain unavailable, it said. Several short-term extensions have delayed the blackout (see 1603160051 and 1603080045).

Broadcasters continue to push back at various cable industry proposals for changing the rules governing retransmission consent negotiations. NAB said in an FCC filing Thursday in docket 15-216 that multichannel video programming distributors want the agency to "ignore the plain meaning of [Section 325 of the Communications Act] and adopt proposals requiring the retransmission of broadcasters' signals without consent." Much of the NAB opprobrium focused on American TV Alliance arguments raised earlier this week about justifications the FCC has for good-faith negotiation rules revisions (see 1603160036). The parts of the act cited by MVPDs don't override Section 325 -- which spells out retrans rules for MVPDs' carriage of over-the-air TV -- and broadcasters' control of their signals, NAB said. While the FCC has the right to enforce remedies in cases of bad-faith negotiation, NAB said, it can't "trample on a stations' unqualified right to control its signal by ordering forced carriage as the remedy for a broadcasters' violation of the good faith rules." MVPD proposals also fall short of the Supreme Court's 1984 Chevron v. NRDC decision because Congress' intention to give broadcasters full control of their signals was unequivocal, it said. In a statement, ATVA said, "NAB's new legal analysis is as faulty as its earlier claim that broadcaster price increases don't harm consumers. The statute says that broadcasters must grant 'consent' for carriage. But it also says that broadcasters must negotiate in good faith. NAB seems to argue that only the first provision really means anything. That's not what the law says, and that's not what Congress intended. ATVA's filing demonstrated that the FCC has unquestionable legal authority to adopt each of ATVA's proposals. We urge the Commission to act decisively to protect consumers from harmful and abusive behavior." In a separate ex parte filing Wednesday in the same docket, meanwhile, AT&T said it met with FCC staff including Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake to argue that prohibition of online blocking isn't a First Amendment issue since it doesn't regulate broadcasters' speech at all, but even if it did such a rule would be content neutral. AT&T also said the FCC has legal authority to stop joint negotiation of retrans agreements under the same rules that let it regulate transferring control of broadcast licenses, and that broadcasters' demanding retrans fees for subscribers who receive a broadcaster's signal over the air is contrary to the broadcaster's duty to transmit programming for free over the air.