The Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance sees the FCC vote authorizing voluntary deployments of ATSC 3.0 (see 1711160060) as laying "the ground work for major improvements in America’s emergency alerting system,” said Executive Director John Lawson. Recent disasters “provide more depressing examples that our current alerting systems are not adequate,” he said. Using 3.0, the alliance and “public safety partners will begin the technical development” of AWARN next year, he said. But Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld blasted FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for the vote, calling it an “action that primarily benefits Sinclair Broadcasting at the expense of consumers.” With Sinclair having “boasted” about the audio measurement tools it will develop and patent royalties it will collect from the next-gen standard, the order “does nothing to protect consumer privacy or protect consumers from the extra costs" of the transition, said Feld. Though NCTA was active in docket 16-142 with filings urging 3.0 not impose costs and burdens on cable companies and their customers, the group declined comment Friday on 3.0's approval.
ATSC 3.0 is proving to be a complication in the current cycle of retransmission consent negotiations, with some stations potentially deploying the next-generation standard over the next three years, an FCBA CLE heard on the eve of FCC members 3-2 OK'ing the standard (see 1711160060). One complication on retrans is no one knowing what the new system will look like, said broadcast lawyer Dan Kirkpatrick of Fletcher Heald. He said lack of clarity makes negotiating for rights or compensation challenging. Broadcast lawyer Jack Goodman said implementation will change retrans negotiations dynamics, since standard contractual language now says broadcasters can't use cable operators' interactive plant, but one promise of 3.0 is interactive programming.
The FCC approved its ATSC 3.0 order 3-2 Thursday over the objections of Democrats, as expected (see 1711140053). Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn were highly critical of 3.0's transition plan order, which was little changed from what circulated last month. The plan is “cavalier” about possible consequences for consumers and MVPDs, Rosenworcel said. “Not ready for prime time,” said Clyburn. The order intentionally doesn't address every aspect of the new standard, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said. “Many questions remain,” he conceded. “This won’t be the last time we address ATSC 3.0,” he said.
“Unfortunate myths” are circulating about privacy concerns for ATSC 3.0, said NAB in a news release. The standard itself doesn't allow the collection of viewer data, but does have interactive services that can be accessed with a broadband connection, and that would allow targeted ads, said NAB. “This is nothing new.” Targeted advertisements would operate “just like other service providers you currently use (such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, and virtually every website you visit, as well as cable and satellite TV providers),” the group said. Though the draft rules don’t contain privacy rules, the FTC rules governing privacy and consumer data will apply, the association said. Sinclair said viewer data would be "anonymized" (see 1711140046).
A draft FCC order on changes to rules for wireless infrastructure, slated for a vote by commissioners Thursday (see 1710260038), appears headed to a 5-0 vote, though parts were still in flux Wednesday, officials said. The biggest likely change is the elimination of the “same hole” requirement, which would have mandated that to get relief from historic preservation review requirements, a new utility pole had to be placed in the same hole as a pole it was replacing, officials said. Wireless facilities are commonly attached to utility poles.
The FCC is expected to eliminate or relax numerous media ownership rules Thursday on a party-line 3-2 vote, industry and agency officials told us. That's despite calls Wednesday by Democratic senators for the Inspector General (IG) to investigate Chairman Ajit Pai for a possible quid pro quo relationship with Sinclair Broadcast and for Pai to recuse himself from both the media ownership and ATSC 3.0 items (see 1711140053) since they would benefit Sinclair. The FCC’s impartiality in review of Sinclair buying Tribune “may be tainted,” said 12 senators, including Tom Udall, D-N.M., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Though consumer privacy advocates like Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., raised concerns last week about privacy implications of ATSC 3.0 audience measurement tools (see 1711080052), there’s little to fear because “data analytics” from 3.0 receivers will be “anonymized,” so as not to identify individual viewers, Mark Aitken, Sinclair vice president-advanced technology, told us. Chipset scarcity also will delay commercialization of 3.0 audience measurement tools for “some time,” said Aitken. FCC members are expected to OK 3.0's voluntary deployment Thursday in a 3-2 party-line vote (see 1711140053).
The FCC’s draft ATSC 3.0 order is expected to be approved 3-2 on a party-line vote, and the few changes since it was circulated last month will largely favor broadcasters, industry and eighth-floor officials told us. MVPD groups lobbied hard for changes to the 3.0 transition plan, but broadcast and pay-TV officials said the final version would include few changes favoring their positions. Sinclair executives, meanwhile, downplayed privacy concerns with 3.0 (see 1711140046).
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and House Oversight Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., jointly called Monday for FCC Inspector General David Hunt to launch an investigation into the commission’s recent actions on media policy issues that the congressmen believe “improperly benefit” Sinclair and its proposed purchase of Tribune. Pallone and other congressional Democrats have repeatedly criticized the majority-Republican FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai for their actions to revamp media rules, including April restoration of the UHF discount (see 1707250059, 1708140058, 1709280056, 1710250050 and 1711070029). Commissioners are expected to vote Thursday on a draft order on media ownership reconsideration and authorization of ATSC 3.0 (see 1710250049 and 1711100003). Pai’s failure to “adequately respond” to Democrats’ inquiries on the FCC’s Sinclair-related actions, including requests for all correspondence between Pai’s office and Sinclair, “only increase our concerns,” Pallone and Cummings said in a letter to Hunt. Pai told Pallone and other top House Commerce Democrats in September the FCC didn’t give Sinclair/Tribune special treatment (see 1709190060). Pallone and Cummings said several media rules actions raise “serious concerns” about whether Pai is complying “with the FCC’s mandate to be independent,” including the pending November vote on media ownership reconsideration, the October vote to eliminate the main studio rule (see 1710240062) and July approval of Sinclair’s $240 million buy of TV stations from Bonten Media (see 1707050042). The IG’s investigation should examine whether FCC actions under Pai “show a pattern and practice of preferential treatment for Sinclair,” and whether interactions between Pai’s office, President Donald Trump’s administration and Sinclair “demonstrate inappropriate coordination,” Pallone and Cummings said. The investigation request “appears to be part of many Democrats’ attempt to target one particular company because of its perceived political views” given a 2004 bid by Pallone, House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and others demanding an FCC investigation ahead of Sinclair’s potential airing that year of the Stolen Honor documentary that criticized then-Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam war record (see report in the Oct. 14, 2004, issue), a spokeswoman said. She said Pai is “sticking to his long-held views” on the need to revamp media ownership rules, and “given the strong case for modernizing these rules, it's not surprising that that those who disagree with him would prefer to do whatever they can to distract from the merits of his proposals.” Sinclair didn't comment.
ATSC 3.0 is something CTA has “worked on really hard with the broadcasters,” and any opposition to FCC commissioners’ expected vote this week authorizing voluntary deployment came “out of the blue,” President Gary Shapiro told a CES Unveiled New York news conference Thursday. This week, criticism of the draft continued, including from Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, as Chairman Ajit Pai defended moving 3.0 forward and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel stood by her boss' concerns.