A Gray Television petition asking the courts to set aside the FCC’s $518,000 forfeiture order against the company (see 2211010077) suggests it's targeting agency policy rather than simply seeking to overturn the fine, attorneys told us. “The Commission’s Order is erroneous and improper for several reasons,” said Gray’s petition for review in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (docket 22-14274) last week.
The Advanced Television Systems Committee will demonstrate new set-top and USB ATSC 3.0 receivers and “upgrade accessory devices” at the Consumer Electronics Show, which runs Thursday to Sunday in Las Vegas, said an ATSC news release Tuesday. Broadcasters expect to launch 3.0 soon in Miami and Boston, the release said. ATSC 3.0 has been launched in 66 markets nationwide, the release said.
FCC commissioners and panelists at the Practising Law Institute’s Institute on Telecommunications Policy & Regulation Thursday outlined expectations for 2023 involving employment data collection, enforcement and the USF, but many speakers were focused on cyber and national security, such as compromised apps and obsolete devices. “It’s time to turn our attention to the millions of wireless devices in our country that are insecure,” said Commissioner Nathan Simington. “There’s an industry-wide acquiescence to careless practices.”
Broadcasters hosting other broadcasters’ ATSC 1.0 multicasts doesn’t create any harms for cable companies, said NAB in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-142 (see 2210040070). NCTA has said the FCC should allow the practice -- called lateral hosting -- only through a waiver process and require notice and comment for each application. NAB has been pushing for the FCC to affirmatively authorize lateral hosting to speed the ATSC 3.0 transition. “NCTA plainly has no meaningful interest in this aspect of the proceeding,” NAB said. The FCC’s role “should not be to indulge the NCTA’s obviously anticompetitive concerns but, rather, to lay the groundwork for success by providing broadcasters with as much flexibility as possible,” NAB said.
Broadcasters tout ATSC 3.0’s capabilities for disseminating detailed emergency information, but it’s not clear what form the standard’s advanced emergency information offerings will take and who will provide it, said participants at an Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance roundtable event at NAB’s headquarters Wednesday. AWARN’s roundtables are intended to help determine what advanced emergency alerting is, said AWARN Executive Director John Lawson, who's also the president of ATSC 3.0 alerting firm America’s Emergency Network.
MVPD and telecom groups don’t agree with broadcasters on the practicality of revamping the FCC’s regulatory fee system, said reply comments filed in docket 22-301. NAB, a group of 57 smaller broadcasters and nearly all state broadcast associations filed replies in support of proposals from NAB and the Satellite Industry Association to rethink how the FCC parcels out the fees, but the Wireless ISP Association, NCTA and CTIA panned the idea. “The proposals of NAB and SIA are self-serving, impracticable, and would be unmanageable,” said NCTA.
If the FCC proceeds on a redefinition of MVPD to apply to some over-the-top services, it will need to address some critical implications of the proposal, including ensuring broadcast signals carried by virtual MVPDs are protected from piracy and distribution beyond a station's local market, NAB said Wednesday in docket 16-142. In two filings (here and here), it recapped meetings with aides to Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks and Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer. In the Simington and Media Bureau meetings, NAB also said there's "apparent fraud" in the ZoneCasting proceeding record and the vast majority of broadcasters oppose the petition because there's no evidence ZoneCasting doesn't cause interference. NAB also pushed for a decision on the ATSC 3.0 proceeding.
The FCC should consider developments in the streaming marketplace, investigate filings in the geotargeted radio proceeding and prioritize ATSC 3.0, NAB said in meetings with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr last week, per an ex parte filing posted in docket 20-401 Tuesday. The FCC should gauge the evolution of the streaming market and “determine whether those events affect the Commission’s calculus in determining whether virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) should be deemed to be MVPDs,” said NAB. Investigate the geotargeted radio filings “given the apparent fraud in the record,” a reference to multiple ex parte filings from broadcasters supporting Zonecasting that were later retracted, it said. “No licensee should be represented without its consent or without knowing that its representative has a direct financial interest in the outcome of the proceeding,” NAB said, asking the agency to remove those filings from the record and “swiftly take other appropriate action so as to not unfairly prejudice its deliberations.” Geotargeted radio company GeoBroadcast Solutions is using those filings “to manufacture a schism within the radio industry, claiming falsely that they demonstrate that larger broadcast groups are not on the same page with smaller ones,” NAB said. GBS didn’t comment. On 3.0. “a relatively straightforward proceeding to address the licensing of multicast streams hosted temporarily on other stations has been pending for approximately two years,” NAB said. “Expeditious resolution of this matter, as well as other pending issues, are critical to keeping the transition moving forward.”
Sinclair Broadcast signed a memo of understanding with Hyundai Mobis to develop and implement ATSC 3.0-enabled automotive business models in Korea and the U.S. The collaboration expands Sinclair’s coordination with the Korean market and the commitment to bring mobile services to the U.S., they said. Joint efforts will include geotargeting capabilities, enhanced GPS, software updates, in-vehicle entertainment, real-time emergency information and other public services, the companies said. Separately, Sinclair will demonstrate in the coming months an integrated automotive entertainment platform including music, talk radio and local television at a local Hyundai dealership in Baltimore, delivered through ATSC 3.0-enabled spectrum from local broadcast station WNUV-TV, it said.
Nexstar and E.W. Scripps had growing auto advertising in Q3, executives said on earnings calls Tuesday. Scripps reported Q3 revenue of $612 million, up 10% from the same quarter the prior year. Nexstar reported Q3 net revenue of $1.27 billion, a 9.7% improvement from Q3 2021. “This is the first quarter in years,” that auto ads have shown growth, said Scripps President-Local Media Brian Lawlor. “We’re starting to feel like the biggest pressure from supply chain is behind us." Nexstar CEO Perry Sook also said auto advertising has “returned to growth.” Sook said there's “pent-up demand” among car buyers, which could lead to “tailwinds” for Nexstar in 2023. Some broadcasters said last week auto manufacturers could face additional supply chain issues that might be reflected in ad purchases. Scripps CEO Adam Symson said the company has seen limited signs of “macroeconomic challenges” related to a downturn. National advertisers started to pull back "in anticipation of consumer weakness,” but local advertisers haven't, Sook said. Scripps, like several other broadcasters, reported fewer than expected political advertising dollars in Q3, partially because several candidates in Scripps markets who won primaries were popular with voters but not with advertisers such as political action committees, Scripps executives said. Nexstar met its political ad guidance, and Sook said Tuesday the company’s 2022 political ad dollars are close to beating the 2020 number, though that was a presidential election year. Sook also said Nexstar expects to announce a planned trial ATSC 3.0 project before Q1 2023.