A drop in automotive advertising caused by supply chain woes remains a drag on TV and radio advertising, according to Q3 reports delivered in calls last week. Last year's revenue was strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic’s slowdown on commercials but buoyed by political spots from the presidential election, several companies noted.
No changes have been proposed internally to a draft FCC order clarifying ATSC 3.0 multicast rules, though the item hasn't been OK'd by all commissioners, said agency and industry officials in recent interviews. Broadcasters say approving the item -- which stems from an NAB petition for clarification -- will speed the transition to 3.0. “Anything we can do to expedite 3.0 deployment will be for the benefit of viewers and platform users,” said One Media Executive Vice President-Strategic and Legal Affairs Jerald Fritz.
Clarify rules for broadcasters hosting ATSC 3.0 multicast streams as part of the transition to the new standard, asked NAB in calls with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr last week, said a filing posted Monday in docket 16-142. A draft item addressing NAB’s petition on the matter was recently circulated (see 2110130061). “NAB’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Commission has a consistent regulatory framework as the Next Gen TV rollout continues,” the group said.
Triveni Digital will host a virtual ATSC 3.0 event Nov. 3 that will include a keynote by ATSC President Madeleine Noland and live sessions with 3.0 broadcasters and developers, including Ark Multicasting, said the company Monday. The event, called the Triveni Digital LIVE Forum, “will be vastly different than mainstream virtual events; we'll swap out pre-recorded webinars with engaging and interactive live discussions,” said Triveni. “With the cancellation of the 2021 NAB Show, the broadcast industry is missing out on the opportunity to interact and engage.”
An NAB petition on clarifying FCC ATSC 3.0 multicast rules was circulated to the eighth floor last week, according to the FCC website and a broadcast industry official. The petition involves the “substantially similar” programming requirement for stations switching to the new standard and would make shifting markets easier, broadcasters said (see 2109300003). NAB wants certainty on which station the FCC will hold responsible for violations of rules when broadcasters are hosting each other’s channels on multicast streams during the 3.0 changeover.
Commissioner Rohit Chopra’s last day at FTC was Friday; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says his first day at CFPB was Monday ... Womble Bond adds to Communications, Technology and Media team with hiring of Jeff Lanning from Lumen as of counsel ... Software & Information Industry Association adds to Policy team Divya Sridhar, ex-ExcelinEd, as senior director-data policy ... CTIA hires Trevor Jones from USTelecom as assistant vice president-government affairs ... Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission elects Commissioner John Coleman as vice chairman through 2022, succeeding ex-Vice Chairman David Sweet, whose term as commissioner ended Sept. 30.
Infrastructure companies should view Wi-Fi not as a threat but a way of making networks more efficient, said Kevin Robinson, Wi-Fi Alliance senior vice president-marketing. The Wireless Infrastructure Association conference where he spoke Tuesday was both in person and streamed from Orlando. Wi-Fi and 5G compete with each other but more often work together to “deliver more value to the end customer,” Robinson said. When data is shifted from a smartphone to Wi-Fi, it means “a better user experience” for those still on the network, he said.
In office of FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and effective Oct. 11, Marco Peraza, ex-law clerk to 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Michael Brennan, joins as wireline adviser, replacing Carolyn Roddy, departing for International Bureau; wireless adviser Erin Boone adds title of chief of staff, a role Roddy has held; she tells us that at IB, she becomes special adviser/special counsel ... California Privacy Protection Agency picks Ashkan Soltani as executive director; he's distinguished fellow, Georgetown University Law School's Institute for Technology Law and Policy and the Center on Privacy and Technology.
NAB's November FCC petition for clarification of ATSC 3.0 multicast rules is seen as making slow progress (see 2105280035), broadcast industry officials told us. A workaround developed by broadcasters and the Media Bureau requires some 3.0 stations to request special temporary authority every six months, and the bureau has granted 34 STA requests, said Media Bureau Legal Adviser Evan Morris on an FCBA webinar Tuesday.
Big TV groups remain interested in buying other ones, but opportunities are rare and purchases of individual stations in full-power TV and radio are at a crawl, said analysts, broadcasters and brokers in recent interviews. “All the low-hanging fruit has been picked,” said S&P Global analyst Volker Moerbitz. With the industry consolidated and ownership rules unlikely to loosen, that likely won’t change soon, said BIA Advisory Services Chief Economist Mark Fratrik: “It’s a natural evolution.”