If the FCC implements Blue Alerts into the wireless emergency alert system, it should do so in a way that minimizes technical changes and system modifications, said T-Mobile and CTIA in reply comments in docket 15-94. The FCC should integrate the BLU code into the existing “imminent threat” alert class to avoid having to create a new standard, CTIA said. Giving the alerts a new message classification would be “a lengthy process,” T-Mobile said. The FCC shouldn’t look at ATSC 3.0 as a solution for mobile alerts, T-Mobile said: “There are significant technical challenges to integrating ATSC 3.0 technology into mobile devices, and the benefits represented are either overstated, are already provided through WEA, or are not readily achievable.”
A combined Sinclair/Tribune will use its increased leverage over the repacking to force wireless carriers to incorporate ATSC 3.0 technology into handsets, said T-Mobile and the Competitive Carriers Association in replies posted in FCC docket 17-179 Wednesday. “If Sinclair is allowed to proceed with its acquisition of Tribune, Sinclair’s attempt to force inefficient, costly behavior from wireless carriers and their customers is likely to succeed,” CCA said.
Sinclair’s One Media met with FCC commissioners or their aides twice in the past week to press its argument for incorporating only the ATSC’s A/321 document on “System Discovery and Signaling,” not the A/322 standard on “Physical Layer Protocol,” into ATSC 3.0 rules, filings in docket 16-142 show. The FCC “should avoid over-regulation to permit innovation,” One Media told Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and aide Erin McGrath in Thursday meetings, said the company's latest ex parte notice, posted Friday. The commission need not mandate A/322 “to ensure universal compatibility,” it said. “Equipment manufacturers build to industry standards -- and service providers use those standards -- in the ordinary course without any government mandates,” it said. “Mandating A/322 would hamper innovation without any corresponding benefit.” One Media has support from NAB, PBS and Pearl TV in urging exclusion of A/322, while LG Electronics has been the strongest advocate for including it as a critical measure to help prevent receiver compatibility problems (see 1707120044). CTA recently urged the FCC to write final rules to “encourage” adoption of A/322, but in keeping with the voluntary, market-driven nature of the 3.0 transition, it stopped well short of seeking an A/322 requirement (see 1706090026).
New FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and returning Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel have had little to say publicly in Washington since being sworn in earlier this month (see 1708110053). But they have started to weigh in on their areas of focus through social media. Carr is casting himself as the jobs commissioner, a theme in tweets from his visit to North Carolina and a statement Thursday. Rosenworcel is indicating that public safety will once again be one of her big focuses, as it was before she had to leave earlier this year. Commissioners often can have an influence in issues they choose to champion even as the chairman sets the agenda, ex-officials noted.
Petitions to deny Sinclair buying Tribune are either “naive” or transparently self-serving, the two companies said in a partially redacted opposition filing Tuesday. It punched back at accusations from opponents such as Dish Network, Newsmax and Free Press that the deal would slow the incentive auction repacking, hurt broadcast localism, squeeze out independent programmers or break FCC ownership regulations. “None of the petitioners provides a shred of evidence demonstrating that the post-merger company will violate any Commission rule,” Sinclair and Tribune said. “Each of the petitioners is either trying to use this proceeding to stifle competition for its own economic interests or is still living in a pre-cable, pre-internet, pre-smartphone world, untethered from the economic realities of the current media market.” Despite the diverse opposition, the deal is expected to be approved (see 1708150063).
The FCC should require broadcasters to simulcast content using the current standard during the ATSC 3.0 transition, said Verizon in a meeting with Chief Michelle Carey and other Media Bureau staff Wednesday, an ex parte filing said Friday in docket 16-142. “Just as broadcast TV stations should have the flexibility to choose whether and when to implement ATSC 3.0, other affected parties should similarly have the option of deciding whether and when to invest in new equipment to view and deploy ATSC 3.0, particularly consumers.” Rules governing simulcasting and quality of the 1.0 signal would be more efficient than other ways of easing the burden on MVPDs, and can have time limits for when 3.0 is more widespread, the telco-TV provider said. “The Commission can review and sunset any such restrictions as appropriate based on its evaluation of ATSC 3.0 penetration in the video market.” Broadcasters proposed simulcasting in initial filings on the transition, and have said repeatedly it should be allowed, not required (see 1707060060).
The DVB Steering Board approved a new next-generation subtitling delivery specification based on the World Wide Web Consortium’s Timed Text Markup Language (TTML) platform, DVB said in a Monday announcement. The new spec complements “bitmap”-based subtitling, which has been in use for more than 20 years, DVB said. TTML subtitles are “increasingly being adopted” by standards bodies, including ATSC and SMPTE, it said. The new spec “will allow service providers to transition over time to a common TTML subtitle format for both broadcast and internet delivered services,” it said. TTML subtitling for ATSC 3.0 is defined in the A/343 document, approved as a final ATSC 3.0 standard in December (see 1707180040).
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and two other House Democrats in top FCC oversight roles warned FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Monday they are concerned restoration of the UHF discount and other commission actions since his chairmanship began in January may indicate a “pattern of preferential treatment” for Sinclair. House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee ranking member Diana DeGette, D-Colo., also signed Pallone’s letter to Pai. They also asked Pai whether his office engaged in “inappropriate coordination” with Sinclair, President Donald Trump’s administration and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. They cited the FCC process for evaluating Sinclair’s proposed buy of Tribune, commission’s earlier approval of Sinclair’s $240 million purchase of TV stations from Bonten Media (see 1707050042) and the ATSC 3.0 standard NPRM as pro-Sinclair actions. Sinclair owns 12 patents related to the standard. The lawmakers sought answers from Pai by Aug. 28 on a range of questions about the FCC’s Sinclair/Tribune evaluation process and the ATSC 3.0 NPRM, including whether “any White House official in the current Administration discussed Sinclair at all with you.” The lawmakers also sought any correspondence between Pai’s office and Sinclair. Pai said during a late July House Communications FCC oversight hearing that no one in the Trump administration contacted the commission about pending media transactions and the UHF discount reinstatement and other FCC actions are aimed at the whole market rather than any specific company (see 1707250059). "These FCC rulemakings apply to the entire broadcast industry, not just us," said Sinclair Senior Vice President-Legal Affairs Rebecca Hanson in a statement. The FCC didn't comment.
The FCC should include requirements for simulcasting and signal quality in rules for the ATSC 3.0 transition and require that negotiations to carry the transmissions using the new standard be held separately from retransmission consent negotiations, said representatives of the American TV Alliance in meetings Monday and Tuesday with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, according to an ex parte filing in docket 16-142. The ATVA contingent included representatives from AT&T, Charter Communications, Dish Network, Verizon and the American Cable Association, the filing said.
Sinclair and Tribune received “second requests” from DOJ last week for additional information about the first buying the second broadcaster, the buyer announced in a Q2 earnings release. Tribune consolidated operating revenue fell 2 percent to $469.5 million. Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker called results “mixed” in an email to investors, and she and CEO Peter Kern blamed costs associated with a programming shift at WGN America. “Those changes are now behind us, and we expect a much more profitable 2018 with more original hours than the network has ever carried,” Kern said. The deal with Sinclair is “on track,” Kern said. Tribune didn't hold a Q2 earnings call. Some think the move to ATSC 3.0 (see 1706070063) could be helped by the deal and others fear the reshuffling of TV stations' frequencies now that the incentive auction is over could be delayed (see 1708080067).