The FCC Media Bureau issued a public notice late Wednesday seeking comment on eliminating or modifying the broadcast national ownership cap. The item sought comment about changing the cap, modifying the UHF discount and treating ownership of non-top-four affiliate stations differently under the rules. If the FCC “retains a national audience reach cap, should common ownership of stations that are not affiliated with major national broadcast networks (i.e., ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX) be excluded from the cap?” the notice asked.
Priorities for the FCC Space Bureau include modernizing its licensing process, ensuring spectrum availability for satellite services and tackling outdated technical rules that might slow the provision of satellite services, bureau Chief Jay Schwarz said last week on American Enterprise Institute's Explain to Shane podcast.
Nexstar is holding hostage retransmission consent for its WDTN Dayton, Ohio, until altafiber meets "significant financial demands" unrelated to the Dayton designated market area, the fiber operator said. In a docket 12-1 retrans consent complaint posted Monday, altafiber said Nexstar is demanding altafiber carry Nexstar's NewsNation cable network in the Cincinnati area, where Nexstar has no broadcast TV stations. Altafiber said Nexstar is seeking rates higher than what other broadcasters charge, and if the FCC lifts the national TV audience cap, Nexstar would be able to buy more stations and charge yet higher retrans consent fees. Nexstar isn't meeting its good-faith negotiation obligation, and its retrans agreement proposal is a per se violation of FCC rules, the complaint said. WDTN has been blocked out for roughly 1,000 altafiber video subscribers in the Dayton area since May 31, it added. Nexstar didn't comment Monday.
A broadcaster who executed a sham transfer of his radio and TV stations to his 17-year-old niece and falsely certified that he was a U.S. citizen doesn’t have the character to be an FCC licensee, ruled FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin in an order in Monday’s Daily Digest (see 2504090035). Antonio Guel is barred from future broadcast ownership and must pay a penalty of $188,491, and any broadcaster that uses him as a consultant is required to attach a copy of Halprin’s decision against him to all their FCC filings, the order said. The Media Bureau designated Guel and his company Hispanic Christian Community Network’s 2010 sale of stations to Guel’s niece for hearing in 2023.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, the R Street Institute and Public Knowledge jointly defended the FCC's January declaratory ruling and NPRM in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks (see 2501160041). The groups met with staff from the FCC Public Safety Bureau, said a filing posted Monday in docket 22-329.
Progeny updated the FCC on its progress in meeting the buildout requirements for parts of its 900 MHz multilateration location and monitoring service (M-LMS) licenses, urging the agency to act on a request by parent company NextNav to use the spectrum for terrestrial position, navigation and timing (see 2404160043). This was Progeny’s 22nd FCC progress report. It also mentioned the notice of inquiry that commissioners approved 4-0 in March on alternatives to GPS for PNT (see 2503270042).
Apple and Meta Platforms representatives met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff on a proposed geofenced variable power (GVP) device class in the 6 GHz band (see 2408270034). They discussed GVP use cases, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. “GVP will help enable a class of body-worn devices that can operate at power levels higher than very low power device power levels within permissible zones,” the companies said. “These higher powers will help address significant body loss that body-worn devices will experience.” Body loss is a form of signal attenuation.
CenturyLink asked the FCC for another 60-day extension on its application for the emergency impairment of service in limited parts of the Florence, Colorado, wire center, which was damaged by flooding in 2018. “There is no timeline for rebuilding the road that was washed out by the flooding,” said a filing posted Monday (docket 19-69). The U.S. Forest Service “continues to believe it is still years away even from evaluating the possibility of rebuilding that service road, given how unsettled the terrain remains from the flooding,” the carrier said. “Temporary cable continues not to be a feasible solution to provide service due to the rugged, mountainous terrain and instability in the area.”
The Senate’s Monday executive calendar said two cloture motions for Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty would “ripen” at 5:30 p.m., meaning they would be eligible for votes this week, as expected (see 2506130065). Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., filed last week for cloture on both of Trusty’s nominations -- one to finish out the term of former Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which ends June 30, and a subsequent full five-year term. Trusty is very likely to clear the Senate’s majority-vote cloture threshold for executive branch nominees on what lobbyists expect to be unanimous GOP support. Thune previously indicated he was likely to move up Trusty in confirmation priority after Republican FCC commissioner Nathan Simington abruptly departed the commission earlier this month (see 2506040073). Simington’s exit and the simultaneous departure of Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks left the commission in a 1-1 tie and lacking a quorum.
The offices of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., continued sparring Monday over panel Republicans’ proposed spectrum language for the chamber’s budget reconciliation package. The proposal, which Cruz released earlier this month, would renew the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through Sept. 30, 2034, and mandate an 800 MHz pipeline of spectrum for licensed sale (see 2506060029). The measure proposes excluding the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands from potential reallocation. Cantwell repeatedly criticized Republicans’ proposal last week as inadequately protecting DOD-controlled airwaves (see 2506120084).