Regulation

As FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly sees it, Justice has been hostile to, say, combinations of top four TV stations in markets because it continues to hold that TV stations compete only with each other. “That’s completely wrong,” he said. “Everybody is in the same market and the big tech companies are trying to steal everybody’s lunch. We have to recognize that.”

The FCC has sent the signal that allowing the so-called white spaces between TV channels to be used for fixed and mobile wireless devices is ready for primetime. That came in a report and order adopted Wednesday. The FCC also resolved a number of petitions to reconsider the TV White Spaces Order that initially opened up the spectrum to broadband.

Danny O’Brien, who heads up Fox’s lobbying arm in D.C., has hit the ground running today, day one of the new Fox Corp. He has been ramping up the operation for the past four months, including for what will be a months-long battle with cable operators over renewal of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization (STELAR) act.

DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim slots the event for May 2-3 and says the event may result in Justice changing how it looks not only at mergers, but also at spot advertising and retrans.

President Donald Trump, in the Rose Garden of the White House on Tuesday, attacked Facebook, Twitter, the press, and “different shows,” saying they should be investigated for collusion against Republicans.

NCTA-The Internet & Television Association said the FCC will need to put conditions on the merger of Nexstar and Tribune, otherwise the deal runs a ” material risk of consumer and competitive harm.” NCTA is primarily concerned about the impact of the merged broadcast group on retrans rates.

Representatives of noncommercial stations tell FCC officials that allowing sales of the educational spectrum could create a “hostile leasing environment.”

President Trump has once again recommended phasing out federal funding for noncommercial TV and radio — comprising about 15% of noncom’s total budget — but if recent past is any guide, he does not have enough support in Congress on either side of the aisle. The phase-out was part of the President’s budget, submitted to Congress last week.

A smorgasbord of topics this week: (1) I don’t know it for a fact, but I know that it’s true that Charlie Ergen is the money behind Locast, the OTT service that is streaming local broadcast signals. (2) Retrans is also under attack from STELAR, the law that empowers satellite operators to import distant signals of network O&Os into areas where subscribers cannot receive local affiliates off air and is up for renewal. (3) With the emergence of the new Fox Corp. this week, a forecast finds that most of its broadcast fee growth will come from reverse comp. (4) A tip of the hat to FCC Comish Michael O’Rielly for taking on the Justice Department, which has been stepping on the FCC’s turf regarding local TV ownership rules.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is very serious about taking action against anyone who may try to trade off the goodwill in its March Madness marks — even if the NCAA’s actual marks are not used.

The commission authorizes the reimbursement of low-power television, TV translator and FM broadcast stations for costs incurred as a result of the broadcast television spectrum incentive auction repack.

The lawmakers from Colorado and Wyoming say the satellite operator’s offering of distant signals from New York and Los Angeles in place of local affiliates in 12 small markets is “unacceptable” and “must end.”

The issue is expected to be the focus of a hearing Friday where Cook County Associate Judge Lawrence Flood will preside. Kelly is charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. Another judge in the same courthouse has yet to decide if he’ll let cameras in court in Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s case.

Lee Spieckerman: “Prohibiting TV broadcast groups from at least approaching the reach of the big networks dramatically diminishes their ability to invest in more non-network programming options for viewers, become serious contenders in the burgeoning streaming marketplace and effectively compete with the networks and digital titans. How can that possibly be in the public interest?”

CHICAGO (AP) — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges accusing him of lying to the police about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack […]

A panel of judges on the Supreme Court Appellate Division said in their ruling, in a case brought by Summer Zervos, that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution doesn’t require trials in state court to be delayed until the president is out of office. She accused President Trump of unwanted kissing and groping can move forward with her defamation lawsuit against him

Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into data deals Facebook struck with some of the world’s largest technology companies, intensifying scrutiny of the social media giant’s business practices as it seeks to rebound from a year of scandal and setbacks.

Broadcasters and movie studios rate the TV content ratings/guideline system as working quite well, pointing to “public surveys” over a decade that show lots of folks are using the guidelines and that the ratings get “consistently high marks for accuracy.” By contrast, critics, and there are many if the FCC docket is any gauge, say ratings are inaccurate and the monitoring board ineffective and packed with industry ratings defenders.

Broadcasters, led by the NAB, are urging lawmakers to let the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, or STELAR, expire on Dec. 31. STELAR is at the top of NAB’s legislative hit list in part because it has morphed into a tool that one company in particular — DirecTV — has been using to bypass stations and retransmission consent fees in up to a dozen markets. But of larger concern is that cable and satellite operators will use the legislation as a vehicle to weaken broadcasters’ retransmission consent rights.

Mexican regulators have given the final sign-off to Disney’s $73.1 billion merger with the assets of 21st Century Fox, clearing the way for the companies to complete the deal by March 20.

Elisabeth Kimmel, who sold KFMB San Diego to Tegna in February 2018, was among those swept up in the college admissions scandal that broke on Tuesday. She is accused of mail fraud in connection with bribery schemes aimed at getting her daughter and son into elite colleges. Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Kimmel had pleaded guilty to the charges. That is incorrect. It was William Rick Singer, the mastermind of the admissions conspiracies, who pleaded guilty.

The NCAA says it will look into claims made against college coaches and administrators in a college admissions bribery scandal. Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among more than 50 people charged Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said.

The action is part of the FCC’s modernization of media regulation initiative.