FCC

The FCC said Wednesday that Comcast Corp would pay $800,000 to resolve an investigation of its broadband-related merger conditions. The FCC said it began the probe after it was tipped that Comcast was not properly marketing its standalone broadband services, violating a condition of its merger with NBC Universal that requires the cable operator to offer reasonably priced Internet services to consumers who do not subscribe to its cable offerings.

At a time when the traditional media is under profound economic, technological and competitive pressure, television stations and, to a greater degree, newspapers need more room to breathe, not less. Repealing the crossownership restriction would be an important step in this process.

The NAB CEO tells FCC Chairman Genachowski that “the commission need not choose between quality wireless broadband and a robust local broadcast system” and urges him to engage TV broadcasters as partners in finding a solution.

The niche cable network could be on the block by the end of the year if regulators agree to hand it another 20 million households, sources close to the matter say. A positive decision in the matter, pending before the FCC, would lift the Tennis Channel’s distribution from 34 million homes to more than 50 million — boosting its value and tilting its owners’ minds toward a sale, these sources say.

The Office of Management and Budget has once again rubber-stamped and approved an FCC information collection request in apparent defiance of its statutory obligation to take a hard look at the burdens imposed under the Paperwork Reduction Act. What is a bit of a surprise, and frankly disappointing, is that the OMB took less than two weeks to approve the FCC’s request even though the proposed rules appear to clearly violate the standards of the PRA, and lengthy comments were filed by multiple parties informing the OMB of that fact.

The commission is asking whether noncommercial educational radio and TV stations should be routinely permitted to interrupt their regular programming for fundraising activities for the benefit of any nonprofit entity other than the station itself. Interruption of regular programming might be permitted without a prior waiver; reporting and certification requirements are also in play.

Broadcasters have launched a three-pronged attack against the FCC’s proposed new regulations requiring digital files to be placed online on an FCC-hosted website, including stations’ detailed political records. There have been a series of recent filings with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the Office of Management and Budget and the FCC. The core thrust of the broadcasters’ challenges are focused on the requirement that TV stations disclose online very sensitive rate information about political advertising.

Now that Congress has mandated that stations provide audio descriptions for blind and sight-impaired viewers, broadcasters should stop fighting it. I get it. Nobody likes to be told what to do by the government. But this is an instance where broadcasters are being told to do something that they ought to have been doing anyway. So accept it and, in the great spirit and tradition of broadcasting, make the most of it.

FCC Commissioner Ajit V. Pai today announced the appointment of Nicholas Degani as his legal adviser focusing on wireline issues. “I am delighted that Nick has agreed to join our team,” […]

While the FCC’s rule prohibits ownership of both a broadcast station and a daily newspaper in the same area, the FCC defines a “daily newspaper” as one that is published at least four times a week. With recent decisions by several papers to cut back publication to three days a week, they become exempt from the FCC’s ownership restrictions, and expands the pool of potential buyers to include those most likely to be interested in taking on such an asset — local broadcast station owners.

A coalition of more than 30,000 African-American churches is planning protests next week to take place in front of the headquarters of both the FCC and NCTA. The protests were inspired by the FCC’s failure to renew rules that force cable operators to carry certain analog channels even if their networks have gone digital. This rule has mainly had the effect of protecting religious programming, a staple of the black church in some communities.

Broadcast industry executives are turning up the heat in their campaign to retain an FCC rule that requires cable TV operators to ensure that all of their customers have access to local must-carry signals.

The FCC announced that the preliminary TV channel sharing rules inits Report and Order in the Innovation in Broadcast Television Bands proceeding will become effective on June 22. The rules establish the basic framework by which two or more full-power/Class A television stations can voluntarily choose to share a single 6 MHz channel. Channel sharing is integral to clearing the television broadcast spectrum so that the FCC can auction it for wireless broadband as called for in the National Broadband Plan.

He replaces Austin Schlick, who is stepping down next month.

The United States communications infrastructure has been “short-changed” by “30-plus years of misguided public policy,” according to former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps.

The commission’s initial, bare-bones TV channel-sharing rules, adopted late last month, are set to take effect on June 22, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.

In a move that could have far-reaching implications for the development of new distribution systems for content, the FCC is considering changing how it defines a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD).

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski testified Wednesday that his agency takes calls to cancel Fox’s broadcast licenses “very seriously.” During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Frank Lautenberg pressed Genachowski on whether he plans to do anything about the allegations. Genachowski said it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on a specific case, but that the commission is “certainly aware of the serious issues that have been raised in the U.K.”

The Senate on Monday approved, after months of delay, the nominations as new FCC commissioners of Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Ajit Pai. Once they are sworn in and assume their new jobs in the next few days, this will bring the FCC up to full strength with five seated commissioners for the first time in a year.

Rupert Murdoch faces limited risk of losing News Corp.’s U.S. broadcast TV station licenses, even amid screaming headlines in Britain that the media mogul is unfit to run a major company.

The FCC adopts skeletal preliminary rules for sharing, but leaves plenty of important details to be worked out in future proceedings. They mark the beginning of a process that will likely lead to dramatic changes in the landscape.

If the FCC’s thirst for broadcast spectrum has become so intense that it is willing to sacrifice fundamental fairness and “widows and orphans” to get it, all broadcasters need to be looking over their shoulders for the next regulatory lightning bolt encouraging them to also “volunteer” their spectrum. Like death and taxes, it appears the FCC is determined to make surrendering spectrum for the auction an unavoidable fact of life (and death).

The National Association of Broadcasters said on Thursday it was dropping its court challenge of rules that allow the unlicensed use of empty airwaves between existing broadcast channels.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says the News Corp. U.K. phone-hacking scandal makes the company’s Fox unit unfit to be a licensee and asks the FCC to revoke Fox’s 27 TV station licenses.

The FCC on Wednesday ordered Comcast to move Bloomberg TV next to other news channels, such as Comcast-owned MSNBC and CNBC, on its cable system news lineups.

CEA President Gary Shapiro says NAB CEO Gordon Smith should refrain from his public statements about the FCC’s proposed spectrum auction, calling them “inconsistent with the goals of Congress.”

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has named Renee Wentzel legal adviser to the chairman, responsible for wireless and engineering and technology issues, while Charles Mathias becomes special counsel to the chairman, with responsibility for public safety and homeland security issues.

By adopting the FCC chairman’s plan to require broadcasters to post all political advertising information online instead of opting for an industry-proposed compromise, the commission is making it difficult to find the most sought-after and valuable information — who’s buying spots in what markets and how much are they spending in total. In addition, the new rule runs the risk of being slowed or derailed by challenges at the OMB and in the federal courts.

By letting broadcasters share channels and not relinquish must-carry rights, the commission hopes to entice weak stations to double up (or even triple up) on channels, turn over spectrum to the FCC and participate in the voluntary “incentive” auction.

The new rules require broadcasters to post their entire public files online, including political ad rates. Broadcasters had objected to posting political rates, arguing that it would interfere with their sales efforts. The new rules apply only to top four affiliates in top 50 markets for the first two years.

The National Religious Broadcasters is urging Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) to drop their support for legislation eliminating must-carry regulations — a proposal the group claims could spell the ruin of many religious broadcasters.

Comcast Corp. has accused Bloomberg LP of lying to the government in the latest twist in the battle between the two media behemoths.

An alternative plan to the FCC political file proposal floated by the Television Operators Caucus has gained support of broadcasters who are hoping for a compromise. It would require stations to regularly report who is buying political spots and how much they are paying.

The regulatory issue that was talked about privately and extensively by broadcasters and their lawyers at NAB this week was the FCC’s request for comments on the definition of multichannel video program distributor (MVPD). If the FCC finds that Internet distributors are MVPDs, just like cable and satellite operators, then they will be subject to retransmission consent. Bottom line: Stations will be assured of controlling the distribution of their signals on the Internet, even if Internet distributors are granted the compulsory license.

News Corp., owner of Fox Broadcasting, reduced the voting power of non-U.S. shareholders to comply with the country’s law governing broadcast station licenses. The company suspended the voting rights of 50% of the Class B shares held by investors who aren’t U.S. citizens, according to a statement today. The change will last “as long as the company deems it necessary to maintain compliance with U.S. law,” News Corp. said.

That’s the word from FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake who says making public the algorithm from which they are derived is enough since the commission continues to “refine our approach to that as we move into the [spectrum auction] rulemaking.” For all that’s going on at NAB 2012, click here.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell says that rather than adopting Chairman Genachowski’s plan, he would prefer that stations “aggregate” the spending of individual candidates and PACs and report that on a weekly or daily basis rather than requiring them to put the rates of all political buys on the Web. And colleague Mignon Clyburn says she’s open to persuasion on the matter. For all that’s going on at NAB 2012, click here.

The FCC has filed a petition seeking a Supreme Court review of its loss in the Third Circuit in its Janet Jackson Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction case against CBS.

Prior to the tragedy 100 years ago, wireless communications in the U.S was close to anarchy. There wasn’t much public sentiment for regulating a technology that few fully understood or that was as intangible as the “airwaves.” But the upshot of the disaster was a universal call for government regulation of wireless in the progressive spirit of the day. Wireless was clearly too important now to be left solely to the vicissitudes of free enterprise. The regulation carried over to broadcasting a decade later. So when you’re filling out renewal forms or pondering the fate of your spectrum, you can blame that damn iceburg.

Yesterday’s federal appeals court dicision that hat the long-standing prohibition on the carriage of paid political and issue advertising by noncommercial TV and radio stations is unconstitutional and may no longer be enforced by the FCC leaves open many important questions as to how to implement it.