Trump announced the agreement to break the 35-day impasse as intensifying delays at the nation’s airports and widespread disruptions brought new urgency to efforts to resolve the standoff. The deal would open the government for three weeks while negotiations continue over the president’s demands for money to build his long-promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The FCC said it plans to proceed with the scheduled Jan. 30 public meeting, but it will be pretty much of a pro forma exercise since there will be no votes on any of the agenda items. “There is a requirement in the Communications Act that the FCC meet monthly,” said an FCC spokesperson.
Gray Blames Feds For Local News Cuts In Casper
The group says that since the DOJ blocked its acquision of a CBS affiliation in Casper that would have given it essential retrans revenue, it’s merging news operations at its NBC affiliate KCWY Casper, Wyo., with those of its KGWN in Cheyenne and cutting back in Casper.
The titanic battle over media mogul Sumner Redstone’s mental capacity ended with a whimper in a nearly empty Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday. More than three years after the mental capacity of the billionaire was challenged by his former live-in companion — who filed a lawsuit that exposed Redstone’s declining health and the tawdry inner workings of his empire — a judge entered a decision that the Redstone family has long sought.
Fox News has fully prevailed in a copyright lawsuit against TVEyes, a media monitoring service that allows its users to find and share clips of broadcast news. On Friday, Fox News informed a New York federal judge that it had reached a settlement with TVEyes, putting an end to the five-year-old case. As part of the deal, TVEyes has agreed to a permanent injunction and will no longer be permitted to carry copyrighted content from Fox News.
U.S. regulators have met to discuss imposing a record-setting fine against Facebook for violating a legally binding agreement with the government to protect the privacy of its users’ personal data, according to three people familiar with the deliberations but not authorized to speak on the record.
Exclusives
FCC Shutdown A Little Less Shut Down
One downside of a government shutdown — or the present partial shutdown that includes the FCC — is the inability of technology companies to obtain the FCC certifications they need to market certain kinds of new products. Good news: the FCC has reopened a website that makes it possible for most (not all) new devices to obtain their certifications.
Amid an ABC investigation into creator and star Frankie Shaw’s allegedly inappropriate behavior on set, lawmakers in Massachusetts — where the Boston-set series shoots — are calling for the show’s tax incentives to be suspended pending the outcome of the studio’s probe.
Maryland voters endorsed a constitutional amendment allowing casinos in 2008, but further commercial gambling expansion requires another voter referendum. Lawmakers failed to pass legislation to put sports betting on last November’s ballot, but momentum appears to be building to act this year.
The American Civil Liberties Union and its Northern California branch filed a lawsuit Thursday against seven government agencies. They allege that the agencies are “investing in technology and systems that enable the programmatic and sustained tracking of U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike,” raising concerns about privacy and free speech.
In a terse regulatory filing, CBS has confirmed that its former CEO, Les Moonves, isn’t going away without a fight. In December, the company’s board cited the findings of its internal investigation in declaring that Moonves had been fired for cause and would therefore not be eligible for the $120 million exit package included in his contract. In the filing, CBS said: “Mr. Moonves notified the company of his election to demand binding arbitration with respect to this matter. The company does not intend to comment further on this matter during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings.”
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — A TV journalist known for confronting would-be child predators has been snared himself in a police investigation alleging he wrote bad checks for $13,000 worth of […]
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A prominent American anchorwoman on Iranian state television has been arrested by the FBI during a visit to the U.S., the broadcaster reported Wednesday, and her […]
In another sign that TiVo/Rovi is prepared to go to the mat in its legal fight with Comcast, the company has fired off another lawsuit against the MSO, alleging that Comcast is infringing on eight patents.
Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) has been elected chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee. Doyle was the lead legislator on the House attempt to reverse the FCC’s deregulatory Restoring Internet Freedom order repealing regs against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization. He has also pushed the FCC to go through with a hearing over allegations Sinclair may not have been truthful with the FCC about its proposal to buy Tribune.
As expected, Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) has been named ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee. Latta had chaired the subcommittee, but the gavels traveled to the Democrats for the new Congress following the midterm elections.
Terri Lynn Bush is promoted to associate counsel and SVP of human resources while Charles W. Pautsch is named associate counsel and VP of labor and employment relations.
As expected, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has switched places with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and will head the Senate Commerce Committee’s Communications Subcommittee in the new Congress. Wicker is succeeding Thune as chair of the Commerce Committee — Thune has been named minority whip and the rules prevent him from holding the chairmanship and the “whipping” post, as it were.
FCC Wants To Drop Mid-Term EEO Reports
The FCC has proposed eliminating the requirement that certain television and radio stations file a Broadcast Mid-Term EEO Report (Form 397).
As expected, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has been tapped to head the powerful Senate Commerce Committee, which has primary oversight of communications issues and the FCC. Wicker succeeds Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who has been named majority whip for the new Congress.
FCC Shutdown Doesn’t Put Everything On Hold
The effect of the government shutdown is now becoming clear — and it has the potential to put on hold a number of the FCC deadlines, including the filing of Quarterly Children’s Television Reports due on January 10 and the uploading of Quarterly Issues Programs lists, due to be added to station’s public inspection files on January 10. The FCC-hosted public inspection file database is offline, so those Quarterly Issues Programs lists can’t be uploaded unless the budget impasse is resolved this week. And there’s more.
Sumner Redstone has reached a settlement with his former companion Manuela Herzer, ending a three-year legal battle just days before a second trial over his estate plans was set to begin. Herzer will pay Redstone $3.25 million and agrees she has no say in decisions concerning him.
Stations Snared In Trap Left By Closed FCC
Stations have obligations that must be met even while the FCC is closed and for which a broadcaster has no option but to wait until the FCC reopens. The distinction is not always a common-sense one. For example, stations must still prepare various quarterly reports for placement in the Public Inspection File by Jan. 10, but those reports cannot actually be uploaded to the online Public File until the FCC reopens, as the FCC took its Public Inspection File database offline when it closed on Jan. 3, making it impossible for stations to upload those reports.
Proving once again that nature abhors a vacuum, we’ve just learned of another bit of fallout for broadcasters from the federal shutdown — scammers are apparently calling broadcast stations pretending to be calling on behalf of the FCC and seeking to collect “FCC fees” over the telephone. The first of these calls that we heard about occurred within six hours of the FCC shutting down.
No, CBS and Viacom won’t merge (but Verizon will be a buyer), Netflix growth will slow as Disney goes OTT, a tech giant will gobble up a major studio, Sean Hannity will leave Fox News and more bold forecasts.
Chris Bair is joining the Wilkinson Barker Knauer law firm in its Washington office. He joins WBK after two years with the FCC’s International Bureau satellite division where he was […]
