Regulation

The Justice Department has settled with six TV station groups over what DOJ said was the “unlawful sharing of competitively sensitive” information on advertising that disrupted “the normal competitive process of spot advertising in markets across the United States.” The six: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Raycom Media, Tribune Media, Meredith Corp., Griffin Communications and Dreamcatcher Broadcasting.

CNN has sued the White House for pulling Jim Acosta’s press credentials. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., District Court. CNN claims the revocation of Acosta’s press pass violates the constitutional rights to freedom on the press and due process. CNN is asking for an immediate restraining order to return Acosta to the White House.

President Trump on Monday took aim at Comcast after a Fox Business Network article suggested the Department of Justice could investigate the cable giant for violating antitrust laws.

The Association of National Advertisers has issued a follow-up report to last month’s member missive confirming an FBI/U.S. Attorney’s Office probe into possible fraudulent media-buying conduct. Advertisers will need to conduct formal internal investigations before deciding whether to call the FBI. The new report details the potential crimes the FBI is looking into, including mail and wire fraud, conspiracy and racketeering.

The New York legislature passed a law legalizing and regulating fantasy sports in 2016. But now a state court has called into question whether the legislature had the power to legalize fantasy sports given a provision in the state constitution, renewing the debate over the legal status of fantasy sports contests – and whether such contests can be legally advertised – in the state.

When asked during a pool spray on Friday morning how long CNN’s Jim Acosta will have his White House press pass suspended, President Trump hinted that he could take a similar action against other reporters he dislikes, mentioning CNN contributor April Ryan as a possibility. “As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t made that decision,” he said about Acosta’s suspension. “But, it could be others, also.”

Benjamin Craig Matthews of Mountain Home, Ark., was taken into custody Tuesday and remains jailed on $15,000 bond. Matthews faces multiple counts of making terrorist threats and harassing communications.

The station group said the consent decree resolves DOJ concerns about the sharing of advertising pacing with other station groups. The settlement does not include an admission of guilt or involve any monetary damages for fines, Sinclair said. Other station groups are said to have been drawn into the investigation, but no word on whether they have settled.

The new Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives may be less friendly to broadcasting interests than the outgoing Republicans. Chairing the key House Commerce Committee and its Communications Subcommittee will likely be Frank Pallone and Mike Doyle, respectively, who have been critical of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his deregulatory broadcast agenda.

The three-judge panel that will hear arguments Dec. 6 in the federal appeal of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner has been selected. Judges Judith W. Rogers, Robert L. Wilkins and David B. Sentelle will be on the bench in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to weigh in on the Department of Justice effort to undo the $85 billion deal.

Viewers may be sick of campaign ads, the mostly negative content and the sheer repetition of many of them, but the revenue they produce helps in a big way to sustain local TV news.

Susan Molinari, who leads Google’s federal lobbying and policy efforts, is leaving her role amid growing scrutiny of the Silicon Valley giant.

AT&T Inc’s WarnerMedia has accused the U.S. Department of Justice of “collaborating” with Dish Network in a high profile dispute over carrying HBO and Cinemax.

NAB has called on the FCC to recognize the important role C-band plays in content delivery for radio and television stations, MVPDs and OTT operators, to be judicious in the way it makes decisions about reallocating part of the band for wireless use and not to take steps that will degrade C-band satellite service by allowing shared use in the non-reallocated part of the band.

Pai is a classic free-market deregulator. The fewer rules governing business the better he likes it. That’s why it makes some sense that he will do nothing regarding proposals to raise the FCC’s station ownership cap. Why should he? The cap is plenty high now and any change is almost certain to end up challenged in court. Doing nothing also avoids any political blowback in Washington.

A spokesman for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says that the chairman, who took over the post in January 2017, “plans to lead the FCC for the foreseeable future.” Pai — a Republican appointed to the commission by President Barack Obama in 2012, then named chair by President Donald Trump — was asked after the FCC’s Oct. 23 public meeting whether he planned to remain in that post if the Democrats took over the House in the midterm elections, as many are predicting.