Regulation

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s confirmation for a new five-year term appears to be all but sealed as the U.S. Senate voted 55 to 41 on Thursday to advance his nomination. His approval comes in the face of criticism by Democrats over his actions related to net neutrality and easing media ownership rules during his short tenure.

Avaaz, an activist group that has opposed 21st Century Fox’s bid for European pay TV giant Sky on Friday filed court papers seeking a judicial review of British media regulator Ofcom’s conclusion that the company would remain a “fit and proper” broadcast license holder if Fox, controlled by the Murdoch family, takes full control of it.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today urged Apple Inc. to activate FM radio chips installed in iPhones that would allow Americans to get access to life-saving information when a natural disaster causes wireless networks to go down. NAB CEO Gordon Smith praised bipartisan backing for activating the chips. “We urge Apple to acknowledge the public safety benefits of local broadcasting on SmartPhones and to light up the FM chip,” he said.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and other critics say the commission is not doing enough to respond to the crisis in Puerto Rico and the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

In response to today’s announcement of a proposed tax reform outline, NAB CEO Gordon Smith said: “NAB supports today’s outline and the efforts of leaders in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and Administration to reform and simplify the tax code in a manner that will grow America’s economy. As lawmakers undertake the critical next step of crafting the details of this legislation, America’s broadcasters will continue to make the case that the tax reform goals of simplicity and economic growth will be undermined by any limitation to the full and immediate deductibility of business advertising costs. Advertising is a driving engine of the American economy, supporting millions of jobs and generating hundreds of billions in local economic activity, and this deduction must be fully retained in any successful tax reform effort.”

KTVT Dallas and its corporate parent, CBS Broadcasting, discriminated against former early morning traffic anchor Tammy Dombeck because of her age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the station.

Earlier this week, the FCC and FEMA released a final reminder that this year’s nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will occur today, Sept. 27, at 2:20 p.m. ET. The test will be transmitted in both English and Spanish and broadcasters will choose which one to air in their communities. Stations unaffected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria must file a Form 2, the day-of-test reporting form, via the FCC’s Emergency Test Reporting System by 11:59 p.m. ET tonight.

During the past several days the feud between President Trump and the NFL regarding many of its players taking a knee during the national anthem has deepened an already divisive debate about the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech and expression. What’s not as well known is that there has been a steady increase in efforts in many states to squelch public protests, an effort quite possibly borne out of the protests and rioting that followed the shootings of African-Americans by white police officers and others, which became more frequent three years ago.

The proposal is designed to reduce regulatory burdens for broadcast and cable entities.

Assuming that it is not delayed due to a real national emergency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the FCC are still scheduled to conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System on Sept. 27 at 2:20 p.m. ET.

A 2014 agreement between Nielsen and comScore only gave comScore the ability to use Nielsen’s technology measurements for online and TV audiences, as a “cross-platform” service. The deal, according to Nielsen, did not allow comScore to use the data for an individual “standalone” TV service.

David McCabe says regulating those platforms like utilities is more difficult than it sounds. Among the reasons are such “regulation of online platforms isn’t possible without an act of Congress designating the service as a common carrier — and lawmakers don’t appear interested in going down that path.”

The incentive auction’s second priority window for all full-power and Class A television stations will open Oct. 3 and close at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Nov. 2. A guide on what applicants should know. 

There’s growing buzz among Congressional leaders and other groups to require a public disclosure portal for political ads on digital platforms like Facebook, which have looser requirements than TV and radio. “It’s going to be hard to regulate in this area,” said one election law expert. “But it’s clearly the frontier.” WSJ subscribers can read more. 

The net neutrality group Free Press is criticizing the FCC over “misleading information” in its upcoming report on mobile competition. The group says the report omits historical context about mobile carriers’ network investment. “The easily verifiable truth is that wireless industry investments peaked in 2013, as carriers completed the bulk of 4G LTE deployments,” the group wrote to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. 

Political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes is suing Fox News, claiming retaliation by the network for having publicly accused one of its anchors, Charles Payne, of rape. Hughes’ suit, which alleges “gender motivated violence, gender discrimination, retaliation and defamation,” was filed against Fox, Fox News and Payne in New York on Monday. 

The FCC has issued an extension of time to the end of the government’s fiscal year for regulatory fee payors in areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in Florida, Texas and the Caribbean. Those areas will now have until midnight on Sept. 29 to file and pay their fees. 

The British government confirmed Thursday that it would, as expected, send 21st Century Fox’s $15 billion takeover bid for Sky to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority for a formal review. The authority will take about six months to investigation whether Fox and the Murdoch family would wield too much power on the British media landscape as a result of the merger and whether they are “fit and proper” owners who would uphold local broadcasting standards.

The Sinclair subsidiary says that the carrier’s suggestion that broadcasters want an FCC mandate requiring cellphone makers to put ATSC 3.0 tuners in their phones is a “red herring.” “Nothing mandates that T-Mobile incorporate Next Gen TV capabilities in devices designed for T-Mobile’s customers,” it says. However, it also says, contrary to T-Mobile’s claims, tuners could be installed in phones.

Russia’s effort to influence U.S. voters through Facebook and other social media is a “red-hot” focus of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election and possible links to President Donald Trump’s associates, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

Hope Hicks, a longtime member of President Donald Trump’s communications team, will assume the role of White House communications director on a permanent basis, a senior administration official confirmed Tuesday morning. Hicks had taken on the role of communications director on an interim basis last month.

Given the “detrimental effects” of including ATSC 3.0 chips and antennas in cellphones, the wireless carrier argues in a 10-page “white paper” that the FCC should not mandate that device makers install them. “The decision as to whether to include ATSC 3.0 in a device must be left to the market to decide.”