Broadcasters Lobby Media Bureau on Radio Interference, Retransmission Consent

Numerous radio and TV broadcasters met with FCC Media Bureau staff Thursday to discuss a wide range of broadcasting issues, according to a pair of ex parte filings in docket 12-268. TV broadcasters including representatives of Gray, Nexstar, Raycom, Sinclair and several state associations asked the bureau not to change retransmission consent and exclusivity rules, said one ex parte filing. The FCC should ”keep in place the current regulatory framework” and close the retransmission and exclusivity proceedings, the filing said. “The best way for the FCC to ensure that consumers have uninterrupted broadcast TV content through [multichannel video programming distributors] distribution is to have pay TV operators negotiate with broadcasters and not the federal government,” the filing said. The FCC should act to prevent “the worsening noise floor” from further interfering with AM and FM broadcasts, radio broadcasters including iHeartRadio and Platte River Radio, and the Colorado Broadcasters Association told Audio Division staff. Division staff also discussed proposed changes to the nighttime power restrictions on some radio stations, the ex parte said. “The staff discussed the impact of relaxing these limits on other radio services, and raised potential alternatives for alleviating these challenges, such as participation in the new FM translator application auctions windows to be opened in 2017,” the filing said.