The U.K.’s Digital TV Group will team with its counterpart, the German TV Platform, on a series of joint “plugfests” to test the interoperability of Ultra HD TVs and content “as new services develop,” the groups said in a Tuesday announcement. The first plugfest, scheduled for Dec. 8-9 in Berlin, “will examine the delivery and support of high dynamic range UHD, by connecting UHD displays and receivers together with sample content,” they said. Future plugfests will alternate between London and Berlin, “examining other facets of the UHD experience,” they said. Manufacturers that take part in the plugfests can find out how their products will perform with emerging Ultra HD services in Europe’s two largest TV markets, they said.

The FCC should approve the “Katrina Petition” and require broadcasters to provide emergency information in multiple languages “before, during, or after an emergency,” the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council said in meetings Tuesday with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief David Simpson, aides to Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, and an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler, according to an ex parte filing posted online Tuesday in docket 04-296. The FCC should withdraw a draft order that would update state emergency alert systems with information about which EAS participants offer their information in multiple languages and instead “take meaningful steps to preserve the lives of multilingual Americans,” MMTC said. “If the Commission revisits this issue in light of these comments, it would adopt directives that more effectively protect individuals who are not conversant in English,” MMTC said. “Discussions are underway about MMTC potentially amending the Petition to address questions that the Commission has raised.”

Broadcasters should take advantage of the FCC's Nov. 20 tutorial on the pre-TV incentive auction process, Fletcher Heald said in a blog post Friday. The incentive auction is "new to the FCC and it's new to the rest of us," the post said. Broadcasters should "thoroughly work" through the tutorial and then attend the FCC's workshop on the matter, which was rescheduled to Dec. 8, the blog post said.

Media General will “engage in negotiations” with Nexstar but its board unanimously rejected Nexstar's initial, unsolicited purchase proposal, a Media General news release said Monday. “The Board believes the Proposal significantly undervalues Media General and its prospects.” The proposal “substantially discounts Media General’s standalone growth prospects, ignores the significant asset value embedded in Media General’s excess spectrum that can be monetized via the upcoming Broadcast Auctions, and does not reflect an equitable share of the synergies" of a Nexstar/Media General deal, it said. Media General will hold private negotiations with Nexstar but “there are no guarantees that these negotiations will result in a transaction with Nexstar,” the release said. The Media General board continues to recommend the Meredith transaction, the release said.

The 69 mutually exclusive Auction 83 noncommercial educational FM translator applicants have until Dec. 16 to file Form 349 FM translator applications, the FCC Media Bureau said in a public notice Monday. The FCC will use the NCE point system to compare and “tentatively select” applications from each group of mutually exclusive stations to receive the license for a translator, the PN said. The applications are mutually exclusive “only to other, pending NCE FM translator proposals filed in the Auction 83 Filing Window. As such, these applicants are ineligible to participate in Auction 83,” the PN said. The point system the FCC will use to decide among mutually exclusive NCE applicants is based on whether the applicant is a local entity, has diverse ownership, is involved with a statewide network providing content to local schools, and how large a coverage area and population served the translator would allow, the PN said.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai hailed carriers AT&T, Boost Mobile, Sprint, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile for their “move in a positive direction” to activate the FM chips in their smartphones, in remarks at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention Friday in Kansas City, Missouri. “I applaud all of these carriers for stepping up to the plate” on FM chip activations, he said. But Pai opposes government mandates on FM chip activations, he said. “I don’t believe that it is the place of the government to intervene here, especially given the robust competition we see among wireless carriers,” he said. “In February, I said that if there was consumer demand for activating FM chips -- and I believed that there was -- I was optimistic that we would continue to see progress on this issue as a result of commercial negotiations and competitive pressure in the private marketplace.” Recent developments (see 1508140064) “have only strengthened my optimism and belief that the private sector can and will resolve this issue,” he said.

Tegna sold advertising tech company PointRoll to Sizmek, for undisclosed terms, Tegna said in a news release Thursday. “PointRoll is a multi-screen digital ad tech and services company and was part of TEGNA Digital’s Cofactor brand,” said the release.

The FCC Media Bureau approved Ironwood Communications' request for a failing station waiver of the multiple ownership rules, allowing the company to own both struggling MyNetwork TV WPME Portland-Auburn, Maine, and CW affiliate WPXT Portland-Auburn, said a letter released Tuesday. The stations are involved in a joint sales agreement and a shared services agreement that would both be terminated with the approval of the waiver. WPME has reported operating losses for the past three years, and granting the waiver will serve the public interest, the Media Bureau said.

The FCC shouldn’t treat the board members of noncommercial educational (NCE) stations as owners or collect their demographic information, NPR said in a phone call with an aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly Tuesday, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 07-294 Friday. The FCC had proposed treating NCE board members as owners in a Further NPRM on changes to the way the commission assigns FCC registration numbers (see 1502120066).

The FCC could “contribute to a healthy system of local broadcasting” by updating ownership rules, Raycom Media said in a meeting with Commissioner Ajit Pai Wednesday, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 09-182. The current FCC rules “incongruously” treat broadcast TV consolidation as a “threat” despite increasing competition and pay-TV consolidation, it said. The public interest “would be better served by ownership rules that bolster stations’ ability to invest” in creating locally focused content, Raycom said.