The Media Bureau granted a deadline extension to file applications for review on its approval of license renewals for Fox stations WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, and WNYW New York, said an order issued Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1oaHnBZ). The bureau granted the license renewals and a temporary waiver of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rules to let Fox own both the stations and the New York Post (CD Aug 11 p14). The deadline is extended from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, the order said. Oppositions now are due Oct. 23, replies Nov. 3, in docket 07-260. The extension came at the request of Free Press, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, United Church of Christ and Voices for New Jersey.
The FCC Media Bureau adopted a consent decree with ASWC Radio Committee on its KWCW(FM) Walla Walla, Washington. The consent decree stemmed from ASWC’s failure to comply with the public file rule or ownership report rule, the bureau said in an order released Monday (http://bit.ly/1tb2WZx). KWCW is a student-run noncommercial educational station, and the violations are first-time documentation violations “within the parameters of our policy concerning violations of documentation requirements of rules by student-run NCE radio stations,” it said. ASWC will carry out a compliance plan that meets the requirements and it will make a “voluntary contribution” of $1,200 to the U.S. Treasury, the order said.
The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) urged the FCC to adopt a proposal from broadcaster SSR Communications to create a C4 allocation for FM stations. Doing so will “improve spectrum efficiency while providing greater opportunities for small and minority entrepreneurs in broadcasting,” MMTC said in comments in docket RM-11727 (http://bit.ly/1yG53UQ). Increasing opportunities for Class A stations to expand their coverage areas to connect with a broader audience could help small and minority-owned stations gain access to capital and strengthen their foothold in the broadcasting arena, it said. Initial comments are due Sept. 18 (CD Aug 15 p10).
The FCC Media Bureau extended the deadline for comments on a petition to amend the rules for FM stations. Initial comments are now due Sept. 18, and replies Oct. 3, the bureau said Thursday in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1Bh3PDE). SSR Communications wants a rulemaking to create a C4 allocation and amend technical rules for the FM broadcast service, it said. REC Networks requested the extension, the bureau said.
Media General requested waivers for the FCC network non-duplication rule and the syndicated exclusivity rule concerning its WNCT-TV Greenville, North Carolina. WNCT can’t realize the benefits of its exclusive programming rights on the cable systems in Greenville and Kingston, North Carolina, it said in a petition posted Thursday in docket 12-1 (http://bit.ly/1sZ82bk). The broadcast programming rights that the station bargained for with CBS “are being ignored in favor of the programming broadcast by WRAL-TV” Raleigh, it said. Nielsen survey data show WRAL didn’t have any over-the-air viewership in the communities, Media General said. The FCC should grant the petition with respect to WRAL in the communities, it said. That will let WNCT “benefit from the exclusivity rights for which it bargained,” it said.
The FCC should grant a blanket waiver until Sept. 1, 2015, of the construction deadline for low-power TV stations authorized to build digital LPs, commented NAB (http://bit.ly/1oMPjJR) in docket 03-185 in response to an Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance petition (CD July 29 p17). The post-incentive auction repacking is likely to displace many LPTV stations, and such stations aren’t eligible for reimbursement for their relocation costs, NAB said. “It is therefore unreasonable to require broadcasters to invest in new low power facilities today that may well be displaced in repacking in the next few years.” Granting the blanket waiver would also save the FCC the trouble of processing the numerous individual waiver requests that are likely to be submitted if it isn’t successful, NAB said. Not granting the waiver increases broadcaster uncertainty about the repacking process, which is also enhanced by doubt that the $1.75 billion TV broadcaster relocation fund will be able to cover relocations for full-power and Class A stations, NAB said. “Simulations released by the Incentive Auction Task Force have well over 1000 full power and Class A stations being relocated.” NAB estimates that the relocation funds would be able to cover the relocation of only 400-500 stations. To keep full-power and Class A broadcasters from having to pay for their own relocation, the FCC should either treat the relocation fund as a limit on the repacking, or require “winning wireless bidders in the forward auction to cover the additional costs of relocating incumbent broadcasters,” NAB said. “The Commission should not make an already difficult situation worse by requiring broadcasters to make investments in facilities that are likely to ultimately be stranded.” Thursday, when NAB’s filing appeared in the docket, was when initial comments were due on the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance petition.
The European Broadcasting Union is enabling sports fans tuned to radio coverage of the Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships this week to see as well as hear the action through a new service called Visual Radio, a live data slideshow showing results and pictures from the event, the EBU said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1nPxcTj). Broadcasters that carry feeds from the event can beam the slideshow to DAB+ receivers with a built-in color screen, or to hybrid digital or FM receivers through a new RadioDNS server that EBU has created for the event, it said. Broadcasters can also embed the slideshow on their websites for accessing the data online, it said.
The time for the FCC to act on revitalizing the AM band is near, said FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. The FCC should move forward with an FM translator window designed for AM broadcasters, he said Wednesday at the Ohio Association of Broadcasters’ AM radio town hall (http://bit.ly/1AexETK). The commission also needs to seek public comment on a new batch of proposals for improving FCC AM radio rules, he said. Pai said his goal is for the commission to adopt reforms by Halloween. Pai considered whether nighttime skywave protection for clear-channel stations should be eliminated, and whether the commission should take action to advance the use of synchronous transmission systems on the AM dial. This approach “holds considerable promise for improving AM reception, particularly in densely populated urban areas,” he said. Pai also wondered whether to allow AM stations to go all-digital on a voluntary basis.
NAB urged BMW to reconsider its decision to remove AM radio from its BMW i3 vehicle. BMW’s electric car competitors addressed AM signal interference “sufficiently enough that their vehicles still come equipped with AM radio,” NAB President Gordon Smith said Wednesday in a letter to BMW USA CEO Ludwig Willisch (http://bit.ly/1utvwaq). AM radio is a “community bulletin board in hometowns across America,” he said. NAB is ready to work with BMW “to address concerns you may have over AM Radio,” Smith said.
Public interest groups asked for a deadline extension to file applications for review on the FCC Media Bureau’s approval of license renewals for Fox stations WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, and WNYW-TV New York. The bureau granted the license renewals and a temporary waiver of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rules to allow Fox to own both the stations and the New York Post (CD Aug 11 p14). United Church of Christ, Free Press, Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Voices for New Jersey would like until Oct. 8, instead of Sept. 8, to submit an application for review, they said Tuesday in a motion for extension of time (http://bit.ly/1pMHCY4). The groups each have separate counsel, “all of whom are currently working on several commission matters due on or around September 8,” it said. Also, counsel had previously scheduled vacations in August, and they don’t have the resources available to meet an early September deadline, it said.