Post-Newsweek Stations is now Graham Media Group. The new name “better reflects the diversity of our creative and innovative company,” Graham Media said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1rw6JxT). Graham Media said it also invested in Storm Pins, a crowdsourced, social weather and breaking news app.
The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment on an Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance (ATBA) petition for an extension of the expiration date of all outstanding construction permits for new digital low-power TV and TV translator stations to Sept. 1, 2015 -- the deadline for the digital transition, said the bureau in a public notice Friday (http://bit.ly/1kWqI4u). Comments are due Aug. 14, replies, Aug. 29, in docket 03-185.
Sinclair Broadcast will close its deal to buy Allbritton’s TV stations on Aug. 1, Sinclair said in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/1rEwIVN). A Media Bureau order approving the $962 million deal was released Thursday (CD July 25 p1). Sinclair will acquire KATV Little Rock, Arkansas, KTUL Tulsa, WJLA Washington, WSET-TV Lynchburg, Virginia, and WJLA’s D.C. area cable news channel Newschannel 8.
The FCC Media Bureau denied a reconsideration petition filed by OCC Acquisitions that opposed a channel substitution of Channel 237B for Channel 271B at Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands. The bureau substituted alternate Channel 237B for Channel 271B at Charlotte Amalie as suggested by Las Mas Z Radio Corp., the bureau said in a memorandum opinion and order released Friday (http://bit.ly/1onEEK0). OCC argued that the FCC should disregard Las Mas’s expression of interest for Channel 237B “because it is a sham,” the bureau said. The bureau rejects as unsupported speculation OCC’s attack on the bona fides of Las Mas’ expression of interest, it said. Las Mas’ motive in its expression of interest is irrelevant because “the staff has the flexibility to use alternate channels to resolve conflicts and could have proposed it as a solution,” it said.
A “saving grace” of the Sinclair/Allbritton deal is the elimination of the sharing arrangements between the stations involved, said United Church of Christ Policy Adviser Cheryl Leanza in an email Thursday. “Sidecar agreements that transfer the vast majority of the value of a station to the larger company do little to further the goals of media diversity and competition,” Leanza said. It would have been better for Sinclair to transfer the licenses of the stations involved rather than shutter them, Leanza said. However, “at least the sidecar deals which replicate consolidation through loopholes to the FCC’s rules were eliminated,” said the email. The commission should “go further” and address all sharing deals “as rapidly as possible,” she said.
Black Television News Channel and Florida A&M University urged the FCC to grant BTNC a waiver of the ban on ads carried on direct broadcast satellite noncommercial set-aside channels. Doing so would have a positive impact on the partnership between BTNC and FAMU, BTNC said in an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 14-77 (http://bit.ly/1oipshd). The partnership would result in 40 internships and mentoring programs in news and media, significant capital improvements to the existing broadcast training facility, and “a steady outlet for news serving an underserved audience,” BTNC said. The entities also reiterated the FCC’s obligations under the Communications Act “to promote a diversity of media voices,” it said. The filing pertains to meetings with Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly and staff from the offices of Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai.
The FCC Media Bureau denied a petition for reconsideration by Texas radio stations that wanted a “daisy chain” of FM allotments involving 11 Texas communities. Rawhide Radio, Clear Channel and Clear Channel Texas requested a counterproposal that was denied due to the FCC’s minimum distance separation rule, the bureau said in an order (http://bit.ly/1rektNu) released Thursday. The parties suggested an engineering solution by modifying the reference coordinates for their Channel 297A substitution at Llano, Texas, but the bureau didn’t accept the modification because it was late, the bureau said.
Gray Television will buy two ABC affiliates from SJL Holdings for $128 million, Gray said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1x85syy). WJRT-TV Flint, Michigan, and WTVG-TV Toledo “could contribute nicely to political revenue this year as WJRT-TV is the highest ranked TV station in its market, while WTVG-TV is a close second in its market,” said Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker in an email to investors. “These stations are positioned to capture hot Senatorial, Gubernatorial, and House races in Michigan and hot Gubernatorial and House races in Ohio,” Ryvicker said. Though Gray said the deal is subject to regulatory approval, Ryvicker said it’s unlikely Gray will need a waiver to close the deal. The purchase is expected to close in either Q3 or Q4 of 2014, Ryvicker said.
The FCC Media and Public Safety bureaus seek comment on an application and waiver request from WLNY Riverhead, New York, to “flashcut” its low-power TV station WLIG Plainview, also in New York, from analog Channel 17 to digital Channel 17. WLNY would like a waiver for land mobile station protection insofar as the FCC rule on land mobile assignments applies to the Channel 16 land mobile services in New York City, the bureaus said in a public notice posted Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1ocdw0y). The rule says an LPTV station or translator application won’t be accepted if it specifies a channel that is one channel above or below one of the land mobile assignments “and its field strength at the land mobile protected contour exceeds 76 dBu,” they said. WLIG is located within the land mobile protected contour, they said. The bureaus seek comment on the impact of the request on the land mobile service on adjacent Channel 16 in the New York metropolitan area, the bureaus said, with comments due Aug. 15, replies Aug. 29.
The FCC should release the algorithms and software used in its analysis of how much aggregate interference stations are likely to receive after the post-incentive auction repacking, said consulting engineering firm Cohen Dippell in reply comments posted online Wednesday in docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/1nVkoL0). Cohen Dippel said the amount of time allotted for comments was not sufficient given the amount of data involved. “For this firm, this has been a major factor in not being able to advise many of its clients,” said the filing.