The FCC doesn’t plan to conclude the 2022 quadrennial review before finishing the 2018 iteration, the agency said Monday in an opposition filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The FCC “has no intention of combining the Quadrennial Reviews for 2018 and 2022; nor does it plan to allow the 2022 review to ‘cut in front of’ the 2018 review,” the filing said. The FCC “plans to complete the 2018 review of its ownership rules before it concludes its independent 2022 review of the rules,” said the agency. “If NAB’s sole purpose in seeking mandamus is to prevent the FCC from combining the 2018 and 2022 reviews, mandamus is not necessary to achieve that outcome.” The agency was responding to NAB’s mandamus request that the court force the agency to issue a 2018 QR, which NAB filed after the FCC sought comment on the 2022 QR without concluding the previous iteration (see 2307070057). The FCC’s failure to conclude the 2018 QR is “by no measure egregious,” considering the multiyear litigation against the original 2018 QR order that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, said the agency. The SCOTUS decision upholding the FCC was issued in 2021, and the FCC had to refresh the record after the ruling, the agency said. That record refresh drew “almost 1000 pages of new comments and attachments,” and ended less than two years ago, the FCC said. QR proceedings are often contentious and complicated, and the agency has only four commissioners, the filing said. “For the past twenty years, each of the Commission’s orders completing Section 202(h) review has been approved by a 3-2 vote, with two Commissioners issuing lengthy dissenting statements,” the FCC said. NAB is “mistaken” in asserting that QRs are meant to be both started and completed every four years, the FCC said. “Congress did not identify a specific deadline for commission action,” the filing said. “NAB’s claims that the Commission has unduly delayed completion of past Quadrennial Reviews is irrelevant to its claim in this case that there has been undue delay in the 2018 Quadrennial Review,” the filing said. Granting NAB’s mandamus request “would intrude on the FCC’s discretion to order its priorities,” the FCC said. “The FCC is saying, somewhat ironically, if the NAB quits suing us we could finish media ownership, but we shouldn't be made to have to do it,” said University of Minnesota professor Christopher Terry. He said however the agency resolves the two QRs, the matter is likely to lead to further litigation.

The FCC should promptly dismiss the Media and Democracy Project’s petition to deny WTXF-TV Philadelphia’s license renewal, said Fox Television Stations in an opposition filing last week (see 2307310055). “MAD’s attempt to transform a civil defamation case into a license revocation action” would put the FCC “on a collision course with the First Amendment,” the filing said. MAD’s petition “attempts to make much of an unrelated, partially adjudicated civil defamation claim that concerned a cable network under common ownership with [Fox Television Stations],” said the filing. “An unrelated civil matter has no bearing on Fox 29 Philadelphia’s license renewal application.” MAD hasn’t provided any information of the type the FCC traditionally considers in assessing the character qualifications of a broadcaster or its ownership, the filing said. Taking up MAD’s request for a hearing ”would amount to an unlawful rewriting of the Commission’s Character Policy Statement,” and “decades of precedent implementing it,” the filing said. “There is no obligation of a broadcast licensee more fundamental than the obligation to serve the public interest by truthfully informing viewers,” emailed former Fox and Disney executive and lobbyist Preston Padden, who's involved in the MAD petition. “If the character requirement of Section 308 (b) of the Communications Act and the Commission’s own character and news distortion policies are to have any meaning, this license renewal application must, at a minimum, be designated for a hearing.”

The FCC Media Bureau will institute a freeze on all low-power FM and FM translator minor change applications starting Sept. 1, in advance of the LPFM window opening Nov. 1 (see 2306220051), said a public notice in Monday’s Daily Digest. “This freeze is necessary to promote transparency and predictability for window filers, said the PN. “It also is designed to provide sufficient time for applicants and consulting engineers to verify the availability of spectrum and perfect applications.” The freeze will continue until the LPFM window closes Nov. 8, the PN said.

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $12,500 forfeiture for a radio broadcaster for using an unauthorized antenna and making false certifications to the agency, said a notice of apparent liability in Monday’s Daily Digest. Crocodile Broadcasting Corp.’s use of an omnidirectional antenna rather than the directional one authorized for its FM translator W234DH, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was brought to the FCC’s attention through a petition against the station’s license from broadcaster Radio & Investments. The agency denied that petition as late-filed but pursued the matter on its own because “the allegations raise significant concerns about CBC’s truthfulness,” the NAL said. As part of the translator application process, Crocodile certified it was using the authorized antenna, but it admitted using the unauthorized antenna temporarily due to mechanical issues. “CBC contends that it had no intent to deceive, but simply did not recognize the significance of the antenna substitution and, thus, did not mention it to counsel who prepared the License Application,” the NAL said. “Upon reviewing the record, we find that there is no evidence of deceptive intent and, thus, no misrepresentation or lack of candor,” the Media Bureau said.

Conservative Editor William Kristol and former Democratic FCC Commissioner Ervin Duggan filed a joint informal objection in support of the Media and Democracy Project’s petition to deny the license renewal of Fox-owned and operated WTXF-TV Philadelphia (see Ref:2307060065]). Former Fox executive and longtime lobbyist Preston Padden also supports the petition. Duggan is also a former president of PBS, and Kristol, who founded and edited The Weekly Standard, is now editor at large for political news site The Bulwark. Both worked in the administrations of past U.S. presidents, Duggan for Lyndon Johnson and Kristol for George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. “We believe there are more than sufficient grounds alleged in the MAD Petition for the Commission to designate the pending WTXF-TV (‘Fox 29’) renewal application for a hearing,” said the joint filing. MAD has argued that information released during Dominion Voting System's legal proceeding against Fox --which ended in a settlement -- demonstrates that the network deliberately misled viewers about the 2020 election and Jan. 6 attack, thus violating little-used FCC rules against news distortion. “Doing so would enable the Commission to develop a record as to the problematic conduct of Fox 29’s parent, Fox Corporation.” The FCC’s policy on character requirements for broadcast licensees “provides the framework for the Commission to look beyond the four corners of an individual station’s record in licensing proceedings and to consider affiliated entities’ conduct when appropriate,” the filing said. The filing cites an ongoing license proceeding over character issues involving an AM radio station owned by a former Tennessee state legislator convicted of making false statements on a tax form (see 2303280039). The WTXF situation “presents the Commission with the opportunity to take a different tack with FOX stations than it has in the past -- one more consistent with the approach it frequently takes against smaller stations in less complex license renewal contexts," the filing said. Fox didn’t comment.

The FCC should reclassify as direct full-time equivalents the Wireline Bureau indirect FTEs who work on non-high cost USF programs, said NAB in calls last week with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr, said an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 22-301. Doing so “is both administrable and better reflects the work performed and the benefits provided to fee payors by the Commission’s activities,” said the filing. The result “would be consistent with the FCC’s treatment of many other FTE categories and would certainly be more accurate than one which requires broadcasters to pay significantly more in regulatory fees,” NAB said. The filing also praised the FCC’s proposal to shift the way it calculates how FTEs are assigned to bureaus (see 2305110064), and urged the agency to do regular reassessments of how FTEs are allocated. A draft regulatory fee order has been circulated to 10th-floor offices, according to the agency’s circulation webpage.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau sent warnings of possible forfeitures of up to $2.3 million each to nine owners of Miami-area properties for allegedly hosting pirate radio stations, said a news release and enforcement bureau letters Friday. “Providing a safe haven” for unlicensed radio operations “can have serious consequences for landowners and property managers that allow this conduct to occur on their properties,” said Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal in the release. The notices sent to property owners formally notify them of the illegal broadcasting identified by FCC field agents, inform them of their liability, demand proof that the broadcasts have ceased and request that the broadcaster be identified. “Persons or entities found to willfully and knowingly suffer” third parties “to engage in so-called 'pirate radio' broadcasting on their property can face significant financial penalties,” the letters said. Letters were sent to Florida's Black Marlin Properties in Hollywood, Dion and Delbreanna Robin in Hialeah, DRT Development in Fort Lauderdale, Gusman and Silvana Luberisse in Boynton Beach, Marie Esperance in North Miami, Promenade Plaza in Hollywood, Royal Point Condominium Association in Lauderdale Lakes and Sherria Elliott in Plantation. A letter also was sent to Lago Palma MHC in Skokie, Illinois.

A Media and Democracy Project (MAD) request to alter the ex parte status of the license renewal proceeding for Fox-owned WTXF-TV Philadelphia is “procedurally improper” and would prejudice Fox’s rights in the renewal process (see 2307180071), said Fox Television Stations in a letter Wednesday. “It is exceedingly rare for the Commission to place a license renewal proceeding under the more permissive procedures for permit-but-disclose proceedings,” the letter said. MAD’s request to change the status of the proceeding “is just one symptom of this fatal flaw of the Petition,” Fox said. “Grant of MAD’s Petition to Deny would fundamentally and unlawfully alter the Commission’s rules and policies governing license renewals, including its well-established character policies.”

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) tweeted Wednesday in support of keeping AM radio in vehicles. NAB is pushing lawmakers to prevent automakers from removing AM receivers from newer models (see 2306050075. “Eliminating AM radio from vehicles is an unreasonable proposal that only hurts Virginians,” Miyares wrote. “Millions of Americans listen to AM radio, relying on its accessibility and up-to-date broadcasting for local news and emergency-alert management.”

The FCC Media Bureau should change the status of the license renewal proceeding for Fox’s WTXF-TV Philadelphia from restricted to permit-but-disclose, said a letter Tuesday from the Media and Democracy Project (MAD). MAD has filed a petition to deny WTXF’s renewal (see 2307060065), and changing the proceeding’s status “would permit broader public participation” by other entities, the letter said. In restricted proceedings, ex parte presentations are generally prohibited but are allowed in permit-but-disclose if they are filed in the record. “Other public interest groups have contacted MAD and expressed an interest in participating in this proceeding.” Former Fox executive and lobbyist Preston Padden, who backs the MAD petition, has begun raising money online to fund the proceeding. Fox didn’t comment.