The FCC should consider developments in the streaming marketplace, investigate filings in the geotargeted radio proceeding and prioritize ATSC 3.0, NAB said in meetings with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr last week, per an ex parte filing posted in docket 20-401 Tuesday. The FCC should gauge the evolution of the streaming market and “determine whether those events affect the Commission’s calculus in determining whether virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) should be deemed to be MVPDs,” said NAB. Investigate the geotargeted radio filings “given the apparent fraud in the record,” a reference to multiple ex parte filings from broadcasters supporting Zonecasting that were later retracted, it said. “No licensee should be represented without its consent or without knowing that its representative has a direct financial interest in the outcome of the proceeding,” NAB said, asking the agency to remove those filings from the record and “swiftly take other appropriate action so as to not unfairly prejudice its deliberations.” Geotargeted radio company GeoBroadcast Solutions is using those filings “to manufacture a schism within the radio industry, claiming falsely that they demonstrate that larger broadcast groups are not on the same page with smaller ones,” NAB said. GBS didn’t comment. On 3.0. “a relatively straightforward proceeding to address the licensing of multicast streams hosted temporarily on other stations has been pending for approximately two years,” NAB said. “Expeditious resolution of this matter, as well as other pending issues, are critical to keeping the transition moving forward.”

Sinclair Broadcast signed a memo of understanding with Hyundai Mobis to develop and implement ATSC 3.0-enabled automotive business models in Korea and the U.S. The collaboration expands Sinclair’s coordination with the Korean market and the commitment to bring mobile services to the U.S., they said. Joint efforts will include geotargeting capabilities, enhanced GPS, software updates, in-vehicle entertainment, real-time emergency information and other public services, the companies said. Separately, Sinclair will demonstrate in the coming months an integrated automotive entertainment platform including music, talk radio and local television at a local Hyundai dealership in Baltimore, delivered through ATSC 3.0-enabled spectrum from local broadcast station WNUV-TV, it said.

The FCC’s proceeding on geotargeted radio “presents a range of complicated issues,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a reply letter to two Democratic senators posted Monday. The FCC “takes seriously our role protecting against harmful interference and ensuring access to essential public safety information,” said the letter to Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal and Maryland's Ben Cardin. The two had sent a letter to the FCC raising concerns about the proceeding. “Before moving forward, the Commission will carefully review the potential impact of this technology, including whether or not our existing rules provide protections that would apply to this technology,” Rosenworcel said.

Changes to improve the accessibility and clarity of emergency alert system messages will take effect Dec. 12, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. The rule prioritizes internet-based common alerting protocol versions of EAS, which provide more fulsome alert text (see 2209290017).

An FCC order allowing broadcasters to use computer models to verify the pattern of FM directional antennas (see 2205190023) takes effect Thursday, said a Federal Register notice released Wednesday. OMB approved revisions to the information collection requirement in the item, said the notice. Previously, the agency allowed only the use of full-size or scale models to verify such patterns for FM.

Snake River Radio’s late discovery filing in its FCC administrative law judge proceeding was stricken from the record (see 2211020081) and filing deadlines in the case extended by a week, said an order posted Tuesday in docket 22-53 from ALJ Jane Halprin. Snake River’s affirmative case is now due Wednesday, the Enforcement Bureau response Dec. 9, and the deadline to request an oral hearing is Jan. 24. Snake River’s license was designated for hearing after its station KPCQ Chubbuck, Idaho, was found to have been silent for much of its license term.

Nexstar and E.W. Scripps had growing auto advertising in Q3, executives said on earnings calls Tuesday. Scripps reported Q3 revenue of $612 million, up 10% from the same quarter the prior year. Nexstar reported Q3 net revenue of $1.27 billion, a 9.7% improvement from Q3 2021. “This is the first quarter in years,” that auto ads have shown growth, said Scripps President-Local Media Brian Lawlor. “We’re starting to feel like the biggest pressure from supply chain is behind us." Nexstar CEO Perry Sook also said auto advertising has “returned to growth.” Sook said there's “pent-up demand” among car buyers, which could lead to “tailwinds” for Nexstar in 2023. Some broadcasters said last week auto manufacturers could face additional supply chain issues that might be reflected in ad purchases. Scripps CEO Adam Symson said the company has seen limited signs of “macroeconomic challenges” related to a downturn. National advertisers started to pull back "in anticipation of consumer weakness,” but local advertisers haven't, Sook said. Scripps, like several other broadcasters, reported fewer than expected political advertising dollars in Q3, partially because several candidates in Scripps markets who won primaries were popular with voters but not with advertisers such as political action committees, Scripps executives said. Nexstar met its political ad guidance, and Sook said Tuesday the company’s 2022 political ad dollars are close to beating the 2020 number, though that was a presidential election year. Sook also said Nexstar expects to announce a planned trial ATSC 3.0 project before Q1 2023.

Six Honolulu TV stations began broadcasting with NextGen TV, said Nexstar and BitPath Tuesday. KHII-TV, owned by Nexstar, converted to ATSC 3.0 transmissions and is broadcasting its own programming in NextGen TV, plus that of the other participating stations: KITV (ABC), KGMB (CBS), KHON-TV (Fox), KHNL (NBC) and KIKU (Independent), they said.

The unions opposing the Standard General/Tegna deal haven’t demonstrated that the acquisition goes against the public interest or that the broadcasters misrepresented their plans, and the FCC should approve the transaction, said Standard, Tegna and Cox Media Group, which is owned by investor Apollo Global Management, in a response filing Thursday. Under the merger agreement, Standard will soon face a "ticking fee" if FCC approval isn't forthcoming (see 2210280062). The opposition from the Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild and National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians sectors doesn’t protect jobs at Tegna, the broadcasters said. “The extended review resulting from the petitioners’ repeated requests for documents and delay has created uncertainty for TEGNA’s employees as they head into the holiday season,” said the filing. “If Standard General wants to prove that there are no misrepresentation issues, it can immediately release all of the documents for everyone to see,” said NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss in a news release Friday. Standard “repeatedly asserted on the record to the FCC that it ‘does not intend to reduce station-level staffing’ but its 12 major lenders apparently relied on Standard General’s financial projections showing just the opposite,” said the release. “If Standard General actually had a plan to conduct post-closing station layoffs, such plans would have necessarily involved the creation of scores of documents,” said the broadcaster filing. “Yet NewsGuild presents not a single one to support its claims.” TEGNA station employees “will be more secure in the hands of a private company that has repeatedly affirmed its intent to preserve jobs at those stations than they would be if TEGNA remains subject to the economic pressures that a public company necessarily faces,” the broadcasters said.

Low-power TV stations should be able to use to internet-based common alerting protocol (CAP) to send emergency alerts without “an expensive and outdated” emergency alert system box, said the LPTV Broadcasters Association in an email to members Friday. LPTV broadcasters “are told they are ‘primary’ to our viewers for EAS, our viewers depend on us for this information. Yet in just about every other situation, we are sternly reminded that we are of ‘secondary’ status,” said the email, which said broadcasters should give the association “input to move forward with a plan for LPTV that makes sense and serves the public with even more safety information than currently available.” The FCC’s recent cybersecurity NPRM cited results from the 2021 nationwide EAS test that showed low rates of participation among low-power radio and TV broadcasters and suggested that failure to maintain EAS equipment by some participants could be a security threat (see 2210270058). “There should be no reason that LPTV stations cannot solely use CAPS without a box,” said the LPTV Broadcasters Association. “It is our understanding that the National Weather Service does not integrate with CAPS, but they have other even more robust digital outputs that can be used. It’s time to bring this together.”