The FCC Media Bureau approved Gray Television’s request to change KSCW-DT Wichita, Kansas, from Channel 12 to 28, said an order Wednesday.

The FCC should promote increased use of IP-based emergency alerts rather than overhauling the legacy emergency alert system to increase accessibility, said NAB, NPR and alerting equipment manufacturer Digital Alert Systems in reply comments posted in docket 15-94 Wednesday. Common alerting protocol messages have “superior accessibility capabilities,” NAB said. While pushing CAP, the FCC should preserve the legacy EAS system “as a redundant, more resilient pathway when internet connectivity is disrupted.” Digital Alert Systems (DAS) said it doesn’t agree with some commenters that adding some additional text or embedded ancillary data to alerts would substantially increase the length of time a message plays. “We feel that such representations may overstate any potential issues,” said DAS. “One must consider the actual length or time an ancillary data frame might require, which may be a scant few seconds in practice, against the real-world spoken length of EAS messages.” Media that have a limited ability to display visual information -- such as many car radios -- may be able to increase alerting accessibility using symbology, DAS said. NPR and DAS said the FCC should let broadcasters adopt new technology to increase alert accessibility on a voluntary basis. The FCC should convene a multistakeholder initiative to “consider voluntary avenues for improving emergency alerting and informing in the United States,” said the Advanced Television Systems Committee and the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance in joint comments. As alerts exist now, deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals “often have to cobble information together through several different sources to learn vital information” in emergencies, said the National Disability Rights Network.

The FCC Media Bureau's denial of a construction permit extension for an unbuilt California AM station was “a material error” and ignored evidence of mitigating circumstances from wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2201060048), said Schwab Multimedia in an appellate brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday. The FCC said Schwab’s multiple requests for delays didn’t provide sufficient evidence connecting the construction delays for KWIF(AM) Culver City to the fires and the COVID-19 pandemic, but Schwab said Friday the Media Bureau misconstrued its filings. Schwab submitted documentation on pandemic restrictions in Los Angeles County making it hard to hire construction crews to work on the station, but the agency rejected that evidence because broadcasters weren’t included in the restrictions. The bureau “failed to acknowledge that many construction crews were ‘simply unavailable or unwilling to travel’” because “of the high number of COVID-19 cases at the time,” Schwab said. Schwab also argued the bureau applied its tolling policies inconsistently when Schwab changed site locations, and that the rejection went against the FCC’s AM revitalization efforts. The FCC “impermissibly reinterpreted its tolling rules in the Order, applying an arbitrary and capricious standard,” the filing said.

The Auburn Network’s broadcast licenses won’t be revoked over owner Michael Hubbard’s felony convictions, ruled FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin in an order Monday in docket 21-20 (see 2108310069). “No persuasive evidence has been introduced” to show that Hubbard’s conviction for “public corruption felonies logically leads to the conclusion that he is likely to behave dishonestly” with the FCC, said Halprin. The proceeding was the first done via written record, rather than as a live, oral hearing, a method the agency authorized in 2020 to streamline the hearing process. A hearing designation order for Auburn was issued in February 2021 based on Hubbard’s convictions for multiple felonies for using his position in the Alabama state legislature to advance the interests of companies that paid Auburn as a consultant. The FCC Enforcement Bureau argued Hubbard sought to conceal his intermingling of legislative and business affairs by contracting his consulting services through Auburn, but Halprin said the EB failed to offer persuasive evidence that Hubbard was trying to hide. He asked state ethics officials about the matter, and Auburn has a record of compliance with FCC rules, she said. “The misdeeds of a public servant may indeed be relevant in gauging that person’s ability to serve the public interest as an FCC licensee, but in this particular case and under these particular circumstances, the evidence presented does not satisfy the burden of proof,” Halprin said. The Enforcement Bureau argued Auburn took advantage of the paper hearing process by submitting declarations about Hubbard’s character with its final filings in the case, preventing the EB from reviewing or challenging them. “We may still have some work to do in developing procedures for the consideration of evidentiary arguments in written hearing,” Halprin said.

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla, pressed the FCC in a letter Friday to investigate irregularities in a dismissed, proposed transaction involving a Miami AM station he accused in 2021 of spreading Spanish-language disinformation. WSUA(AM) Miami withdrew its proposal to be sold to ATV Holdings in April amid allegations the station and ATV Holdings were both already controlled by a foreign company and misrepresented their ownership to the FCC. “Because of this dismissal, allegations of irregularities and possible violations with this application were not investigated by the Commission,” wrote Soto. “However, the answers to some of these inquiries are of public importance.” In an April 2021 letter, Soto and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus wrote the FCC about the proposed sale over concerns about disinformation affecting the 2020 presidential election results in Florida. “We can no longer allow conservative media to lead Spanish-language misinformation campaigns on Florida's Latino communities,” he tweeted then. “It's time for the FCC to intervene.” In Friday’s letter, Soto asked the agency about “a series of irregularities regarding ownership” of WSUA and “possible ownership of a FCC license by a foreign national corporation without necessary exemption." In 2021, Commissioner Brendan Carr blasted the caucus over the letter for “treating the FCC as merely an arm” of the Democratic National Committee and seeking to censor political speech. He didn’t comment Friday.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau warned of possible forfeitures of up to $2 million each for owners of properties used for broadcasting pirate radio stations, said four enforcement bureau letters released Wednesday. The letters went to Kent and Deanna Coppinger in Summerville, Oregon; Edwin and Joyce Pitt in Baltimore; Maria Hernandez in Kissimmee, Florida; and Richard Manson in Philadelphia. The recipients have 10 days to respond to the letters with evidence that they are no longer permitting pirate radio on their property, the letters said. “In addition, we request that you identify the individual(s) engaged in pirate radio broadcasting on the property that you own or manage,” the letters said. "As operators may be hard to identify, the ability to seek penalties against landlords, who are readily identifiable from local land records, gives the FCC a much stronger tool with which to combat pirate radio operators," wrote Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford in a blog post Thursday.

The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector is reviewing Standard General’s $8.6 billion proposed buy of Tegna and the related foreign ownership request, said a DOJ letter posted in docket 22-166 Wednesday (see 2204220062). “The Commission will be notified when the Chair has determined that responses to the Committee’s initial request for information are complete and the 120-day initial review period can begin,” the letter said.

Comments are due June 6, replies June 21, in docket 20-401 on proposed changes to FCC booster rules to allow for geo-targeted radio, said a public notice Thursday. The FCC released the proposal for additional comment after receiving testing results from proponents GeoBroadcast Solutions (see 2204180046).

A Pennsylvania broadcaster convicted of attempting to have a woman raped hasn’t been responsive to Enforcement Bureau requests or orders from Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin in his station’s license hearing proceeding (see 2203100075), said an order posted Friday in docket 21-401. Wahl faces the possibility of license revocation but “when ordered by the Presiding Judge to do something as simple as forward an email that he had already sent, he did nothing,” said the order. “This proceeding will not continue on this trajectory.” Wahl hasn't replied to several communications from the Enforcement Bureau, uploaded the responses he did provide to the electronic comment filing system, or sufficiently responded to the agency’s questions, the order said. “Cognizant that the Commission’s procedures can be confusing for a non-attorney, the Presiding Judge has endeavored to be as clear as possible in informing Mr. Wahl of his obligations,” said the order, which contains detailed instructions from the judge on what sort of responses are required from Wahl. Wahl will get a final chance to upload and email the required documents by May 6, and provide more fulsome answers by May 25, the order said. “Any additional failure to satisfy a deadline or follow an order of the Presiding Judge could provide a basis for dismissal of this proceeding, which, in turn, will lead to revocation of his FCC license.” Wahl didn't comment.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America wants the FCC to designate the license of a Reston, Virginia, translator for hearing over the station’s broadcasting of content from Russian-sponsored news channel Radio Sputnik, said a petition filed Thursday. The Ukrainian American citizens’ group filed two previous petitions targeting stations owned by Arthur and Yvonne Liu (see 2204060070). The translator, owned by retired Womble Bond broadcast attorney John Garziglia, rebroadcasts the signal from the Lius’ station WZHF(AM) Columbia Heights, Maryland. “By broadcasting paid Russian propaganda, Garziglia is aiding and abetting Russia’s continuing war crimes in Ukraine,” said the petition. “It is unlikely that torture, mass murder or the rape of children troubles Garziglia’s sleep. No doubt, he falls asleep counting the money Russia pays him to broadcast its agitprop.” First Amendment and broadcast attorneys told us it's unlikely the FCC would revoke the license of a station over its content (see 2203230054). The petition also asks the FCC to investigate whether Garziglia is evading sanctions against Russia to continue collecting money for the broadcasts. “If Garziglia is working with the Russian government to evade the sanctions, it is not only against the law, but for the purposes of this petition, raises serious questions as to his character qualification as an FCC licensee,” the petition said. Garziglia didn’t comment on this petition, but after NAB urged broadcasters to cease airing Russian-sponsored content in March, he said blocking his broadcast would violate the First Amendment and the station had value because it communicates the Russian point of view.