WASHINGTON—Standard General, Tegna and Cox Media petitioned the FCC on Friday to rescind a decision by the FCC's Media Bureau to have an FCC administrative court judge review Standard General's proposed $8 billion merger with Tegna after the judge agreed last week that such a review was proper. Last month, the Bureau issued the hearing designation order to send the matter to an FCC judge after it said it could not conclude whether Standard General’s takeover (backed by hedge fund Apollo Global Management) was in the public interest. 

"Today, we filed a formal Application for Review with the FCC regarding the Media Bureau’s hearing designation order, which threatens to torpedo our effort to build a company that will expand investment in local news, protect local news jobs and create the nation’s largest ever minority-owned, female-led broadcast television company," the station groups said in their filing. "As we have made clear previously, our applications comply with all FCC rules and deserve a vote by the FCC Commissioners, which any three Commissioners can request. Instead, the Media Bureau’s order is endangering those public interest benefits through a transparent effort to exercise an unlawful, unprecedented and indefensible pocket-veto."

Standard General agreed to acquire Tegna over a year ago and the company has frequently criticized the commission for delaying a final vote on the deal, expressind concern that such further delays could scuttle the deal, which could expire by May 22.

It added that the Media Bureau's original decision is “not only unnecessary and unfair—it is unlawful. The Communications Act,  the Commission’s rules, and an unbroken chain of precedent require grant of the Applications. The Commission has a clear obligation to intervene to prevent the Media Bureau’s disparate  treatment of the Applications from depriving the public of substantial benefits of the transactions while damaging both Tegna and the entire broadcast industry’s future access to investment  capital and financing, all to the great harm of the public interest."

The station groups also said in their filing that the Media Bureau could not deny the merger based on threats to increase retransmission fees or layoff journalists, something that the company said it would not do if the deal was approved. 

"Under binding Commission precedent, the Media  Bureau cannot lawfully reject the Applications based on the Transactions’ potential to increase  retransmission consent fees under contracts previously negotiated at arm’s length by market  participants," the filing said. "Moreover, Standard General irrevocably waived enforcement of after-acquired  clauses on which the Bureau’s purported concern about increased fees rests. Nor can the Bureau  lawfully block the transactions based on hypothetical nondiscriminatory reductions in local  staffing, particularly where Standard General actually committed not to reduce journalism or  newsroom staffing for at least two years.”

In addition, they said that the decision to have an FCC administrative judge rule in the case was a violation of the Constitution since the judge doesn’t answer to the President. 

“Time is of the essence,” they said. “As set forth in documents applicants filed with the Media Bureau,  the “Final Extension Date” of the Standard General-Tegna merger agreement is May 22, 2023.  That deadline will pass long before a full evidentiary hearing could be completed, and applicants  have no ability to extend that deadline. 

"If the Commission fails to grant the Applications before  that date, the financing obligations of more than a dozen lenders helping to fund the transactions  will expire as well. The HDO in effect denies the Applications without basis and without due  process. The Commission should swiftly correct that overreach. If the Commission has not done  so by 5:00 p.m. on March 27, applicants will have no choice but to seek judicial relief."

WASHINGTON—The FCC has issued a pair of reminders from its Enforcement Bureau and Media Bureau instructing broadcasters to provide sponsorship identification disclosures and sharing agreements in Online Public Inspection Files (OPIF).

First, the Enforcement Bureau public notice reminds broadcasters that they are obligated to comply with Sponsorship Identification Laws and the Communications Act of 1934, which requires them to disclose sponsors of paid-for programming. Not disclosing sponsor information “can mislead the public and promote unfair competition,” the notice reads.

Consequences for violating the Sponsorship Identification Laws, per the public notice, can lead to sanctions, including imprisonment or monetary forfeitures. 

The Media Bureau’s public notice restates the obligation for commercial broadcast licensees to include every “sharing” agreement pertaining to the operation of the station in their OPIF within 30 days. This also covers agreements under which a station provides or collaborates to provide station-related services to any stations with which it is not under common de jure control.

“Regardless of how an agreement is styled or labeled, if it covers the provision of programming time,  sales of advertising or provision of services among commercial broadcast stations, it must be retained in the station’s OPIF,” the notice details.

The Media Bureau also noted that if broadcasters are uncertain about certain agreements, they should err on the side of inclusion.

The FCC has made available the complete notices from the Enforcement Bureau and the Media Bureau available online. 

WASHINGTON—The FCC announced this week that it will “streamline” its Media Bureau by eliminating the Bureau’s engineering division and moving its responsibilities to its Industry Analysis Division (IAD), citing a decline in paperwork as it moves to digitize filing processes. 

“The Engineering Division processed cable industry regulatory filings (such as registrations and their updates, and signal leakage and proof of performance results), Cable Television Relay Service (CARS) applications and requests for rulings on technical matters,” the FCC said in its announcement. “As the industry has transitioned from analog to digital and from paper to electronic filing processes, and as the Commission has engaged in dozens of proceedings to modernize its rules, the Engineering Division’s tasks have diminished.”

The FCC said the Engineering Division’s work is now primarily focused on consulting with other FCC divisions on media-related technical rulemakings and enforcement and providing analysis of the commission’s cable industry data, as well as maintaining the Cable Operations and Licensing System (COALS) database, which includes the CARS licensing process.

“Simplifying the organizational structure of the Bureau will streamline its operations, improve the supervisor-to-employee ratio thereby reducing redundancies in management and encourage more extensive staff interaction and collaboration,” the FCC said. “The IAD staff has extensive experience analyzing the media industry and incorporating such analysis into the Bureau’s rulemaking and regulation. Therefore, they are well positioned to effectively utilize the technical resources of the Engineering Division.”

WASHINGTON—With Hurricane Dorian threatening multiple states in the southeast, the Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau have announced that the completion date for phase 5 of the repack has been extended from its original date of Sept. 6 to Sept. 11 at 11:59 p.m.

“There remains considerable uncertainty about the future path of the storm and therefore its implications for the completion of construction projects related to the transition, but we are mindful that phase 5 includes a significant number of stations in areas that may be affected by the storm, including North and South Carolina,” the public notice reads. It was also determined that because many of the stations potentially affected by the storm may provide critical information to its viewers, requiring them to rescan their TVs during this time was not prudent.

Despite the extension, the Media Bureau asks that stations not impacted by Hurricane Dorian continue on their previous schedule for phase 5 and complete their transition by Sept. 6. There will still be the option for stations to adjust their transition schedule on a case-by-case basis.

There are no further plans to amend any other start or completion dates for other phases, but the FCC will continue to monitor the storm and make any changes if warranted. 

For more news and insight on the repack, visit TV Technology'srepack silo.

WASHINGTON—FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced the appointment of Sarah Whitesell as deputy chief of the commission’s Media Bureau. This will be Whitesell’s second go-around in the role of deputy chief; she returns to the position after working in the non-profit sector as the head of the Legal Resource Center on Violence Against Women.

“I’m grateful she is returning to the Media Bureau,” said Pai on Whitesell in the FCC’s official announcement. “She will play a key leadership role as the Bureau modernizes our media rules for the digital age and addresses other commission priorities.”

In addition to her previous time as deputy chief, Whitesell has also worked as legal advisor to Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyborn, acting legal advisor to Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, legal advisor to Commissioner Gloria Tristani, as well as management roles in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis and the International Bureau. She has also served as a member of the Telecommunications Task Force for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.

WASHINGTON—FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today confirmed that will Michelle M. Carey serve as chief of the Media Bureau, continuing the work she has been doing as acting chief.

“As we work to modernize our media rules to match today’s marketplace, we will continue to rely on Michelle’s experience and talent,” Pai said. “As acting chief, Michelle has already started the agency’s review of its media regulations, advanced the next-generation transmission standard for TV broadcasters, worked to revitalize AM Radio services, and eased burdens on noncommercial broadcasters. I am very pleased she has agreed to continue this work as bureau chief.”

The Media Bureau handles the majority of issues affecting broadcasters, cable TV and satellite services.

Before serving as acting chief, Carey served for six years as deputy chief of the bureau she now leads. She has also served as a senior advisor to the assistant secretary at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the Department of Commerce. Carey was also a senior legal advisor to then—FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin and previously held senior leadership positions in the agency’s Wireline Competition Bureau. Carey received her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Georgetown University.

WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission Acting Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey today announced the appointment of Jeffrey Neumann as chief engineer.

“Jeffrey’s breadth of knowledge will be a great asset to the Bureau as it tackles the challenging work pending before it,” Carey said.

Neumann joins the front office from the Media Bureau’s Engineering division, where he began his FCC career in 2003. During his tenure, he has worked on cable, broadcast, and satellite issues, including accessibility, set-top boxes, reauthorization of direct broadcast satellite services, mergers and transactions, the DTV transition, and the incentive auction. Also the bureau's chief data officer, Neumann previously served as acting media advisor to Commissioner Ajit Pai, now chairman.

He received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Michigan College of Engineering.