WASHINGTON—In the wake of an executive order from President Trump and a determination by an Executive Branch Interagency body that foreign made drones pose “unacceptable risks” to U.S. security, the Federal Communications Commission has updated its “Covered List” of banned technologies and products to include all new foreign made unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and all UAS critical components.

The move effectively bans sales of new drones and components by the Chinese manufacturer DJI, which dominates the drone market in the U.S. and other foreign makers.

It does not, the FCC stressed, impact a consumer’s ability to continue using drones they previously purchased or acquired. “Nor does today’s decision prevent retailers from continuing to sell, import, or market device models approved earlier this year or previously through the FCC’s equipment authorization process,” the agency said. “By operation of the FCC’s Covered List rules, the restrictions imposed by today’s decision apply to new device models.”

The move comes at a time when drone have become increasingly important in TV production, particularly for news and live sports. In 2025, for example, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted Sinclair’s Declaration of Compliance for Operations Over People. That, Sinclair said, made it the first broadcaster authorized to fly drones over people and vehicles for newsgathering without a waiver from the government regulator.

As previously reported, the potential ban on new foreign drones, which has been brewing for months, has raised widespread concerns about the impact of any ban on new products or components.

“I welcome this Executive Branch national security determination, and I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign drones and related components, which pose an unacceptable national security risk, to the FCC’s Covered List,” said FCC chair Brendan Carr in a statement. “Following President Trump’s leadership, the FCC will work closely with U.S. drone makers to unleash American drone dominance.”

By way of background, the FCC’s Covered List is a list of communications equipment and services that are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the U.S. or the safety and security of U.S. persons. Under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, the Commission can update the Covered List only at the direction of national security authorities. In other words, the Commission cannot update this list on its own and is required to implement determinations that are made by our national security agency experts.

Equipment on the Covered List (“covered” equipment) is prohibited from getting FCC equipment authorization. Most wireless devices require FCC equipment authorization prior to importation, marketing, or sale in the U.S. Covered equipment is banned from receiving new equipment authorizations, preventing new devices from entering the U.S. market.

In making the determination to ban new foreign-made drones, national security agencies referenced, among other things, concerns that that foreign-made UAS could be used for attacks and disruptions, unauthorized surveillance, sensitive data exfiltration, and other UAS threats to the homeland. Additionally, the determination noted that reliance on such devices unacceptably undermines the U.S. drone industrial base, the FCC reported.

The full Public Notice on can be found here.

WASHINGTON—In a press conference following the Federal Communications Commission’s May Open Meeting, Chair Brendan Carr promised the agency would move rapidly in a number of areas over the summer now that it has a quorum of Commissioners with the swearing in of Republican Olivia Trusty.

“I think we have a very, very busy, productive July and August in terms of a number of items that we've got teed up and ready to go,” Carr said.

During the press conference, Carr, also a Republican, reiterated that he wanted to boost local broadcasters by reexamining FCC’s ownership caps, said that the agency would act “soon” on his concerns over how EchoStar is using its spectrum, declined to provide a timeline when the agency would conclude its review of the Paramount Global-Skydance Media merger and once again argued that the FCC has the power to regulate news content from licensed broadcasters.

In response to a question that the FCC seemed to be moving towards lifting ownership caps for most broadcasters but retaining restrictions on stations owned and operated by national broadcast networks like ABC, CBS and NBC, Carr denied that was the case.

“Look at this point, we're very open-minded as to the outcome,” he said. “[A] whole range of options that could be possible. And if you sort of step back, one of the themes that I've tried to be pretty clear about, and maybe some people would think I’ve been too blunt about, is that I want to work to empower local broadcasters. I think if you again look at trust in media across the board, trust in…national programmers, particularly when it comes to ABC, CBS, NBC, trust in those outlets is at an all-time low. And so, separate from that, one thing I'm trying to do is continue to empower those local broadcasters to feel they can actually have the freedom to serve their local communities. So as we go forward in this proceeding, I'm open-ended, open-minded as to where we will ultimately end up. But again, one of the North Stars I've been looking at is empowering those local broadcasters.”

In addition to attacking the major broadcast networks, Carr also reiterated his view that the FCC does not have the authority to regulate content on cable networks like Fox News or OAN but that it does have the authority to regulate news content and news bias on broadcast stations.

“Congress has been very clear that the regulatory authority with respect to broadcasters is different than the regulatory authority with respect to cable,” he said. The difference is authority, he added, is based on the fact that “if they have access to a valuable public resource spectrum {and are given a license for] the 6 MHz of spectrum, we're necessarily denying other speakers the right to do that. Similarly, there's statutory benefits that you get from being a licensed broadcaster, including things that ultimately go to retransmission consent and whatnot….It's not my decision, it's Congress's decision that there's a very different regulatory structure. And again, the thing that's the subject of the regulation is different. What I'm talking about is making sure that broadcasters fulfill their public-interest obligation.”

Carr did not address the obvious issue of whether the FCC would have, under that philosophy, the authority to regulate content from cable networks like OAN or Fox News Channel that airs on broadcast stations.

Carr was also asked about an FCC’s investigation into Echostar that could result in the satellite provider losing wireless and satellite spectrum that Elon Musk’s Starlink and others would like to acquire.

In response, Carr declined to comment on a meeting that he attended with President Donald Trump and Echostar chairman Charlie Ergen. He did say, however, that “the status quo needs to change. There's lots of different paths forward there. And you know, all options are still on the table.”

He added that he expected the FCC to act “soon.”

In a press conference following Carr, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez explicitly rejected the idea that ownership caps should be removed and that the FCC has authority to regulate broadcast news content, which she called a clear violation of First Amendment rights.

“As you know, I launched my first amendment tour a few months ago to shine a light on the administration's campaign of censorship and control,” she said. “Since then, we've seen all kinds of actions aimed at silencing dissent and punishing critics. These aggressive tactics recently culminated in a U.S. senator being forcibly removed from a public event and thrown onto the ground simply for asking a government agency he oversees a question. This is what government censorship and control looks like today.”

In terms of ownership caps, Gomez complained: “Just hours before the national holiday, the FCC issued a notice that would begin the process to give billionaire-owned media conglomerates even more influence over what Americans see and hear. Most likely missed this last-minute release...and that's no accident, because we know, and they know, that this isn't about strengthening journalism or preserving local news. This FCC proposal to unleash a new era of unregulated media consolidation is only about helping the largest broadcast companies grow even larger at the expense of independent stations and the communities they serve. A media landscape dominated by a few national players will not deliver diverse local voices. Instead, it risks the loss of local jobs and local perspectives and the disappearance of independent, community-focused journalism.”

WASHINGTON—Two Senate Democrats have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission arguing that the regulator needs to be extremely transparent in its review of the Paramount Global-Skydance merger given the appearance that the process might involve “bribery” and unfair regulatory pressure by the Trump administration on Paramount’s CBS News.

The letter was sent by Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), ranking member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Telecommunications and Media Subcommittee, to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

Citing reports that Paramount is considering settling what the senators called “a frivolous lawsuit” brought by President Donald Trump, Markey and Luján said the FCC should only approve the merger by an affirmative vote of the full commission.

As previously reported, President Donald Trump has sued Paramount for $20 billion in damages relating to how CBS News edited a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The FCC is also investigating CBS over “news distortion” regarding how the interview, which took place during the 2024 presidential campaign between Trump and Harris, was edited, and Carr has said that issue will be an important part of its review of the merger.

The fact that the FCC is investigating the Paramount and CBS as the president is suing the company has been attacked by critics, including several former FCC commissioners, They have complained that the FCC is helping the White House censor media critics of the administration. The pressure of the FCC investigation might also produce a financial windfall for Trump if Paramount settles the suit.

Disney’s ABC, which is also being investigated by the FCC, has already settled a separate suit by Trump.

Carr has repeatedly denied those allegations, saying the FCC investigations have no relationship to the Trump lawsuits and that he hasn’t even read the Trump lawsuit. Even though other agencies have already approved the merger, Carr has also stressed that the FCC has not delayed ruling on the merger to increase pressure on Paramount.

In the May 13 letter, the senators wrote: “In late October, then-candidate Trump sued CBS for $10 billion—later raising this outrageous amount to $20 billion—for supposedly deceptively editing an interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on its programs ‘60 Minutes’ and ‘Face the Nation.’ As the transcript of the interview showed, the excerpts that CBS aired were a quintessential example of editorial decision-making. Trump’s claim that such conduct constituted ‘voter interference’ and violated Texas’ consumer protection law is both false and a clear attempt to intimidate the news media. CBS has rightfully moved to dismiss the case.

“Despite the obviously frivolous nature of the lawsuit, Paramount is reportedly considering settling the case to ‘increase the odds that the Trump administration does not block or delay’ its merger with Skydance,” the letter continues. “In fact, Paramount executives and directors are reportedly concerned that such a settlement could open them up to accusations of bribery. Paramount would not be the first to settle a lawsuit brought by the President in the past few months. In the weeks following the inauguration, ABC ($16 million), Meta ($25 million), and X ($10 million) all settled cases brought by Trump. With Paramount on the hook to pay Skydance a $400 million breakup fee if the FCC blocks the deal, the company has strong financial incentives to facilitate FCC approval of the merger.

“For those reasons, this transaction has signs of a deal between a company eager for approval of a multibillion-dollar merger and a president willing to exploit his position to intimidate the media and secure a multimillion-dollar payout,” the letter concludes. “The unique position of this merger necessitates the utmost transparency at the FCC. A matter of this significance deserves the scrutiny of the entire commission. We urge you to only approve this merger through a full commission vote.”

More TV Tech coverage of the FCC can be found here.

MIAMI—Federal Communications Commission commissioner Anna Gomez continued her criticism of the FCC’s investigation into “news bias” at CBS during a visit in Miami to CBS’s owned and operated WFOR TV station.

Gomez’s staff reported that the visit is part of a series of television and radio station visits by the Commissioner to engage with broadcasters across the country and to better understand the media market and its challenges, while analyzing how the FCC’s actions impact different communities.

A news release publicizing the Feb. 18 visit highlighted the FCC’s recent decision to revive its investigations into broadcast stations owned by CBS, ABC and NBC by noting that “the FCC has—without evidence—revived complaints previously dismissed by agency experts against broadcast stations owned and operated by national broadcast networks. This weaponization of the FCC’s broadcast licensing authority has been seen as a retaliatory move against broadcasters whose content or coverage is perceived to be unfavorable by the government. The Communications Act, which governs the FCC’s actions, prohibits the Commission from censoring broadcasters. Similarly, the First Amendment protects journalistic decisions against government intimidation.”

"Consumers shouldn’t be caught in the middle of partisan politics here in Washington,” Gomez said. “Stations like this one are a valuable resource for seniors, veterans and residents to receive lifesaving information about emergency conditions and local alerts. The FCC should not be in the business of controlling access to vital local information. Instead, we should focus on protecting and expanding the public’s ability to receive timely, accurate news without political interference.”

More on TV Tech's coverage of those investigations can be found here.

Gomez visited the station while she was in Miami for a symposium with Hispanic media executives.

During the meeting, Inside Radio reported that Gomez said “We clearly see that there's something that isn't working” and that Hispanic ownership of broadcast media remains low. “This tells us the Latino community is not being served as well as other communities,” Gomez said. “It appears that there are financial challenges that arise out of limitations on audience measurement tools—these financial challenges translate to less money available to support high-quality content.”

ATLANTA—Gray Media said it has revised its group-wide policy regarding the role of generative AI to acknowledge the technology’s potential but underscored the broadcaster’s commitment to using Gen AI responsibly.

“Gray recognizes and values the significant potential for generative AI and other emerging technologies” in news, creative and business processes, the policy says.

However, Gray is equally aware that AI-generated content “can distort and misrepresent content,” something antithetical to Gray’s stated “North Star”—earning consumer confidence.

TV Tech spoke with Claire Ferguson, vice president and assistant general counsel at Gray, who is leading the station group’s internal work on AI about the updated policy, how generative AI can assist journalists in news creation, possible pitfalls and how Gray is preparing its employees for generative AI. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.

TV Tech: Gray Media this week updated its AI policy from June 2023. Why?

Claire Ferguson: When we first generated our AI policy over 18 months ago, it was focused on safe use, ensuring that our folks were getting the right mindset about AI and what AI was in June 2023.

The difference in what AI can do from then to now is remarkable. Even three months ago, ChatGPT didn’t know how many r’s are in the word strawberry. That made it pretty easy to say, “This is something we are going to have a hard time trusting.”

Obviously, we still have swaths of questions and guardrails around what we can trust from ChatGPT and how we can use these kinds of generative AI platforms, but there have been massive improvements.

To have stuck with a policy from June 2023 that started with “Gray is committed to safety” felt like a seatbelt that wasn’t necessary.

So, we decided we wanted the policy to lead with our dedication to innovation. Safety is still 10,000% baked in, but based on what Gray can do and wants to do, and based on how AI can help it do that, it felt like it was time for a refresh.

TVT: Let’s talk about the use of AI around Gray. How is Gray using generative AI in the newsroom?

CF: We are still very much working through all those processes, as I suspect are our peers at the moment.

We trust it for very basic tasks. It's fine to run it through as a spell-check. It's fine to ask it for suggestions.

We are bullish on AI's capacity to help us meet viewers where they are in a way we're not positioned to right now.

We're not there yet, but imagine you've got a Category 5 hurricane coming to your market. If you don't speak English, we could serve those storm warnings to you in your native tongue. Wouldn’t that be a powerful, lifesaving use of this technology? That’s just the start.

The important thing about the changes to our AI policy is that the tenets never changed. We are still incredibly centered on our communities and our employees before we would ever prioritize AI.

We call out in the new policy that anything we do has to queue to our north star, which is maintaining consumer confidence.

We would never deploy AI in a way that could potentially jeopardize that because a consumer of our news is not going to care if the error was algorithmic or human. That erosion of trust is something we cannot afford.

TVT: The policy spells out that there remains an emphasis on human-created news and the role humans play in the editorial process. So, how else do you see generative AI being used in the newsroom to enhance journalism and not replace journalists?

CF: Our AI policy committee is an interdisciplinary group with folks from technology, legal, marketing, general managers, sales and journalists.

A number of ‘capital-J’ journalists are doing some fascinating things with AI and have been pushing us to maybe take some bigger jumps, which I thought was interesting and promising.

The entire group, however, believes humans have to create news—full stop. But if you can use generative AI to spend only 10 minutes poring over 150,000 pages delivered to you from an FOIA request, you have freed up your investigative reporter in a hugely meaningful way.

Again, people in the newsroom were saying, ‘We’ve got to get a little bit more latitude here.’

I was a huge proponent of giving our employees the red line of the policy to show them exactly what we've changed, and it was really important that we not touch a comma in that section [regarding humans creating news].

We did add a sentence after that saying, if there is a way that generative AI can better serve our communities, then we will prioritize transparency about that, but it will be humans creating the news.

TVT: Understood, but if AI is scanning 150,000 pages of FOIA-released documents to reveal what’s relevant, isn’t that relinquishing a bit of editorial control to AI on a fundamental level?

CF: There are tools that allow you to interview your data set. Upload the 150,000 pages the sheriff's office released. Good luck finding the trends, right?

There are ways to use AI to look for and show trends. How many DUIs did this officer end up pulling last year? What was the issue with that kind of thing?

We are training our journalists not to trust the AI tool’s answer implicitly, by no means. But if it finds that it looks like Detective Ferguson was pulling way more than everybody else, you can go back into the records and see for yourself it sure does look like the case.

And you can ask AI, ‘What are you seeing that implies those kinds of data points?’

TVT: I was wondering if you could discuss how the policy addresses other potential AI use cases. One involves real-time or near real-time translation of English-language local newscasts into various languages to serve specific non-English speaking communities in local markets. Another is using AI to identify areas of interest for cropping purposes to enable reformatting for vertical video consumption on smartphones.

CF: That’s a lot to unpack. From a legal standpoint, my No. 1 concern when we jump ahead to when we are ready to do this is [language translation] is mistranslation.

If the [AI] service mistranslates ‘sexual assault’ into ‘rape,’ we could be looking at a heavily substantial defamation situation.

Our policy says humans will create the news. A translation is a little bit gray as a human created the tag-along version of that news.

Our argument would be, we would deploy that technology if we felt it better served our communities than not delivering it in that language.

We would be up front [with the audience] saying this [story] was produced in English and translated by AI. We hope you understand. If you run into any issues with our translations, please let us know.

Regarding a versioning tool to go from 16 by 9 to vertical, which is all of the rage, there is a danger as well.

Your news story about lines at a polling place seems to indicate when you reorient and reformat that there are a lot more people at the polling place and you’re discouraging people from getting out to the polls. We are hugely sensitive to that.

It all comes back to having a human in the loop. If we were to deploy that kind of technology, it would have to be on a basis that ensures the edit is totally agnostic to the underlying piece of content. A human in the loop will have to be the one to approve that.

Again, that is why that line stayed in our policy. Humans will create all Gray news because of exactly this type of issue.

TVT: The policy also says Gray will train employees on the use of AI. How is that being handled?

CF: Training was mandatory with the June 2023 policy and continues to be an ongoing onboarding process.

Anybody who joins Gray, fills out their paperwork, sets up their direct deposit and then sits down for 30 minutes to watch an AI training video that is tied to an internal site that houses a number of resources, including every AI platform our team has reviewed.

If I’m looking at using BlurkAI, let me go see if it’s been approved already so I don’t have to go through the process. If it has or has not been approved, we explain why.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has fined station group KHQ Inc. $29,000 for violations of its rules and signed a consent decree with the broadcaster.

As part of the consent decree, the FCC has agreed to renew licenses for KHQ’s three full-power commercial TV stations in Washington state: KHQ-TV Spokane, KNDO Yakima and KNDU Richland.

The FCC said the consent decree resolves issues arising from the Media Bureau’s review of license renewal applications for the stations involving two areas: compliance with section 73.3514(a) of FCC rules requiring licensees to provide complete responses in applications; and section 73.3526(e)(11)(i), which requires stations to maintain an online public inspection file and upload issues/programs lists into that file every quarter.

As part of the consent decree, KHQ agreed to pay the $29,000 fine and to institute compliance plans to avoid future violations. As a result of the decree, the Media Bureau ended its investigation and renewed the licenses.

The full order and consent decree is available here.

WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump said Andrew Ferguson will be the new chair of the Federal Trade Commission, signaling a potentially major shift in the attitude of the independent regulatory agency towards large mergers and acquisitions, which had been under fire from current Democratic chair Lina Khan.

Ferguson, who was sworn in April 2 as an FTC commissioner, will not have to be confirmed by the Senate. He brings extensive conservative credentials to the post, having served as chief counsel to Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Most analysts believe Ferguson will bring a more sympathetic approach to big corporate deals than Khan. But he is also a critic of the big tech companies that faced lawsuits in recent years from the FTC under Khan.

“Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Prior to joining the FTC, Ferguson most recently was Virginia’s solicitor general. Before that, he was chief counsel to McConnell (R-Ky.) and a Republican counsel on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He also practiced law at several Washington firms. He earned his undergraduate degree and law degree from the University of Virginia. After law school, Ferguson clerked for Judge Karen L. Henderson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Thomas.

Trump also announced that he is picking Mark Meador to be an FTC commissioner.

“Mark has also worked as an antitrust enforcer at both the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and in private practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP,” Trump said in a post.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Following a filing by the NAB asking the Federal Communication Commission to extend a waiver that delayed the implementation of some emergency alert rules, the FCC’s Media Bureau is seeking comment on the issue.

As previously reported, the NAB filed a request asking the FCC to extend a waiver that had delayed implementation of a rule that requires broadcasters to provide an aural representation of visual, non-textual emergency information, such as radar maps or other graphics, on a secondary audio stream. The FCC said that the request indicates that because the waiver expired during the comment period on the Petition, “numerous large television station groups have ceased the display of such weather radar maps and similar visual images,” which “will harm the public.”

The waiver expired on November 26, 2024 and Media Bureau now seeking comment on whether to grant a retroactive extension of the previous waiver.

The original rule was adopted on April 8, 2013, with an original effective date of May 26, 2015, but has been waived and delayed several times “to the present day because a technical solution for automated descriptions of the information in such graphics does not exist,” the NAB said in a Nov. 15 filing.

In seeking comment on the request, the FCC said that "commenters should limit their submissions to the question of whether the Bureau should grant a retroactive extension of the waiver, and if so, the appropriate timeframe of such a waiver. Broader issues relevant to resolution of the Petition should be addressed in response to the November 25, 2024 Public Notice."

More information is available here.

WASHINGTON—During the Federal Communications Commission’s last open meeting this year, the agency said it plans to consider a notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend its rules for radio and television stations “to reflect current application processing requirements, clarify and harmonize provisions, and remove references to outdated procedures and legacy filing systems.”

The FCC at its Dec. 11 meeting will also consider expanding unlicensed use of the 6-GHz band by very-low-power devices, several items from its Wireline Competition Bureau and some unnamed enforcement actions.

Items on the tentative agenda for Dec. 11 were described as follows:

• Office Of Engineering And Technology. Unlicensed Use of the 6 GHz Band (ET Docket No. 18-295), Expanding Flexible Use in Mid-Band Spectrum Between 3.7 and 24 GHz (GN Docket No. 17-183). Summary: The FCC will consider a third report and order that would expand unlicensed use of the 6-GHz band by very-low-power devices in two additional subbands, making a contiguous 1,200 MHz of spectrum available for use by these devices.
• Media Bureau. Broadcast Rule Update (MB Docket No. 24-626). Summary: The commission will consider a notice of proposed rulemaking amending its rules for radio and television stations to reflect current application processing requirements, clarify and harmonize provisions, and remove references to outdated procedures and legacy filing systems.
• Wireline Competition Bureau. Connect America Fund (WC Docket No. 10-90); The Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund (WC Docket No. 18-143); Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (WC Docket No. 19-126); Letters of Credit for Recipients of High-Cost Competitive Bidding Support (WC Docket No. 24-144); Connect America Fund Phase II Auction (AU Docket No. 17-182); Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction (AU Docket No.20-34); Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America (GN Docket No. 20-32). Summary: The commission will consider a report and order that would adopt targeted modifications to the requirements for letters of credit that recipients of Universal Service Fund high-cost support awarded through a competitive process must obtain.
• Enforcement Bureau. Enforcement Order on Reconsideration (EB Docket No. 23-64). Summary: The commission will consider an order on reconsideration of its March 19, 2024, memorandum opinion and order in the UPM Technology, Inc. v. Unigestion Holding, S.A., d/b/a Digicel Haiti, complaint proceeding.
• Enforcement Bureau. The commission will also consider three enforcement actions.

The FCC’s Dec. 11 open meeting will start at 10:30 a.m. in the Commission Meeting Room of the FCC building at 45 L St. N.E., Washington. Open Meetings are streamed live at: www.fcc.gov/live and on the FCC’s YouTube channel.

The FCC issued the notice of proposed rulemaking and opened MB Docket No. 24-626 on Nov. 20 with the aim of reducing potential confusion among the public, applicants, licensees, and practitioners as well as alleviating unnecessary burdens on stations.

More specifically, the FCC said the notice:

• Seeks comment on updating rules to conform to existing requirements and licensing systems.
• Proposes to eliminate outdated and obsolete requirements.
• Seeks comment on harmonizing processing procedures across services, including FM, LPFM and FM translators.
• Proposes to modify the signature rule to expand the definition of who may sign an application certification.
• Seeks comment on consolidating rules for clarity.
• Proposes to revise the informal objection rule to require service of pleadings upon the relevant applicant and objector, limit the type of responsive pleadings and impose filing deadlines.

The full notice is available here.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a case that alleges the Federal Communications Commission does not have the authority to decide how Universal Service Fund monies are used.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC's funding arrangement to subsidize and promote access to phone and broadband services for libraries, rural areas, tribal areas, lower-income Americans and other constituencies was unconstitutional.

If upheld, the ruling would upset longstanding funding procedures used to make telecommunications services available in less affluent rural areas.

Congress gave the FCC the authority to set up the Universal Service Fund in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Consumers pay about $8 billion a year to fund the USF.

The lawsuit filed by the conservative group Consumer Research argued that Congress did not have the authority to delegate how the funds are spent to a government agency like the FCC, citing a nondelegation doctrine that was used by the Supreme Court to overturn New Deal legislation in 1935.

The 5th Circuit in New Orleans agreed. “American telecommunications consumers are subject to a multibillion-dollar tax nobody voted for,” the 5th Circuit ruled, according to Law.com. “The size of that tax is de facto determined by a trade group staffed by industry insiders with no semblance of accountability to the public.”

However, other circuits have rejected the line of reasoning. “The Sixth and Eleventh circuits have rejected nondelegation challenges to the USF,” Law.com has reported.

The FCC and others appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. Arguments in the case are not likely to be heard until 2025.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel applauded the move and said she thinks support for the fund will be validated.

“I am pleased that the Supreme Court will review the 5th Circuit’s misguided decision,” she said. “For decades, there has been broad, bipartisan support for the Universal Service Fund and the FCC programs that help communications reach the most rural and least-connected households in the United States, as well as hospitals, schools and libraries nationwide. I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will overturn the decision that put this vital system at risk.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With a Nov. 26 deadline looming for the implementation of new Emergency Alert rules, the National Association of Broadcasters has filed a brief seeking a delay in implementing a requirement that broadcasters provide an audio translation of non-textual elements of emergency alerts, such as maps and graphics, so that the material is accessible to people with visual disabilities.

The FCC’s rulemaking regarding Section 79.2(b)(2)(ii) of its rules requires that visual, non-textual emergency information (e.g., weather radar maps) provided during non-newscast video programming be made aurally accessible on a station’s secondary audio program (SAP) channels.

The rule was adopted on April 8, 2013, with an original effective date of May 26, 2015, but has been waived and delayed several times “to the present day because a technical solution for automated descriptions of the information in such graphics does not exist,” the NAB said in a Nov. 15 filing. The current waiver expires Nov. 26.

In its filing, the NAB argued, “it remains impossible for stations to continue to provide important emergency information to viewers while complying with the audible crawl rule as written … Broadcasters are extremely proud of their emergency operations and have significant concerns for the public if the audible crawl rule takes effect.

“The FCC has stated that, if a station displays a visual image that conveys information duplicative of that provided in text crawls, it need not take additional steps to comply with the audible crawl rule,” the filing continued. “However, the rule itself is much less clear. Given the fear of significant enforcement fines and/or penalties, many stations feel compelled to apply the most cautious reading of the rule, which would require stations to directly or exactly aurally describe the information in moving images by converting the images to speech. However, that process is currently technologically impossible. Also, the rule does not mention that compliance can be met by running separate text crawls that provide equivalent information. The result is that many broadcasters will cease providing this important service rather than risk an FCC enforcement action.”

In the filing, the NAB asked for another 18-month extension of the existing waiver and urged “the FCC to concurrently reform the underlying rule. In particular, NAB requests a change to the audible crawl rule to specify that compliance is fulfilled if a station provides textual crawls that provide emergency information duplicative or equivalent to the information conveyed by the visual image. We believe this approach would provide a more practical, permanent resolution of this decade-long quandary and afford broadcasters the regulatory certainty needed to continue displaying such graphics while ensuring access to emergency information.”

To help with the rulemaking, the NAB has created a “draft best practices guide to help ensure that the content and frequency of text crawls provide access to emergency information equivalent to that conveyed by a visual image. NAB has shared the draft best practices with advocates for blind and low-vision individuals and looks forward to incorporating their input in the final product.”

The draft is available here.

“With the deadline looming, we would hope that the FCC acts quickly on this request while it considers practical ways in which to make this emergency information available,” the NAB concluded.

FCC commissioner Brendan Carr—President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the regulator’s chair in the new administration—is signaling that the agency may consider a complaint against CBS’s 60 Minutes for news bias as part of the FCC’s review of the proposed Skydance-Paramount Global deal.

While the deal has not prompted much regulatory scrutiny, the FCC would have to approve the transfer of CBS-owned stations as part of its review of the deal in which Skydance would acquire Paramount, the broadcast network’s parent company.

Trump has complained repeatedly about the way CBS edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and has filed a lawsuit against the network.

Carr has also repeated those complaints and asked CBS to release a transcript.

“There's also a news distortion complaint at the FCC still, having to do with CBS, and CBS as a transaction before the FCC,” Carr said in an interview with Fox News Channel. “And I’m pretty confident that that news distortion complaint over the CBS 60 Minutes transcript is something that's likely to arise in the context of the FCC’s review of that transaction.”

During the interview Carr argued, “Jeff Bezos just recently did an op-ed where he said that Americans don’t trust the news media. He said now they’re the least trusted of all. And I think he's speaking a lot of truth there. So I think the status quo, particularly when it comes to legacy media, needs to change.”

With regard to broadcasters, Carr said: “There’s a lot the FCC can do. Broadcasters are differently situated than other speakers. They get free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves. And they’re licensed by the FCC. And the exchange for that is they have to serve the public interest. I think it's important that we take another look at that and we reinvigorate it."

Carr also posted on X that he would be seriously examining the public interest obligations of broadcasters, The Daily Beast has reported.

“Broadcast media have had the privilege of using a scarce and valuable public resource—our airwaves,“ Carr said in the post. ”In turn, they are required by law to operate in the public interest. When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation."

Carr has repeatedly said he has no intention of censoring news operations or restricting free speech, but critics have said the recent comments could provide a pretext for using perceived bias in news coverage of the Trump administration during the broadcast-license renewals.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has unveiled a preliminary agenda for its Nov. 21 open meeting that includes votes on rules for FM booster stations, caller ID, submarine cable landing licensing rules and an unspecified enforcement action.

The open meeting will take place at 10:30 a.m. (ET) in the Commission Meeting Room of the FCC at 45 L Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

Among the items to be considered:

• International Affairs: Review of Submarine Cable Landing License Rules and Procedures to Assess Evolving National Security, Law Enforcement, Foreign Policy, and Trade Policy Risks (OI Docket No. 24-523); Amendment of the Schedule of Application Fees Set Forth in Sections 1.1102 through 1.1109 of the Commission’s Rules (MD Docket No. 24-524). The commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would undertake the first comprehensive review of the commission’s submarine cable rules since 2001. By this proceeding, the commission seeks comment on how best to improve and streamline its submarine cable rules to facilitate efficient deployment of submarine cables while at the same time ensuring the security, resilience, and protection of this critical infrastructure.
• Wireline Competition: Enhancing Caller ID Authentication Rules (WC Docket No. 17-97). The FCC will consider a Report and Order that would strengthen its caller-ID authentication rules by authorizing the use of third parties in the authentication process subject to limits that ensure accountability for compliance with the STIR/SHAKEN standards.
• Media: Amendment of Section 74.1231(i) of the rules on FM Broadcast Booster Stations (MB Docket No. 20-401); Modernization of Media Initiative (MB Docket No. 17-105). The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration that would adopt final service rules that will enable FM and low-power (LPFM) broadcasters to use FM booster stations to originate program content.
• Enforcement Bureau: An unnamed action.

While attendance at the Open Meeting is available to the public, the FCC headquarters building is not open access and all guests must check in with and be screened by security at the main entrance on L Street.

Open Meetings are streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live and on the FCC’s YouTube channel.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has joined with Avid to publish a new standard for the VC-3 codec in Interoperable Master Format (IMF).

The VC-3 standard, a codec implementation that Avid provides under the DNx brand, is a primary production codec used by enterprise media organizations worldwide for critical broadcast functions such as capture, editing, rendering, base transcoding and long-term archiving. SMPTE ST 2067-70 is a new standard that specifies an application of the IMF framework covering the use of VC-3 as specified in SMPTE ST 2019-1, SMPTE said.

“For many of Avid's customers, the DNx family of codecs, VC-3, is used in their productions as a mezzanine format to maximize quality while obtaining superior editing performance on common off-the-shelf desktop and server platforms,” Avid Vice President of Technology Shailendra Mathur said. “This newly published standard will ensure that the same mezzanine-quality codec used in production can now be passed through to the IMF mastering stage for distribution.”

IMF is an important international media standard for providing a single interchangeable master file format and structure for content distribution. IMF is a family of SMPTE standards (SMPTE ST 2067) that simplifies the storage of all the audiovisual content needed to create different versions for distribution to multiple territories and platforms in one package. It is an essential component of modern, high-scale content fulfillment and has enabled the building of simplified delivery and processing systems for versioning. The IMF package can be used for business-to-business content exchange between content owners, post facilities and distribution platforms.

As VC-3 is a primary production codec used in delivering content to a variety of broadcasters, the new ST 2067-70 standard covers its usage with IMF, which enables delivery in VC-3 codecs that closely match the ideals of IMF in keeping the maximum quality possible for future distribution/reversion and archive. The standard allows any broadcast facility to deliver final assets for broadcast/archive with as much of the original creative intent in place as possible. It also offers a choice to use a constant-bit-rate (CBR) codec profile, enabling predictability for storage and network transport. The standardization will provide time and cost savings and will bypass quality degradation due to the ability to pass through previously encoded content without the need to transcode into a different format, SMPTE said.

The DPP, an organization with membership spanning the media supply chain, including media technology and production companies, initially approached SMPTE and Avid as a proponent in the development of this standard, which offers significant workflow advantages over the alternatives currently in the specification, including the easy insertion of changes (before creating a final IMF deliverable) and potentially faster turnaround times.

“It has been great to support the collaboration between Avid and SMPTE to enable the use of VC-3 codec within the IMF framework,” DPP technology strategist David Thompson said. “This addition meets a clear business need for companies who use VC-3 as their primary production codec and wish to adopt IMF for distribution and archiving.“

Added Avid Chief Technology Officer Kevin Riley: “We are pleased to be working with SMPTE on improvements to the DNx family of codecs, VC-3, for the benefit of our valued member partners in the DPP. Avid understands that improving DNx is critical to our customers in keeping existent media processing chains intact. This new standard maintains the ability for our DNx codec to be storage- and network-friendly while also producing time and cost savings, as the delivery format can now match the production codec used by our partners and customers.”

Further information about SMPTE can be found at smpte.org.

More information on Avid and the DPP is available at www.avid.com and at www.thedpp.com.

WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission Republican Brendan Carr has issued a statement congratulating President-elect Donald Trump “on his historical election victory” and urging the agency to stop work on what he deemed to be “any partisan or controversial matter and focus on the transition.”

Carr, who wrote a chapter on communications policy for Project 2025 that aimed to lay out the policy goals for the upcoming administration, is widely believed to have an inside track to being named chair under Trump.

Carr has also weighed in on Trump’s side in recent controversies over how ABC handled its presidential debate and how CBS edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate defeated by Trump. In recent statements dissenting with current FCC policies, he has also been careful to phrase them as attacks on the wider policies of the Biden-Harris administration.

In his call for the FCC to stop work on “controversial” actions and focus on the transition, Carr is echoing a letter sent by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel that said “The results of the 2024 presidential election are now apparent and leadership of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will soon change. As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the FCC should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation. There are many bipartisan, consensus items that the FCC could pursue to fulfill its mission before the end of your tenure. I urge you to focus your attention on these matters.”

In congratulating Trump, Carr also hinted a some of the policies he would focus on if named chair of the FCC, including reining in big tech and ensuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest.

Carr, who called for new spectrum auctions in June of 2024, also highlighted how the FCC should focus on policies “unleashing economic growth while advancing our national security interests and supporting law enforcement.”

The full statement reads as follows:

“I want to congratulate President Trump on his historic election victory. The American people have sent a clear and decisive message to Washington. It is time to change course. That is why I agree with congressional leadership that the FCC should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial matter and focus on the transition.

“When the transition is complete, the FCC will have an important role to play reining in Big Tech, ensuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest, and unleashing economic growth while advancing our national security interests and supporting law enforcement. The FCC can and must deliver results for the American people.”

As Americans go to the polls in one of the most bitterly contested elections in U.S. history, National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has published an opinion piece outlining how broadcasters have been defending democracy with fair and fact-based reporting while facing “increasingly face threats … of broadcast license or spectrum revocations.”

In the opinion piece published on Nov. 5 in The Hill, LeGeyt described broadcaster efforts to combat misinformation during recent hurricane-relief efforts, as well as their work during the 2024 election cycle.

“Now, as voters head to the polls today, local broadcasters will again be on the front lines as our democracy faces one of its most pivotal tests,” he wrote. “Amid an unprecedented wave of misinformation and digital manipulation, local broadcast journalists will be equipped to deliver truth and transparency to the electorate— whatever the result—on and in the days following the election.” LeGeyt also stressed how those efforts by broadcasters are built on longstanding investments in technologies and resources to improve their reporting.

“To start, local broadcasters invested in new technologies that allow us to verify facts in real time,” he noted. “These efforts, combined with new initiatives such as Verify, elDetector, T Verifica and FactCheck.org, allow us to better dispel misinformation and deepfakes through rigorous fact-checking. Our members also devoted significant resources to train our thousands of broadcast journalists across the country to quickly recognize manipulated images and misleading claims. Finally, stations across the country launched initiatives like Martes de Acción to empower Latino communities and ensure all legally eligible voters, from diverse backgrounds and languages, have a clear path to electoral participation.

“Yet, even as we serve our communities, broadcasters increasingly face threats to their ability to do their jobs — either physically through verbal intimidation and violence directed towards our journalists, or politically through threats of broadcast license or spectrum revocations and harassing lawsuits,” he noted.

“As you reflect on our election coverage this week and over the course of this cycle, be mindful that these pressures to limit or even revoke the rights of newsrooms to operate without interference pose a serious threat to our ability to fulfill this civic responsibility,” LeGeyt continued. “Every limitation placed on the press pulls us further from a free and open society. Protecting the First Amendment is not just about preserving a right — it is essential to safeguarding this mission. It allows broadcasters to continue empowering their communities with the truth that strengthens our democracy and defends the freedoms we hold dear.”

Despite those threats, LeGeyt stressed: “I am confident that this week, as local broadcasters deliver the truth our nation needs, Americans will see firsthand the strength and confidence in our institutions that only an informed democracy can bring.”

Former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has filed a federal lawsuit seeking a jury trial and $10 billion in damages against CBS over claims that it edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, in a “deceitful” manner designed to influence the election.

CBS News' actions represented a “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to (a) confuse, deceive, and mislead the public, and (b) attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election” said the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division.

CBS News has dismissed those claims. "Former President Trump’s repeated claims against 60 Minutes are false," a CBS News spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters. "The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it."

The National Association of Broadcasters also lambasted the suit.

“A free press must report, inform and scrutinize without fear of reprisal,” NAB President and CEO Curtes LeGeyt said in a statement. “Frivolous lawsuits aimed at stifling this essential role risk undermining democratic principles and ignore the First Amendment’s protection of how news is reported. NAB stands firmly with our members against any attacks on their First Amendment-protected reporting.”

Earlier, Trump had called for CBS to lose its broadcast licenses over the editing of the interview even though the FCC licenses local stations, not broadcast networks.

“‘60 Minutes’ is a major part of the News Organization of CBS, which has just created the Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “CBS should lose its license, and it should be bid out to the Highest Bidder, as should all other Broadcast Licenses, because they are just as corrupt as CBS—and maybe even WORSE!”

That prompted this response from CBS:

“Former President Donald Trump is accusing ‘60 Minutes’ of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.

“‘60 Minutes’ gave an excerpt of our interview to ‘Face the Nation’ that used a longer section of her answer than that on ‘60 Minutes,’ ” CBS said. “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on ‘60 Minutes’ was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide-ranging, 21-minute-long segment.”

OTTAWA, Ontario, and GATINEAU, Quebec—In an important development in the ongoing battle to get tech giants to compensate news organizations for lost advertising, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a decision that will pave the way for Google to contribute $C100 million ($71.85 million) annually to news organizations in that country.

Canada’s government in June of 2023 passed the Online News Act, a law intended to ensure that online platforms that make Canadian news content available fairly compensate Canadian news organizations. The CRTC, Canada’s national telecom regulator, was tasked with implementing the act, which came into force last Dec. 19.

The CRTC’s rule allows online platforms such as Google to request an exemption from a requirement to bargain with individual news outlets if they can reach terms with a group representing a broad range of Canadian news organizations. The CRTC must then hold a public consultation on any exemption request received.

In June 2024, Google applied for a five-year exemption from the act, which the CRTC said it has now approved. That arrangement requires Google to pay $71.85 million to the Canadian Journalism Collective (CJC) within 60 days of this decision. The CJC will then distribute the funds equitably to eligible Canadian news organizations.

As part of the agreement, the CJC will report back to the CRTC each year.

Similar efforts to get tech giants like Google and Facebook to compensate news organizations for the content that produces billions of dollars in ad revenue for search engines and social media platforms have also been underway in Australia and the United States, with mixed results.

For several years, the National Association of Broadcasters has unsuccessfully urged Congress to pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), a bipartisan bill that would give TV stations and other news publishers the power to collectively negotiate terms with Big Tech companies over how their content is used online.

California, where legislators were close to passing legislation modeled after the Canadian bill, negotiated a deal that would direct around $250 million over five years to local media in exchange for dropping the proposed law.

The agreement was widely attacked by the NAB, journalists and media industry experts for benefiting Google.

In September, NAB Senior Vice President of Communications Alex Siciliano said the “last-minute, closed-door deal between Google and the state of California has succeeded in shelving popular bipartisan state legislation that would have fairly compensated local newsrooms for their valuable journalism. This sets a dangerous precedent that could cripple trusted news outlets, and lets Big Tech off the hook as they continue to siphon advertising dollars away from local broadcast stations and other news publishers while not offering fair compensation for our content.”

In sharp contrast, reaction to the CRTC-Google agreement was mostly positive. News Media Canada, which represents hundreds of publishers, said in a statement that it is “very pleased,” the Financial Post reported.

In response to a comment on his social media platform X, Elon Musk has called the idea of auctioning off broadcast spectrum to pay down the national debt a “great idea.”

Musk could have an influential role in government regulation if Donald Trump is elected. Trump has promised to put Musk, the billionaire who has become a major campaign donor, in charge of a “government efficiency commission” that would make recommendations for cutting spending and changes in government rules.

Musk has also clashed with the FCC in the past over its denial of subsidies to his Starlink broadband service and could profit from changes in those policies.

Musk made the comments in response to a post from venture capitalist David Sachs, who wrote: The major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) operate on free licenses of public spectrum in exchange for requirements to serve the public interest. They no longer do, and this is an obsolete model anyway. The spectrum should be auctioned off, with the proceeds used to pay down the national debt. Of course, the networks can bid on the spectrum, and they will win if broadcast networks are still the most highly valued use. What’s more likely to happen is that valuable spectrum will be reapportioned to the next generation of wireless applications, unleashing many more interesting options for consumers and businesses. The networks can continue to operate on cable, like hundreds of other redundant channels.”

The posts were first reported by Policyband.

NEW YORK—The IAB Tech Lab has launched “Ad Format Idol,” an initiative to standardize emerging connected TV ad formats.

The global standards-setting body said its new project seeks help from stakeholders in defining and standardizing common “build once, serve everywhere” ad formats in CTV environments, enabling efficient programmatic transactions and broader adoption across the industry.

“CTV is experiencing explosive growth, but we’re still in the early innings of figuring out how to make it work at scale,” IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur said. “The industry is full of new ad formats that show promise but lack the technical standards to take off. ‘Ad Format Idol’ is about cutting through the noise, finding what works and giving it the structure needed to thrive. As we have done for early web advertising and with digital video, we want to set up the whole CTV ecosystem to succeed.”

“Ad Format Idol” aims to standardize how emerging CTV ad formats are described in the bidstream and ensure all parties have what they need to deliver those ads at scale. This will ensure industry-wide efficiency and set the category up for success, IAB Tech Lab said.

A recent report from IAB, “IAB CTV Video Ad Format Landscape: How Standardization Can Drive Programmatic Growth and Innovation,” highlights the rapid growth of new CTV ad formats and many of the challenges ‘Ad Format Idol’ aims to address.

“Our latest report shows the industry is buzzing with creative ad formats, but scaling them across platforms remains a significant challenge,” Cintia Gabilan, vice president of the Media Center at IAB, said. “With 75% of CTV spend being transacted in programmatic already, advertisers need standardization to scale investments and buying efficiency, and ‘Ad Format Idol’ is set to address that. This initiative will help overcome fragmentation and ensure these formats can thrive across the CTV ecosystem.”

The “Ad Format Idol” initiative is inviting all digital advertising stakeholders to submit their most successful CTV ad formats for consideration between Oct. 22 and Jan. 22, 2025. The entries will be evaluated by a Task Force appointed by Tech Lab’s Advanced TV Commit Group. Once complete, Tech Lab’s Advanced TV and Programmatic Supply Chain Working Groups will begin work to update their respective specification(s).

"We're looking for ad formats that have real potential to scale across different channels and streaming services and change consumers' advertising experience on CTV," Ken Weiner, chief technology officer at ad-tech company GumGum and board director, IAB Tech Lab. “This is about identifying the ad formats that can navigate complexity and make a difference in the way advertisers engage with audiences. If you're working with a relatively common or templatized CTV ad format, we want to see it, and we want to help it grow into something that can benefit the entire industry.”

“Ad Format Idol” will be showcased at key industry events, beginning with the IAB Tech Lab's International Summit in London on Nov. 5 and and its “I Want My CTV” event Dec. 5 in New York. Both events will let participants see the ad formats in action.

The initiative will also be highlighted at critical milestones next year, the IAB's Annual Leadership Meeting, the NewFronts and the Video Leadership Summit. These events will offer istakeholders a comprehensive view of the evolution of CTV ad formats as “Ad Format Idol” progresses through its phases.

For more information on how to participate in "Ad Format Idol" and to submit entries, click here.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has launched a formal proceeding to review the quality of support that cable, broadband, satellite TV, and voice service providers give their customers.

The notice of inquiry (NOI) seeks information on current customer-service practices and to collect data that will make it easier for consumers to easily cancel subscriptions, talk to live customer-service representatives, easily consent to or decline automatic service renewals and improve the accessibility of customer service engagement among other things, the FCC reported.

The launch of the NOI was strongly supported by FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, and panned by Republican-appointed commissioners.

The FCC approved the measure in a 3-2 party-line vote.

“We can and should expect consistent, transparent, and helpful customer service from the communications companies that provide so many services that are so vital in our day-to-day lives,” Rosenworcel said. “No one should get stuck in a doom loop trying to cancel a subscription or just get a human being to help resolve their service problems.”

In launching the effort, the FCC said it seeks to build a public record on the current state of customer support and explore ways it can further protect families and businesses that rely on these critical services.

The FCC said the NOI will examine the following areas:

• Simple Cancellation: Providing more cancellation options and better disclosure of cancellation practices at the point of sale and on bills.
• Automatic Renewal of Service: Ensuring providers obtain explicit customer consent for broadband and voice service providers before automatically renewing a service and/or increasing prices after a trial or promotional period expires.
• Access to Live Representatives: Helping to avoid bouncing consumers from one call menu list to another in a time-consuming effort to obtain resolution.
• Installation, Outage, and Service Calls: Extending cable operator installation, outage, and service call rules to also apply to satellite TV, voice, and broadband services.
• Individuals with Disabilities: Improving the accessibility of customer service resources for individuals with disabilities.
• Expanded Cable Customer Resources: Updating current cable operator customer-service requirements to reflect marketplace and technology changes.
  

Additionally, the notice explores whether to harmonize the FCC’s existing cable operator customer-service rules with requirements for voice, broadband, and direct broadcast satellite (aka satellite TV) consumers, the FCC said.

The FCC also reported that the Notice is part of a broader government effort, “Time is Money,” to crack down on everyday headaches that waste consumer time and money.

In response, commissioner Brendan Carr issued a scathing partisan attack on the NOI and the Biden-Harris administration, arguing that “the Biden-Harris Administration’s communications policies are failing to deliver for the American people.”

“We should recommit as an agency to the tried and true playbook of freeing up spectrum and eliminating regulatory barriers to deployment,” Carr said. “Instead, the administration has started blaming others for its own record. Today’s Notice of Inquiry is a case in point …. [i]n many cases, the actions explored by the NOI would require the FCC to go well beyond the bounds of our authority under the Communications Act. Indeed, much of what the FCC considers here would fit more appropriately within the scope of the Federal Trade Commission’s jurisdiction. In fact, the FTC has opened up a proceeding to look at these types of things already. We should leave those cross-cutting consumer protection issues to the nation’s lead consumer protection agency—the FTC. We should color within the lines drawn by the Communications Act. And we should focus our time and resources on policies that will help bring more Americans across the digital divide. Because today’s decision focuses instead on the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to deflect attention away from the necessary course correction, I dissent.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has sent out Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audit letters to 150 randomly selected TV and radio stations.

Each year, the FCC said it plans to send audit letters to approximately five percent of all radio and television stations. The letters dated October 18 were the second round of audit letters that have been sent in 2024.

Earlier this year, the FCC issued an order to reinstate the collection of radio and television stations’ workforce composition data on FCC Form 395-B. The FCC's Fourth Report and Order reinstating Form 395-B said the data would help it better track diversity in the broadcast industry. The rules went into effect on June 3 but the NAB and others have asked the FCC to reconsider the decision.

The data collection has also been challenged in the courts.

The deadline for stations to upload responses to their FCC-hosted online public inspection files is December 2, 2024 unless the stations request an extension, the FCC said.

However, stations in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia whose operations were disrupted by Hurricanes Helene or Milton do not need to request an extension and may respond by Jan. 16, 2025, if additional time is needed. Stations in the impacted areas may contact the Enforcement Bureau to discuss further options if circumstances prevent them from responding to their audits by this extended deadline.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Association of Broadcasters has filed a letter with the FCC expressing concerns about the impact the proposed merger between SES and Intelsat could have on broadcasters.

In the letter, the NAB said it is not taking an official position on the merger, but stressed that it would produce a new company that “would collectively operate nearly all the C-band satellites providing services domestically within the United States.”

It also expressed worries that such a level of concentration would impact both the cost and quality of the C-band satellite services so important to TV and radio broadcasters.

In an Oct. 15, filing, NAB chief legal officer Rick Kaplan wrote, “NAB joins [NCTA–The Internet & Television Association] in urging the Commission to carefully consider the impact that the proposed transaction would have on the quality and cost of C-band satellite services.”

“The C-band is used to deliver network programming to over 1000 broadcast stations affiliated with national networks, as well as for distribution of sports and syndicated programming to commercial radio stations listened to by tens of millions of Americans,” Kaplan wrote. “National Public Radio also relies on the C-band ‘for reliable distribution of programming to the 475 public-radio earth stations that together broadcast public radio programming to 42 million Americans each week.’ As NCTA noted in its comments in this docket, the C-band remains critical for video distribution today. Terrestrial alternatives, such as fiber and wireless services, are not necessarily available at remote broadcaster facilities and may be cost-prohibitive where they are available. Other satellite bands, such as Ka- and Ku-band, suffer from rain fade and do not deliver the reliable service that broadcasters and their viewers and listeners demand.

“If the proposed transaction were consummated, the combined SES and Intelsat collectively would control over 96 percent of the C-band spectrum in the United States,” Kaplan concluded. “While we have no view on how the parties might behave post-merger, we urge the Commission to consider the implications of one entity controlling virtually all C-band spectrum.”

The National Association of Broadcasters has reiterated its opposition to an FCC proposal to require pay TV providers to notify the regulator when TV stations are blacked out for 24 hours or longer due to retransmission-consent disputes.

In recent meetings with staff for a pair of FCC members—Anna Gomez, a Democrat, and Nathan Simington, a Republican—NAB senior vice president and deputy general counsel legal and regulatory affairs Erin Dozier “reiterated NAB’s opposition to the proposal to require multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to notify the Commission when a broadcast signal is unavailable via an MVPD service for 24 hours or more due to a breakdown in retransmission consent negotiations.”

Dozier made the comments in a letter to the FCC describing an Oct. 9 meeting with Deena Shetler, a staffer for Gomez, and an Oct. 11 meeting with Adam Cassady, a staff member in Simington’s office.

Faced with mounting consumer complaints about the impact of blackouts during retransmission consent negotiations, the FCC has said it needs more information about the problem. To address that, it issued a notice of proposed rulemaking last December (MB Docket No. 23-427, FCC 23-115) requiring MVPDs to report blackouts.

In a Oct. 11 letter describing the meetings, Dozier said she argued “the proposal would exceed the Commission’s very limited statutory authority relating to retransmission consent, would fail to provide meaningful information to consumers, and would likely result in additional disruptions in service.”

“The Commission’s role with respect to retransmission consent is extremely limited, because Congress intended that arms-length negotiations between broadcasters and MVPDs would dictate the prices, terms and conditions of retransmission consent, subject only to a requirement to negotiate in good faith,” Dozier noted. “Given the Commission’s very limited role and its inability to use information on negotiating impasses to require parties to take any additional steps, it is not clear what lawful purpose this information gathering effort can serve, from the Commission’s standpoint.

“From a consumer perspective, the proposed database would be irrelevant, incomplete or both,” she added. “It is highly unlikely that consumers would consult the FCC’s website for information on signal carriage disruptions affecting their MVPD service, because most consumers learn of these disruptions directly from their MVPDs and/or local stations. Consumers engaged in comparison shopping for MVPD service also are unlikely to use an FCC database as a research tool.”

Dozier also complained that the “database also focuses exclusively on disruptions in service, which provides an incomplete picture given that the overwhelming majority of retransmission consent negotiations are concluded without event. NAB noted that the database could be improved by requiring MVPDs to report not only service disruptions, but also successful agreements.”

“At both meetings, we stated that NAB’s primary concern is that the database will result in more frequent disruptions in service,” Dozier wrote. “As NAB explained in our filings in this and other proceedings, MVPDs have long opposed retransmission consent” and “they would use the reporting requirements to seek changes in the way retransmission fees are negotiated. “

"The database will serve as an ‘attractive nuisance’ that MVPDs cannot resist, triggering increased disruptions and harming consumers,” she concluded.

The full letter can be found here.

Nearly a week after Hurricane Milton first made landfall on Oct. 9 in Florida, the FCC is still reporting extensive damage to the state’s communications and broadcasting infrastructure, with two TV stations and 12 radio stations still off the air as of 9 a.m. October 15.

The FCC also reported that 411,360 subscribers (down from 517,221 on Oct. 14) still lacked phone, internet and/or video services from telcos and cable operators.

About 2.2% of all cell sites were also out of service.

Even so, those numbers represented significant improvements compared to the peak of the storm damage reporting. On Oct. 10 at 9 a.m. 1,273,354 subscribers lacked phone, internet and/or video services and 12.3% of cell sites were down.

The highest numbers of downed broadcast facilities were reported on October 11, at 9 a.m. when there were three TV stations out of service and 24 radio stations, according to the FCC.

WASHINGTON—With millions of people seeking emergency assistance in the wake of devastating hurricanes and tornadoes, the FCC has issued an order allowing storm survivors to get discounted phone and broadband services.

The order was designed to quickly assist those impacted by the storms by temporarily waiving certain eligibility rules so consumers receiving federal disaster assistance can easily apply for and enroll in the Lifeline program, which provides discounts for lower-income households.

The order permits “households not already enrolled in the Lifeline program to enter the program if they are receiving individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Individuals and Households Program (IHP) as a result of the impacts of Hurricane Milton or other hurricanes or other tropical weather systems that result in a Presidential declaration of emergency or major disaster that occur during the next six months,” the FCC said in the order.

The Lifeline program offers qualifying low-income consumers discounts on fixed or mobile voice or broadband internet service, as well as on bundled service. Qualifying consumers can receive a $9.25 monthly discount on Lifeline-supported broadband service or a $5.25 monthly discount on Lifeline-supported voice service.

“Generally, the Commission’s rules may be waived for good cause shown,” the order said. “The Commission may exercise its discretion to waive a rule where the particular facts make strict compliance inconsistent with the public interest. In addition, the Commission may take into account considerations of hardship, equity, or more effective implementation of overall policy on an individual basis. We find that good cause exists to waive, for a period of six months from the date of release of this order, the Lifeline eligibility requirements in section 54.409(a)-(b) of the Commission’s rules for households that are receiving individual assistance from FEMA’s IHP as a result of any hurricane or other tropical weather system that is declared during the next six months.”

The FCC said “impacted individuals will have the opportunity to enroll in the Lifeline program using their participation in FEMA IHP as the result of a hurricane or other tropical weather system as the qualifying program for up to six months after a declaration is issued during the six-month waiver period.”

The order also reminded “Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) of their obligation to ‘[p]ublicize the availability of Lifeline service in a manner reasonably designed to reach those likely to qualify for the service.’ The Commission expects that ETCs will publicize this opportunity to impacted households and modify their application systems to allow FEMA IHP participants to quickly apply and enroll for the Lifeline program under this waiver.”

WASHINGTON—The FCC has laid out an agenda for items that will be considered at its Thursday, October 17, 2024 Open Meeting.

The meeting is set for 10:30 a.m. in the commission meeting room of FCC headquarters, 45 L Street, N.E., Washington, and will also be streamed live at fcc.gov/live and on the FCC’s YouTube channel.

Items on the agenda were described as follows:

Achieving 100% Wireless Handset Model Hearing Aid Compatibility (WT Docket No. 23-388). The commission will consider a Report and Order adopting a 100% hearing aid compatibility requirement for all wireless handset models offered for sale or use in the U.S. and related implementation provisions.

Implementation of the National Suicide Hotline Act of 2018 (WC Docket No. 18-336). Members will consider a Third Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to adopt rules requiring wireless providers to implement a georouting solution for 988 calls to ensure that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can connect callers to geographically appropriate crisis centers based on the caller’s general location. The Third Further Notice would also propose and seek comment on requiring covered text providers to support georouting for covered 988 text messages.

Restricted Adjudicatory Matter. The commission will consider a restricted adjudicatory matter from the Media Bureau.

Connect2Health Task Force. The agency will receive a presentation from the Connect2Health Task Force on updates to maternal health data in the Mapping Broadband Health in America platform.

In addition to the heat-breaking toll in human lives and property damage, with at least 13 people killed by Hurricane Milton and tornadoes passing through Florida, the storms have wrecked havoc on telecommunications and broadcast outlets. The FCC is reporting that 1,273,354 subscribers had lost phone, pay TV or internet service in Florida as of 9 a.m. Oct. 10.

The FCC disaster reporting also found that 3 unnamed TV stations, 10 FM radio stations and 4 AM stations were knocked off the air.

In addition, 1953 cell sites, about 12.3% of those in the disaster area were without service.

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Broadcasters continued its push to get the FCC to regulate vMVPDs like YouTube TV as traditional pay TV operators during in a recent visit with commissioner Anna Gomez, her chief of staff, Deena Shetler and her policy advisor, Harsha Mudaliar.

The issue is important to station groups, which believe they can increase their retransmission consent revenue if they are able to negotiate directly with YouTube TV, Fubo, Hulu and other vMVPDs.

Currently, station groups handle retrans negotiations with traditional multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) like Charter Communications and Comcast. But broadcast networks and major programmers like The Walt Disney Co. and Paramount Global handle retrans deals with virtual MVPDs because the streaming services are not classified as traditional pay TV operators (or MVPDs) under FCC rules.

Some members of Congress have supported the change, but FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has argued the agency may not have the power to change those rules without Congressional action.

The discussion has also divided the broadcast industry between station owners, who want the vMVPDs reclassified, and broadcast networks owned by major media companies, which want to continue to handle deals with online providers as part of much larger distribution pacts.

The meeting with Gomez and her staff was attended by Curtis LeGeyt, NAB president and CEO, and Rick Kaplan, its chief legal officer and executive vice president.

During the conversation, the NAB emphasized the critical need for the FCC to study how streaming has affected local broadcasting. “It is impossible to understand the demands local stations face without coming to grips with the sea change wrought by streaming,” Kaplan said in a letter to the FCC following the Oct. 3 meeting. “The Commission’s rules were designed for a different world, and if the agency is truly committed to ensuring local service to communities across the nation, then it must examine the interplay between local broadcasting, the dramatic rise of streaming and the unregulated Big Tech behemoths that have shattered the economics underpinning local journalism.”

The NAB representaties at the meeting also expressed their surprise that the commission has not demonstrated greater curiosity about the impact of streaming, Kaplan added.

“While broadcasters have filed comments in docket after docket on issues such as foreign government sponsorship identification, cyber security plans, disaster reporting, proposed rules on generative AI disclosures in political ads, public reporting of station-by-station workforce demographics, retransmission consent impasse reporting, and more, we are left waiting for the Commission to address the one issue that is so forcefully impacting the ability of broadcasters to serve their local communities,” Kaplan wrote. “How is it that the Commission has not examined this issue in earnest since 2014, when it first proposed, for example, to modernize the definition of multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) to include virtual MVPDs? Why, with all of the obvious shifts in the marketplace, has the Commission refrained from considering how these changes are impacting service to local communities?”

The NAB letter also noted that “many Members of Congress agree that this is exactly what the Commission should be examining” and said the FCC should be exploring the issue even if it is unsure of its authority to change the rules. “Why not still inquire about the marketplace even to report its findings to Congress?” Kaplan’s letter asked.

“As we explained, NAB is ready to work with the Commission to help it gain a better understanding of the current marketplace,” Kaplan wrote. “That will require the FCC to seek additional comment from parties in light of the intervening decade since it last sought public input on the issue of virtual MVPDs. The Commission should not fear information and differing viewpoints; rather, it should welcome them.”

The full letter is available here.

In response to the NAB's comments, a spokesperson for the Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition, which is backed by vMVPDs and such major programmers as Disney, Fox and Paramount, said: "Despite assertions by some to the contrary, the FCC has consistently reinforced their lack of authority to upend the streaming marketplace in the way that the big affiliate groups seek – a fact that bipartisan members of Congress have echoed. The reality is, local news is widely available on streaming, providing consumers with a variety of ways to watch. Further, polling shows that few Americans support more streaming regulations. We commend the FCC for their fact-based assessment of the streaming marketplace."

WASHINGTON—The controversy over a Florida ballot measure that would enshrine the right to an abortion into the state’s constitution has spilled over to the FCC.

Following reports that TV stations in Florida received letters from the Florida Department of Health threatening to bring criminal charges against the stations for airing political ads supporting Amendment 4, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has issued a statement strongly condemning the threats.

“The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment,” Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said. “Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.”

The cease and desist letter from the Department of Health was received by WCJB-TV Gainesville and other stations for airing an ad supporting ballot measure that would protect abortion rights by adding them to the state constitution.

The state currently has a ban on abortions with very limited exceptions after six weeks. The ad tells the story of a pregnant cancer patient who said she had to leave the state to get an abortion needed to save her life.

“The doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life,” the woman said in the ad. “And my daughter would lose her mom. Florida has now banned abortion even in cases like mine. Amendment 4 is going to protect women like me. We have to vote ‘yes.’ ”

Prior to the letter, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, had been attempting to block the ballot measure and had been spending public money on ads defending the six-week abortion ban that the ballot measure would overturn.

The letter to stations escalated that battle saying the ad was both “false” and “dangerous.”

If the stations didn’t stop airing the ad, the Department of Health threatened to prosecute them for violating sanitary nuisance laws typically used to prosecute people for things like overflowing septic tanks.

The full text of the Department of Health letter can be found here.

As Hurricane Helene cut a devastating path through the Southeast, killing more than 90 people, it has also hammered media outlets, broadcasters and telecommunications.

As of Sunday, Sept. 29, at 9 a.m. ET the FCC reported that in the parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia that were impacted by the storm, 1,004, 610 subscribers (down from 1,199,087 on Saturday Sept. 28) had lost telephone, television, and/or Internet services.

The FCC also reported that 5 unidentified TV stations had been knocked off the air, down from 6 stations on Saturday, Sept. 28. Two of the TV stations were in Georgia and three were located in North Carolina. None of the stations were identified.

In addition the storm had knocked 35 stations radio stations off the air on Saturday, down from 48 on Saturday.

More specifically, the FCC reported this breakdown of FM and AM stations by state on Sunday Sept. 29:

• Florida: There is 1 (down from 3) FM station reported as being out of service, one of which has programming rerouted to another transmitter. There are no (down from 1) AM stations reported as being out of service.
• Georgia: There are 15 (down from 19) FM stations reported as being out of service. There are 2 (down from 3) AM stations reported as being out of service.
• North Carolina: There are 2 (down from 4) FM stations reported as being out of service. There are 2 (down from 4) AM stations reported as being out of service.
• South Carolina: There are 7 (no change) FM stations reported as being out of service. There are 5 (down from 6) AM stations reported as being out of service.
• Tennessee: There are no AM or FM stations reported as being out of service.
• Virginia: There is 1 (no change) FM station reported as being out of service. There are no AM stations reported out of service.
  

The full report for Sunday is available here.

This is a developing story.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As Hurricane Helene moves towards making landfall in Florida on Thursday evening as a Category 3 hurricane, Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has outlined some of the efforts that the FCC is making to ensure that people have access to emergency information and that communications networks remain as functional as possible. 

Those efforts include activating the Disaster Information Reporting System, monitoring communications outages and working with broadcast associations, wireless carriers, and other communications providers in the expected path of Hurricane Helene.

“As Hurricane Helene prepares to make landfall on the Gulf Coast, the FCC continues coordinating with our government partners and industry to help keep communications networks as fully functional as possible,” Rosenworcel said. “We’ve activated our Disaster Information Reporting System for areas in Florida, the Carolinas, and Georgia, so we can closely monitor communications outage data in the coming days and work to support restoration and recovery efforts.  We have also activated our Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative, which requires wireless providers to work together to reduce outages for the public.  We’ve deployed FCC staff to conduct surveys of communications services in targeted areas and to provide on-the-ground support, which will help federal and state agencies to assess the post-landfall impacts to vital communications services and infrastructure. Agency staff has also reached out to broadcast associations, wireless carriers, and other communications providers in the expected path of Hurricane Helene.  For communities directly in the path of the storm, please heed the instructions of your local officials and sign up to receive additional emergency alerts and warnings.  Our collective efforts now can save lives.”

The FCC also urged residents of the affected areas to charge their wireless phones, laptops, or tablets and follow other communications tips available on the FCC’s website to stay connected with family and friends. That information is available at www.fcc.gov/emergency.    

In addition the agency reported that the FCC’s Operations Center is available 24/7 to assist public safety, government, and communications industry stakeholders with emergency communications needs.  

Updates from the FCC related to Hurricane Helene are available at www.fcc.gov/helene.  

In remarks to the 6G Symposium, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks noted that the 6G “network evolution presents opportunity on an enormous scale” while warning that he is “clear-eyed about the very real and complex challenges we face. Challenges that could threaten our collective vision of a more connected and prosperous 6G ecosystem.”

Those challenges include the lapse in the FCC's authority to conduct auctions that would free up spectrum for 6G deployments and need to develop technologies and strategies that would "make 6G our most energy efficient generation yet."

“What happens over the next 18 to 24 months will be critical for 6G," he said. "So we need a concerted strategy for overcoming obstacles and ensuring this rapidly-developing technology reaches its full potential. I believe a successful rollout of 6G holds the promise of a more vibrant economy, sustainable networks, and connect communities.”

Newer 6G technologies will be important for broadcasters and producers because they will provide even more robust networks for content contribution and creation. They could also be used in combination with NextGen TV offerings for datacasting and other services. 

In the Sept. 23 speech, Starks explained that current work on 5G and 5G advanced networks and that a number of industry trends are laying “the cornerstones” for 6G. 

Those include the “immense promise is disaggregation,” he said. “Decoupling the hardware and software functions of network components means they can be sourced from multiple vendors. With a modular stack, network operators will have new flexibility to incorporate products and services that best fit their needs. And, they can swap components or make upgrades quickly and nimbly.”

“There is no doubt that these open platforms are starting to take root; domestically, one nationwide carrier is rolling out a cloud-native Open RAN network, and globally there have been more than 100 Open RAN deployments,” he added. 

Starks stressed that the federal government has been supporting the development and deployment of Open RAN and that “there is a whole-of-government approach well underway to advance this technology. 

“At the FCC, I’m happy to say we’re our part; we recently adopted the 5G Fund, which will include up to $900 million in incentives for Open RAN deployment,” he explained. 

In addition, he noted that “NTIA continues to make decisive progress implementing the $1.5 billion Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund supporting the development and deployment of Open RAN networks.”

But he stressed that “these network advances can only do so much if we’re not providing the spectrum they need to operate. And on that front, we face real challenges. As everyone here knows, the FCC has been without auction authority since March 9, 2023. This authority isn’t just foundational to the agency and the development of 6G, it’s foundational to the country as a whole. The Commission’s auction authority drives innovation, enhances competition, and strengthens our national security. Put plainly, auctions help us free up spectrum and put it into the hands of those who value it the most.”

Despite this problem, Starks argued that they are making crucial progress in implementing “the National Spectrum Strategy. Execution of the strategy will serve as a vital down payment on 6G. By taking an all-the-above approach, this plan puts more spectrum on the table than anticipated,  2,786 MHz versus a target of 1,500. It includes a mix of bands, and will support licensed, unlicensed, and shared models -- all tools that will be useful for deployment of 6G networks."

“So while we’ve accomplished much laying the groundwork for the 6G transition, it’s clear there’s more work to be done. Earlier this year, we made some very important progress when the White House forged a broad international consensus on shared principles for the research and development of 6G. This agreement buttressed open, interoperable, and secure connectivity. Leveraging the strength of our shared commitments to market economies and transparency will ensure those values are baked into rather than bolted on to 6G standards. The importance of principles-based agreements like this cannot be overstated. Without them, we risk falling short of 6G’s full potential while exposing ourselves to new risks.”

An illustration of that, is what 6G networks could mean for sustainability and the environment. 

“Like 5G, 6G has the potential to increase our energy efficiency and reduce our emissions in areas like manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation," he said. "But we simply cannot take this for granted. We’ve got to do the hard work. In 2020, the information and communication technology sector was responsible for approximately 4 percent of global energy consumption and approximately 1.4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. As data-rich, high-bandwidth applications enabled by advanced 5G and 6G technologies proliferate, so too will mobile data traffic. GSMA Intelligence predicts that by 2030, mobile data traffic is expected to grow more than fourfold, reaching over 5,400 exabytes.”

This ever growing data traffic as well as the fact that 6G will be the first wireless technology to incorporate AI “will also mean a dramatic rise in the amount of data being generated to train AI models. That will require a massive increase in energy to accommodate the new compute power we’ll need throughout networks.”

This means the industry needs to work to reduce its carbon footprint. 

“We took a step in the right direction with the White House’s international 6G principles agreement which encourages energy-efficient deployments and operation,” he noted. “When I look ahead, I see real promise for new strategies that will make 6G our most energy efficient generation yet. Utilizing micro-sleep techniques, networks can deactivate and reactivate during periods of low activity, conserving energy without impacting user experience. By implementing new waveform designs, networks will adapt more efficiently to different frequency bands, enhancing spectral efficiency and reducing unnecessary energy expenditure. Or dynamic adjustments in the number of active antenna in response to fluctuating traffic loads, allowing for tailored resource allocation based on actual demand. And, of course, all of these techniques could be applied across multiple 6G networks simultaneously through network slicing. Meaning each network slice could be optimized for specific services while minimizing energy consumption based on real-time demands.”

“But as I’ve said, my optimism about the future is clear-eyed,” he concluded “The promise of 6G will only be realized through a collective commitment to our shared values. It will take a concerted push, informed by conferences like this, to keep us on the right path. So, I want to extend an offer to any of you that have ideas about making our networks more efficient – please come and see me.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has announced that Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios will become the newest member of the global trade association, joining the world's largest film, TV, and streaming companies.

Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios will formally join the MPA on Oct. 1, making it the association's seventh member. In addition to Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, the other members are Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

"The MPA is the global voice for a growing and evolving industry, and welcoming Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios to our ranks will broaden our collective policymaking and content protection efforts on behalf of our most innovative and creative companies," said Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA. "MPA studios fuel local economies, drive job creation, enrich cultures, and bolster communities everywhere they work. With Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios among our roster of extraordinary members, the MPA will have an even larger voice for the world's greatest storytellers."

"Amazon's mission is to entertain customers around the world with compelling film and television. In order to do that, we must support storytellers, while also helping to sustain a robust entertainment industry that works for both studios and our creative partners," said Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios. "We are proud to join the MPA and its member studios in their collective efforts to protect creators, content, and consumers worldwide."

The global association works to advance the industry, protect members' content, defend the creative and artistic freedoms of storytellers, and support innovative distribution models that expand viewing choices for audiences everywhere.

Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios has worked with the association since 2017 as a governing board member of the MPA's Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world's leading anti-piracy coalition. Additionally, MGM was a member of the association from 1928 until 2005. Rivkin recruited Netflix to join the association in 2019.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a new blog post, Rick Kaplan, NAB chief legal officer and executive vice president, Legal and Regulatory Affairs contends that the FCC’s proposed rules for disclosing AI content in advertising are misguided and risk “doing more harm than good." 

In July the FCC moved forward with a proposal to implement new requirements to disclose AI-created content in TV and radio ads. The plan drew immediate opposition from both Republican-appointed commissioners, commissioner Nathan Simington and commissioner Brendan Carr. 

In August, the NAB and the Motion Picture Association asked the FCC to extend the time for comments for the proposal, which the FCC partially granted by extending the deadlines to September 19 for comments and October 11 for replies. Those dates make it unlikely that the FCC could enforce the rules prior to the Nov. election. 

In a new Sept. 20 blog post, Kaplan admitted that “artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the entire political landscape, influencing not only how campaigns are conducted but also how voters access and process information about them. Its rise brings serious risks, including the spread of deepfakes – AI generated images, audio or video that distort reality. These deceptive tactics threaten to undermine public trust in elections and NAB supports government efforts to curtail them.”

But Kaplan noted that those problems are best addressed by Congress, not the FCC. “Unfortunately, due to the FCC’s limited regulatory authority, this rule risks doing more harm than good,” he said. “While the intent of the rule is to improve transparency, it instead risks confusing audiences while driving political ads away from trusted local stations and onto social media and other digital platforms, where misinformation runs rampant.”

Kaplan also contended that “deepfakes and AI generated misleading ads are not prevalent on broadcast TV or radio. These deceptive practices thrive on digital platforms, however, where content can be shared quickly with little recourse. The FCC’s proposal places unnecessary burdens on broadcasters while the government ignores the platforms posing the most acute threat. This approach leaves much to be desired.” 

Kaplan added that the FCC’s proposed disclaimer in broadcast ads is too generic to do much good. “This generic disclaimer doesn’t provide meaningful insight for audiences,” he said. “AI is often used for routine tasks like improving sound or video quality, which has nothing to do with deception. By requiring this blanket disclaimer for all uses of AI, the public would likely be misled into thinking every ad is suspicious, making it harder to identify genuinely misleading content.”

The new rules might also prompt a shift of ads from broadcast to digital media, where the rules don’t exist. AdImpact is projecting that broadcasters will get $5.4 billion in political ads in 2024 out of the total 10.7 billion in political advertising.  

“To truly tackle the issue of deepfakes and AI-driven misinformation, we need a solution that addresses all platforms, not just broadcast TV and radio,” Kaplan concluded. “Congress is the right body to create consistent rules that hold those who create and share misleading content accountable across both digital and broadcast platforms. Instead of the FCC attempting to shoehorn new rules that burden only broadcasters into a legal framework that doesn’t support the effort, Congress can develop fair and effective standards that apply to everyone and benefit the American public.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington has issued a statement criticizing the way the FCC currently regulates traditional linear TV and streaming services, arguing that the current rules “entrenches marketplace power at the expense of the consumer." He contends the FCC exerts an “uneven hand” in the media landscape with hefty “legacy rules for some, and close to zero rules for others.” 

“As the Disney / DirecTV distribution negotiation drags on, it is a moment to recognize a few truths,” Simington wrote. “One: about a third of linear network content distributed in the United States is now delivered by over the top, streaming platforms. Two: there is zero harmonization, whether in our rules or in industry practice, between network video content distribution over traditional linear MVPDs versus over the top, streaming MVPDs. Three: as is so often the case in major disputes between networks and distributors, independently owned and operated affiliates and station groups are left behind, powerless to distribute content to consumers in the way they prefer to consume it.” 

“The linear media marketplace is governed by a two-tiered system of rules—legacy rules for some, and close to zero rules for others,” he concluded. “We must balance the scales. A future Commission should take seriously the question of its own uneven hand in the media marketplace. We must either unleash the video marketplace from outdated rules or balance it with smart and targeted reforms, but what cannot persist is a system that entrenches marketplace power at the expense of the consumer.”

Simington didn’t directly discuss how the FCC should address the DirecTV/Disney carriage dispute that continues to blackout Disney’s ESPN, Disney-owned stations and other Disney networks for DirecTV satellite and streaming customers. But DirecTV did issue a statement praising the statement and calling for reform of regulations governing TV and video markets. 

DirecTV has filed a complaint with the FCC regarding Disney’s negotiating tactics.

The FCC has been exploring ways to address blackouts over carriage disputes. 

This summer, the FCC said it is is seeking public comment on whether the commission should require cable and satellite pay-TV providers to refund subscribers who face programming blackouts on their cable or satellite television subscription. 

In its “Customer Rebates for Undelivered Video Programming During Blackouts” NPRM, the FCC took note of the increasing rate of local TV station blackouts between station groups and pay-TV providers. The release of the NPRM was the second of two proposals targeting blackouts FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel previewed last fall; the first proposal targeting reporting rules for blackouts was dropped late last year. 

But there is little agreement in the TV industry how the unequal treatment of streaming media and traditional TV can be addressed. Station group owners would like to see some players subject to increased regulations by having virtual MVPDs like Sling TV reclassified so they operate under the same rules as traditional MVPDs like Charter. This would allow stations to directly negotiate with vMVPDs for retrans fees and, they say, increase the funding for local news. 

That proposal is opposed by broadcast networks and their owners who currently handle those negotiations.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has indicated that the FCC lacks the power to reclassify vMVPDs without Congressional action.  

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to Donald Trump’s call for ABC stations to lose their broadcast licenses, Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has issued a strongly worded statement condemning the idea. 

“The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Rosenworcel said. “The FCC does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”

Trump called for ABC to lose its licenses after the Sept. 12 presidential debate, where ABC News moderators fact-checked some of Trump’s widely debunked statements, including Trump’s erroneous claim that Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating dogs and cats. 

In a call to Fox News during the Fox & Friends morning show on following the debate Sept. 11, Trump attacked the ABC moderators for bias and called it a “rigged” debate. 

“To be honest, they’re a news organization,” Trump said. “They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.” 

It wasn’t clear if he was calling for the revocation of licenses of stations owned by ABC or if he was referring to all ABC TV station affiliates, which are owned by a variety of companies.  Broadcast networks aren't themselves aren't licensed by the FCC while broadcast affiliate stations and local TV stations are licensed. 

Broadcasters were required to be politically balanced until the Fairness Doctrine was abolished in 1987 during the Reagan administration. 

Trump didn’t address his position on the Fairness Doctrine or the fact that bringing it back would cause serious problems for the many conservative radio talk shows that have backed Trump. 

Free speech has also been a major line of defense by Fox Corp., which owns both Fox News, where Trump made his call to revoke ABC licenses, and local TV stations. 

Activists have been pushing for Fox to lose its Philadelphia TV station license for WTXF-TV, arguing that the election conspiracy theories advanced by Fox News Channel make Fox "unfit" to own broadcast stations. Fox’s arguments against that push have relied heavily on the idea that the FCC can’t infringe on free speech. The license renewal is still under review by the FCC. 

Both of Pennsylvania's senators, who belong to the Democratic Party, have supported the license renewals, also citing free speech issues. 

 WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has released a new Broadcast Station Self-Inspection Guide for AM radio stations, marking the third in a series of self-inspection guides. 

NAB unveiled guides for FM radio and television stations at the 2024 NAB Show in April. These tools are designed to help broadcasters effectively conduct self-inspections and ensure compliance with federal regulations. Guides for low-power and translator stations are expected to be released soon.

NAB joined with the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) to provide broadcasters with up-to-date, standardized guidance on compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and policies. While the FCC previously issued self-inspection checklists, it discontinued updates in 2010, despite many subsequent changes in regulations. These new guides aim to fill the gap and are also available to contract inspectors participating in the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program, which operates in partnership with many state broadcaster associations.

The guides are available as a free resource to NAB members at the member downloads section of the NAB website. SBE members may also access the guides directly through the SBE website.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has issued an order that would reduce regulatory fees for broadcasters for the second year in a row. The decision follows a major push in recent years by the NAB and state broadcasting association to reduce the regulatory burden on stations. 

Like FY 2023, the FCC calculated regulatory fees for TV stations based on population but reduced the rate to $0.006598. This is down “from the $.007799 per-person-served used for FY 2023 TV regulatory fees,” according to the Common Law Center Blog, which also noted that “Some additional shifts will be caused by FY 2024 fees being the first to incorporate 2020 U.S. Census data into these calculations.”

According to the order issued Sept. 6. the FCC is expecting revenue from the category of digital television of $23,363,518 in FY 2024, down from FY 2023 revenue estimate of $25,463,735. 

Radio will also see a decline in rates by about 6% according to Radio World.  

Overall, FCC has a revenue requirement of $390,192,000, the same as FY 2023, that needs to be covered by regulatory fees. In contrast to broadcasters, cable TV operators will get a rate hike. They will pay $1.27 per subscriber in FY 2024, up 3.24% from FY 2023 according to Policyband. 

While fees are declining for broadcasters, the FCC denied requests by the NAB, state broadcasters, pay TV providers and others that might have further lowered rates.

Once again, the FCC did not move to include YouTube TV and other streamers in its rate calculations even though YouTube TV is now the fourth largest operator with 8 million subs. 

The FCC also rejected a proposal by state broadcasters that the Commission adopt new regulatory fee categories for broadband Internet access service providers and manufacturers of equipment that use spectrum on an unlicensed basis.

In FY 2024, the FCC is also discontinuing three relief efforts to help broadcasters. Those three relief efforts were adopted during the pandemic and continued into FY 2023. The NAB and state broadcasters had pushed the FCC to continue them indefinitely. 

The Full Order can be found here.  

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has granted a petition by Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT and TBS networks for a limited waiver of the FCC’s audio description rules. In making the decision, the FCC noted that the petition was not opposed and that the networks had committed to providing a large amount of programming with audio descriptions. It also said that the American Council for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind consented to the grant of the waiver.

“Specifically, WBD requests that the Commission grant TBS and TNT, two of the top five nonbroadcast networks, a limited waiver of section 79.3(b)(4) of the Commission’s audio description rules, subject to certain conditions,” the FCC noted in its description. “Because WBD has made a commitment to provide a substantial amount of audio description on TBS and TNT, as well as on TruTV, that exceeds the current quarterly requirement, and because the unopposed Petition has the support of advocates for blind and visually impaired consumers, we grant the limited waiver for TBS and TNT.” 

In the decision, which is available here, the FCC also said that “WBD’s proposed conditions for TBS are comparable to the ones granted in the 2021 TBS Order. We also acknowledge that WBD has committed to providing additional audio described programming on its affiliate network, TruTV. Specifically, TruTV will audio describe all newly produced, non-live programming aired between 6:00 a.m. and midnight ET within three business days of receipt for scripted programming, and within seven business days of receipt for non-scripted programming.   Regarding TNT, WBD’s proposal of 2,500 hours per calendar year of audio described programming without regard to the number of repeats exceeds the minimum hours required by the rules  and is `tailored to reflect the greater amount of repeat, live, and near-live programming on TNT’ as compared to TBS.   As with TruTV, TNT also will audio describe all newly produced, non-live programming aired between 6:00 a.m. and midnight ET within three business days of receipt for scripted programming, and within seven business days of receipt for non-scripted programming. Moreover, we take notice of WBD’s indication that the American Council for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind consent to the grant of the waiver.   We find that granting WBD’s Petition, with the aforementioned conditions, has the potential to expand accessible content for viewers who are blind or visually impaired.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As expected, the Federal Communications Commission voted at its August Open Meeting to establish a new alert code for delivering critical alert messages to the public over television, radio, and wireless phones that will help save missing and endangered persons. The vote was unanimous. 

In announcing the vote, the FCC noted that in 2023, more than 188,000 people went missing who fall outside of the criteria for AMBER Alerts. The new alert code adopted on August 7 will be particularly beneficial to Tribal communities, where American Indians and Alaska Natives are at a disproportionate risk of violence, murder, or vanishing.  

The new missing and endangered persons alerts within the nation’s Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alert system will help law enforcement agencies galvanize public attention to missing and endangered people of all ages who do not qualify for AMBER Alerts, including those who meet the criteria for Ashanti Alerts. 

The FCC reported that the move will also support efforts to raise critical public awareness of missing Indigenous persons. 

In particular, thousands of missing Indigenous women have disappeared from their homes. According to FBI statistics, in 2023, there were 10,650 reported missing American Indian/Alaska Native persons of which 3,269 were 18 years old or older.  

In addition, the new code can help mobilize public responses to missing Black persons who make up roughly 35% of missing persons over 18 years old despite being 12% of the U.S. population.

Tribal, state, and local law enforcement agencies originate alerts using the Emergency Alert System by selecting from a group of event codes based on the nature of the situation.  For example, “CAE” signifies a Child Abduction Emergency, otherwise known as an AMBER Alert.  The new “MEP” alert code for missing and endangered persons who do not meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert will enable a more rapid and coordinated response to these incidents.  

In addition to the new Emergency Alert System code for TV and radio alerting, the new rule will facilitate alerts on wireless phones, the FCC said.  Missing and endangered persons alerts will be sent through the Wireless Emergency Alert system through the use of existing alerting methodologies, which will ensure a swift implementation of the new code.  The FCC expects these wireless alerts will utilize the existing Imminent Threat class and the Public Safety Message WEA alert class.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel has announced several changes to her leadership team and the addition of a new legal advisor.

At the conclusion of the July Open Meeting, Rosenworcel announced the departure of Umair Javed from her team and the FCC. 

“I can’t thank Umair enough for his years of service to the Commission and to my office as chief counsel,” Rosenworcel said. “He will be dearly missed—but he leaves our team in good hands.”

Rosenworcel also announced that Priscilla Delgado-Argeris has started serving as her chief counsel, Ramesh Nagarajan will assume the role of chief legal advisor, and Rashann Duvall will join the chair’s team as acting legal advisor on the Affordable Connectivity Program and other wireline issues. 

“Priscilla and Ramesh have long been trusted members of my team, so I am grateful to them for stepping into new roles and continuing to leverage their expertise to ensure we connect everyone, everywhere,” said chairwoman Rosenworcel.  “I also welcome Rashann to our team, who will be joining us at a critical time in the Affordable Connectivity Program’s development.”

Priscilla Delgado-Argeris is transitioning to chief counsel from her role as chief legal advisor.  She joined the chairwoman’s office from Meta Platforms, Inc. where she has focused on spectrum policy issues for the company across the globe.  From 2012-2015, she previously served as then-Commissioner Rosenworcel’s legal advisor and senior legal advisor covering wireline and wireless issues for the office during her tenure.  Prior to joining the FCC, Priscilla worked at the law firm Wiley Rein, where she focused regulatory and litigation matters involving federal and state communications law. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her law degree from New York University School of Law.

Ramesh Nagarajan will now serve as chief legal advisor within the Office of the Chairwoman.  Prior to his role as legal advisor on Wireline and Enforcement issues, he served in the Wireline Competition Bureau, where he was most recently deputy division chief of the Competition Policy Division. He also served as a law clerk to United States District Judge James D. Whittemore in the Middle District of Florida.  Ramesh began his legal career practicing antitrust and competition law at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.  Before attending law school, he served as a Legislative Assistant to Representative Lois Capps.  He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

Rashann Duvall will advise the Rosenworcel on the Affordable Connectivity Program and other wireline issues, including universal service.  She joins the office from the Wireline Competition Bureau, where she most recently served as an assistant division chief in the Telecommunications Access Policy Division. 

Immediately prior to joining the Commission, Rashann was an assistant general counsel with the Universal Service Administrative Company.  She has also served as an assistant general counsel with Verizon, an associate attorney with Arnold and Porter, and Law Clerk to the Hon. Damon J. Keith on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  A native of upstate New York, Rashann received her undergraduate degree from Yale University, and her law degree from Harvard Law School.

WASHINGTON—Public TV broadcasters this week asked the FCC to give them more flexibility when it comes to offering their primary HD signal and multicast (aka “diginets) channels during broadcasters’ transition to NextGen TV (aka ATSC 3.0). 

In comments filed with the commission, America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and the PBS  were responding to the FCC’s current Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, (“Authorizing Permissive Use of the 'Next Generation' Broadcast Television Standard”). In its comments, they said they welcome the FCC’s proposed “mix and match” licensing flexibility for primary and multicast streams to allow broadcasters the ability to share streams across multiple hosts to maintain service where  possible to viewers during the transition to ATSC 3.0.

“The ‘mix and match’ licensing flexibility  is essential for public television stations to participate fully in NextGen TV deployments, while  avoiding unnecessary viewer disruptions to public television noncommercial educational  multicast streams,” they said. “Without expeditious adoption of ‘mix and match’ multicasting flexibility, public  television stations face the risk of being ‘left behind’ the rest of the broadcast industry on  NextGen TV deployments with the end result that audiences could miss out on the very real  public interest benefits that public television can bring to the NextGen marketplace.

The issue at stake involves how public TV broadcasters deploying NextGen TV—now available in approximately 45% of U.S. TV households—allocate bandwidth for their primary HD signal and SD multicast channels, on average, 2-3 channels dedicated to education and public affairs. 

According to Lonna Thompson EVP, COO and General Counsel for America's Public Television Stations, its member stations “are in 10 market transitions, with a PTV station, WKAR, in an eleventh market using an experimental license.

“Only eight of those markets are collaborations with commercial stations,” she added. “Because our stations use their spectrum so fully and offer so many program channels, the flexibility we are requesting is necessary for their successful involvement in market transitions.”

In its comments, APTS and PBS said that revising the multicast rules would allow PBS stations to fully engage in the opportunities afforded by NextGen TV.

“With several years’ worth of deployments now in place, the track record of public  television inclusion in NextGen TV deployments clearly demonstrates that unless public  television stations obtain additional flexibility with regard to 1.0 and 3.0 multicast streams,  public television will be denied full participation in NextGen TV developments and  consumers will be unable to access the public interest benefits of ATSC 3.0 that public  television brings to the marketplace in its unique noncommercial educational role,” they told the FCC. “These NextGen TV multicasting rule refinements are especially important for public television participation in  NextGen TV given public television stations’ commitment to robust multicast streams.” 

The restrictions caused by the lack of flexibility in multicast rules are not just “theoretical,” APTS and PBS told the FCC.

“In 2020, a  public television station participating in the NextGen TV launch in its major market as an ATSC 1.0 ‘host’ had to forego plans to transmit its second HD stream in ATSC 3.0 due to FCC regulatory concerns about ‘splitting’ its streams between two 3.0 station ‘hosts’ and, correspondingly, the 3.0 host ‘splitting’ its streams between multiple 1.0 ‘hosts,’” they said in their comments.

“The end result was a loss to the community of the opportunity for public television content in 3.0 broadcasts in that market. Moreover, based on market launches to date, APTS and PBS are  concerned that the inability to reliably accommodate public television station multicast  streams on a flexible licensing basis is hampering the inclusion of public television stations in  large group NextGen TV market launches.”

The APTS and PBS said that they support the FCC’s revision of the rules set forth last November in response to a request by the NAB. In updating the rules, NextGen TV stations would be allowed to license one or more simulcast multicast streams on a host station or stations, whether that guest stream is the 3.0 broadcast or the 1.0 simulcast. In addition, NextGen TV stations which are broadcasting in 3.0 on their own channels would be able to license one or more multicast streams aired only in 1.0 on a host station or stations even if they are not simulcasting that stream in 3.0. 

To permit the licensing of multicast streams on a host, the FCC further proposed that each of the originating station’s multicast streams would be licensed as a temporary channel in the same manner as its primary stream on the primary host. In other words, each of the originating station’s guest multicast streams aired on a host would be considered to be an additional, separately authorized channel under the originating station’s single, unified license.

In supporting the rules that would permit a 3.0 station to rely on two (or more)  separate 1.0 partner stations in order to minimize service loss from a 3.0 transition, APTS and PBS said such a revision would enhance public broadcasters’ mission of providing broadcast service to all U.S. citizens, regardless of where they live.

“This  flexibility is particularly important given the way public television coverage developed—over  the past 60 years—to reach as many people in rural, remote, and isolated parts of the United  States as possible," they said. "As a whole, PTV coverage was developed to maximize universal public  television service to fulfill congressional policy goals of universal service.”

They also told the FCC that since their stations are not privately owned, considerations over such issues as retransmission consent and ownership are not relevant in revising these rules for public broadcasters. 

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters can now remove one more item from their FCC to do list.

A posting in the Federal Register on February 8 made it official: Broadcasters no longer have to physically post and maintain copies of their licenses and other related information. It was back in late 2018 that the Federal Communications Commission formally adopted a Report and Order that eliminated the requirement that broadcasters post broadcast licenses at a physical location.

At the time, the commission said that the goal was to advance the commission’s efforts in modernizing media rules and removing unnecessary regulatory burdens.

The original decision to require the posting of broadcast licenses, which predated the establishment of the FCC, was most likely to ensure that information regarding station authorizations, ownership and contact information was available and accessible to the commission and public, the commission said.

Earlier rules also required all LPTV, translator and booster stations to post certain information—such as the station’s call sign, licensee contact info and location of station record—at the transmitter site. Although LPTV, translator and booster stations were not required to maintain public inspection files, they had to post contact information of key personnel. In its December 2018 ruling, the commission said it found “no continued need for broadcasters to separately identify a local representative or a custodian of station records and display such information.”

Myriad broadcasters were vocal in their assertion that such record keeping was no longer necessary. In written comments on the issue published in the ECFS database, commenters said information about broadcast licenses is now widely available online on numerous FCC databases. The commission also said that no commenter provided any justification for continuing to require broadcasters to post or maintain at specific locations a physical copy of their licenses, authorizations, or general or local contact information.

GENEVA—Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), an industry consortium behind technical standards that are primarily used in Europe, is moving forward on an initiative that will look into commercial requirements for standalone linear TV services that are delivered over the internet.

The focus of that work, under the DVB-I (internet) banner, aim to complement DVB-S/C/T standards and managed IPTV services that are tied to service over dedicated access networks. DVB-I will also look to borrow commonalities with existing DVB specifications.

Thomas Stockhammer of Qualcomm Technologies is chairing the DVB CM-I group, and Peter Lanigan of TP Vision is on board as vice chair.

Keying on the emergence of OTT-delivered TV services to internet-connected televisions and to mobile devices, the initial focus of CM-I will be to collect relevant commercial and technical requirements “in order to provide a user perception of a linear TV channel that can be discovered and consumed over the open Internet and by regular TV equipment and user interfaces.”

“With hybrid services, OTT and online distribution growing in importance, DVB is applying its expertise and know-how in this all-important domain,” Peter MacAvock, DVB’s chairman, said in a statement. “DVB-I will complement the current DVB standards that form the basis of the way consumers watch TV today.”

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication Multichannel News.

WASHINGTON—Leaders from the House of Representatives and Senate Friday, March 2, jointly announced a bipartisan agreement in both chambers that addresses the shortfall in funding to reimburse full-power and Class A stations for their repack expenses, establishes funds to pay for the authorized relocation expenses of translators, low-power TV and radio stations impacted by the repack and a fund to educate consumers regarding the repack.

The legislation, called the RAY BAUM’S Act (H.R. 4986), addresses several other issues, including the reauthorization of the Federal Communications Commission; a boost to 5G wireless broadband development via inclusion of provisions of the Senate-approved MOBILE NOW Act (S.19); a spectrum auction fix authorizing the FCC to deposit upfront payments from bidders directly into the U.S. Treasury; FCC creation of a national policy for unlicensed spectrum; and consumer protection from fraudulent calls.

“This legislation, combining provisions that have previously passed both the House and Senate, does what no legislation has done in 28 years—it reauthorizes the FCC and includes provisions that help make sure that the Commission is transparent, efficient and ready for the 21st century communications landscape,” according to a joint statement released by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).

[Bill to Address Repack Shortcomings Advances]

“Importantly, it includes spectrum legislation that passed the Senate unanimously last year and authorizes reimbursement for broadcasters who were displaced in the successful incentive auctions,” the statement said.

A vote in the House is scheduled for March 6. The RAY BAUM’S Act is named for Ray Baum, a telecommunications policy staffer and friend of Walden, who died in February.

NAB welcomed word of the agreement. Gordon Smith, president and CEO of NAB, called Friday's agreement a "significant step toward fully reimbursing broadcaster repack relocation expenses."

"A truly voluntary incentive auction means tens of millions of Americans who rely on local TV and radio sations—as well as low-power TV stations and translators—are not unfairly burdened by the repack," he said in a statement released to the press. "America's hometown broadcasters fully support swift passage of RAY BAUM's Act and remain optimistic that appropriations will include full repack relocation funding in the final omnibus spending bill."

WASHINGTON—Attorneys general from a handful of states have told the FCC it does not have the authority to raise the 39 percent national audience reach cap for TV station groups, that it does have the authority to eliminate the UHF discount, and that it should eliminate the discount.

That came in comments this week on the FCC's inquiry into whether it should raise, or lower, or retain the cap, and how that dovetails with the UHF discount that counts only half a UHF TV station's audience toward that cap.

The FCC under chairman Ajit Pai reinstated the cap, saying the previous commission should have considered the cap and the discount together, which it is now doing.

The AGs were from Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, California and Virginia. Initially the filing excluded California, but that was a mistake corrected in a follow-on filing.

They said they were weighing in on the issue because they are "he chief consumer protection and law enforcement officers in our respective states, we are responsible for promoting and defending the public interest," and that "raising the national audience each limit and/or maintaining the UHF discount fails to further the public interest."

[FCC Seeks Comment on National Reach Cap]

The AGs appear fairly convinced this deregulator FCC majority will wind up lifting the cap, if not doffing it altogether.

They argue that getting rid of the cap would threaten diversity, competition, and localism, and cites Sinclair Broadcasting, whose Tribune deal would benefit from lifting or eliminating the limit, pointing out that it distributes news stories that must run in its newscasts. They extrapolate that to local preferences being lost in other programming—sports, religious, science—if "as a result of excessive consolidation, a large owner requires all of its stations to show particular sporting contests, religious celebrations, or scientific perspectives."

A politically, and philosophically, divided FCC voted Dec. 14 to launch a review of the FCC's national 39 percent broadcast audience reach cap. (It was as busy meeting, also including the FCC's rollback of net neutrality regs).

TV station group owners cannot own stations that reach more than 39 percent of the national audience, with waivers in some circumstances.

The FCC is looking at whether it can modify the cap, which was created by Congress, and if so, whether it should be lowered or, more likely under this FCC, raised or eliminated altogether given the increasing programing and technological options for accessing content.

It also asks whether to retain the UHF discount, which allows station groups to count only half their UHF station audience toward that cap, and if not, should the cap be adjusted.

[Deregulation Picks Up Steam: New Media Rules Foreshadow a New Terrain for Broadcasters]

"We need to take a holistic look at the national cap rule, including the UHF discount," chairman Ajit Pai said of the review when it was approved in a 3-2 party line vote. "The marketplace has changed considerably due to the explosion of video programming options and various technological advances that have occurred since the cap was last considered in 2004. So we need to examine whether our rules should change accordingly. That’s an important discussion that will be informed by the facts in the record—not anything else."

The item drew no tentative conclusions. Chairman Pai said the item was all about developing a record and could not say when any action would be taken.

This article originally appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has yet to restart its informal shot clock on reviewing the proposed $3.9 billion merger of Sinclair Broadcasting and Tribune Media.

Sinclair submitted its revised deal to the FCC last Friday (Feb. 23), a revision responsive to spin-offs sought by the Justice Department and the FCC's November deregulatory moves, but as of Tuesday (Feb. 27), the FCC had not turned its shot clock (now red and stopped on day 167) to green.

An FCC source speaking on background said staffers were still processing the updated information.

[Sinclair is Divesting WGN, WPIX, But...]

The FCC signaled back when it stopped the clock Jan. 4 that it would not restart "until after the referenced amendments and divestiture applications have been filed and staff has had an opportunity to fully review them."

The clock will probably also not start until the FCC is ready to put the new deal out for public comment and set the deadlines for those comments and reply comments.

That new comment cycle will likely draw more pushback from deal critics trying to get either the FCC or Justice to block the deal, and who want that merger clock to stay on red.

The Coalition to Save Local Media, which comprises a host of deal critics, from the American Cable Association and Dish Network to Common Cause and NABET-CWA, last week said of the new deal: “These filings should prompt even more scrutiny by the FCC, Department of Justice, Congress and other parties on this proposed mega-merger. The FCC shot clock should remain stopped until Sinclair proposes a credible plan for how it plans to comply with the broadcast ownership rules. When this plan is ultimately produced, there should be meaningful time for review and public comment.

[FCC IG Agreed to Investigate Pai Handling of Sinclair-Tribune]

The FCC has twice stopped the clock on the deal, which was filed with the commission last spring.

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters have asked the FCC to reverse the presumption from “must-carry” to “retransmission consent” in carriage elections given that most stations now seek retrans payments, given the actual and associated costs of making those carriage elections and given the potential cost of not having those elections go through.

Broadcasters have been collecting billions in retrans payments from MVPDs, with the fee tally continuing to increase.

In comments to the FCC on a proposal related to cable notifications, the National Association of Broadcasters focused on broadcasters' required must-carry/retrans notifications.

Currently, if an MVPD does not get an election, the default is must-carry, which means mandatory carriage for no money.

“Today, the clear majority of commercial stations elect retransmission consent and the number is likely to increase in the future.

“These stations cannot afford to lose the ability to negotiate for compensation for MVPDs’ carriage of their valuable signals,” NAB said.

[DPI Discusses Present and Future of Retrans Fees] 

And NAB suggested there are many opportunities for the must-carry default to be triggered for stations instead of wanting to be paid. Those include carriage notices “frequently" returned as undeliverable, “no central repository for the information necessary to (i) identify local cable systems and satellite providers and (ii) identify current, viable mailing addresses for those operators,” as the TV network association also told the FCC.

In addition, NAB said it is a “tremendous burden of time, money and risk” providing the requisite election notice to MVPDs, as state broadcaster associations also told the FCC.

So, NAB wants the FCC to also allow broadcasters to make their elections by placing them in their online public files, which would put the onus on cable operators to check that file. Currently, broadcasters must make their elections to MVPDs by registered mail.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.

WASHINGTON—The FCC's Inspector General late last year agreed to open an investigation into FCC chair Ajit Pai's handling of the Sinclair Broadcasting-Tribune Media merger and related media ownership deregulatory decisions.

Ajit Pai

That is according to Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, who sought the IG investigation last fall. The IG does not comment on whether or not it is investigating.

Pallone was concerned that Pai had improperly pushed for various deregulatory moves—restoring the UHF discount, loosening local ownership restrictions—to benefit Sinclair, whose Tribune purchase was a big beneficiary. He said the IG is also investigating whether the dereg was "coordinated" with Sinclair.

Pai has said the review has been by the book, and he has long argued for deregulating broadcasting and that the UHF discount should be looked at in tandem with the 39 percent ownership cap, including whether an analog discount should replace it, though he has also suggested the UHF discount was an anachronism. 

“For months I have been trying to get to the bottom of the allegations about chairman Pai’s relationship with Sinclair Broadcasting,” Pallone said in a statement and to The New York Times, which first reported his confirmation of the investigation. “I am particularly concerned about reports that Chairman Pai may have coordinated with Sinclair to time a series of Commission actions to benefit the company. I am grateful to the FCC’s Inspector General that he has decided to take up this important investigation.”

An FCC spokesperson had no comment on on the status of that investigation or what the threshold for investigating a complaint is, though the FCC website outlines the factors the IG considers in agreeing to investigate, but did signal the suggesting of favorable treatment was meritless.

[FCC Pauses Sinclair-Tribune Deal Review] 

“Given that the FCC under Chairman Pai’s leadership recently proposed a $13 million fine against Sinclair, the largest fine in history for a violation of the Commission’s sponsorship identification rules, the accusation that he has shown favoritism toward the company is absurd,” said the spokesperson.

“Moreover, Chairman Pai has for many years called on the FCC to update its media ownership regulations to match the realities of the modern marketplace. The Chairman’s actions on these issues have been consistent with his long-held views. Considering the strong case for modernizing these rules, it's not surprising that those who disagree with him would prefer to do whatever they can to distract from the merits of the reforms that the FCC has adopted.”

Back in November, joined by Overnight and Government Reform Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Pallone asked FCC inspector general David Hunt to investigate whether Pai had “taken improper actions to benefit Sinclair Broadcast Group.”

At the time, an FCC spokesperson called the request part of an effort by Democrats to target Sinclair over its perceived conservative political views and branded the allegations a baseless attempt to distract from the merits of the deal.

It is something of a chicken and egg issue. Did Pai help Sinclair by deregulating as expected, or did Sinclair anticipate that deregulation and time its Tribune deal to capitalize on it?

Pai's spokesperson said back in November of the request for an investigation: “Unfortunately, this request appears to be part of many Democrats’ attempt to target one particular company because of its perceived political views, an effort that dates all the way back to 2004 when Ranking Member Pallone, Ranking Member Cummings, and other Democrats demanded that the FCC investigate Sinclair based solely on the content of a documentary they didn’t like and that hadn’t even aired. Any claim that chairman Pai is modifying the rules now to benefit one particular company is completely baseless. For many years, chairman Pai has called on the FCC to update its media ownership regulations—one of which dates back to 1975. The Chairman is sticking to his long-held views and given the strong case for modernizing these rules, it's not surprising that those who disagree with him would prefer to do whatever they can to distract from the merits of his proposals.”

Pai has rolled back a number of decisions of his predecessor, Tom Wheeler, that he opposed and criticized at the time they were approved, including 2014 guidance on how the FCC would treat joint sales agreements and sharing arrangements between noncommonly owned stations; restoring the FCC's UHF discount; and two proposals scheduled for a vote this week (Nov. 16)—potentially eliminating or loosening some media ownership limits and allowing for the rollout of ATSC 3.0 transmissions. The FCC also recently eliminated the main studio rule, which required broadcasters to maintain a studio in their community of license.

[Third Circuit Won't Block FCC Broadcast Dereg] 

Pallone and Cummings pointed to the timing of decisions that impact Sinclair deals (such as its purchase of Bonten stations) and proposed deals (the Tribune acquisition) and said they wanted some answers.

Meanwhile, the FCC has stopped the informal shot clock on its vetting of the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger while it awaits action by the Department of Justice. Sinclair has modified the deal in light of the FCC's deregulatory moves and in an effort to retain more stations. Likely if and when Justice signs off on that, or its modification of Sinclair's modification, it will need to be refiled with the FCC and put out for public comment.