Monty Tayloe

The FCC shouldn’t act on its own to combat ransomware attacks against communications networks unless a “whole of government” approach doesn’t materialize, said Commissioner Nathan Simington Thursday in a virtual Q&A with former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Cooley. Combating ransomware attacks like the recent strike against Sinclair isn’t outside the agency’s authority, but might be outside its capabilities, “unless Congress gives us another thousand people to man that desk,” Simington said (see 2110210045).

Broadcasters, cable groups and emergency alerting companies resisted FCC suggestions for persistent emergency alert system warnings and changes to alerting codes. “It is simply not feasible to incorporate these changes cost-effectively into the existing, well embedded system,” said NCTA. Comments were due Tuesday in docket 15-94.

The Parents Television Council wants KREM Spokane, Washington, and owner Tegna to investigate how a clip of pornographic material aired for about 10 seconds during a weather segment on the station’s evening news broadcast Sunday. “Let there be no suggestion that the airing of the pornographic content might have been an ‘accident’ or a ‘mistake,’ said PTC President Tim Winter in a release Wednesday. “Someone with the wherewithal to pass that content through the control room did so intentionally. If it were not aired by someone’s design, why is it always porn that gets aired ‘by accident’ instead of innocuous content?” “We have apologized to our viewers and are diligently working to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” emailed a Tegna spokesperson. In 2016, then-Schurz-owned WDBJ Roanoke, Virginia, paid a $325,000 FCC forfeiture after it aired an image that contained pornography during a news story about a firefighter’s adult film career (see 1604040057). Schurz appealed the amount but eventually paid in order to close its sale to Gray Television. Schurz’s then-attorney, Jack Goodman, said in an interview Wednesday that FCC authority to fine stations over airing pornographic content remains “constitutionally dubious.”

Sinclair “provision of local advertisements” was disrupted by an apparent cyberattack over the weekend, said an SEC filing Monday. “The event has caused -- and may continue to cause -- disruption to parts of the Company’s business,” a news release said. Sinclair is No. 2 U.S. TV broadcaster, and Sinclair channels around the country appeared to have their local programs affected.

AT&T’s relationship with cable network One America News (OAN) is the sort of lift-up that Black-owned businesses don’t receive, and it shows that incubators can work, panelists told a conference Friday. “If there’s a better example of incubation by a big media company, I don’t know what it is,” said Clint Odom, T-Mobile vice president-strategic alliances and external affairs. The conference was produced by the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and the U.S. Black Chambers.

The Radio Show will be integrated into the larger NAB Show in Las Vegas, NAB announced Thursday. This begins with the next NAB Show in April. “This change provides more opportunities in one location for radio professionals and elevates radio in the larger media ecosystem represented at NAB Show,” said NAB. “The integrated event in Las Vegas will feature signature awards, networking events and a comprehensive conference program, including popular sales and marketing sessions presented by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).” Previously, the Radio Show was a separate event, held in different cities each year. The 2021 Radio Show was planned to be in Las Vegas concurrent with the 2021 NAB Show before both were canceled last month (see 2109150062). Radio broadcaster and former NAB Radio Board member Ed Henson said he’ll miss the separate show, but he believes NAB will be sensitive about ensuring radio is highlighted at the larger event. Alpha Media CEO Bob Proffitt, also a former NAB board member, said the combination is a “wise move” that will increase attendance and take advantage of technology convergence: “The bigger the better.” The "decision was primarily based on giving radio broadcasters the very best value and experience,” said an NAB spokesperson. “We know budgets are tight when it comes to business travel, and integrating Radio Show into NAB Show provides more opportunities in one place.” NAB didn’t comment on whether the change was motivated by financial concerns at the trade group after the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 conventions. Broadcasters told us the Radio Show wasn’t considered a high-cost event. The in-person show, last held in 2019, generally saw 1,500-2,000 attendees, NAB said (see 1909200034). In announcing the change, the group also said NAB CEO Gordon Smith will give his final “State of the Industry” speech online Nov. 10.

An NAB petition on clarifying FCC ATSC 3.0 multicast rules was circulated to the eighth floor last week, according to the FCC website and a broadcast industry official. The petition involves the “substantially similar” programming requirement for stations switching to the new standard and would make shifting markets easier, broadcasters said (see 2109300003). NAB wants certainty on which station the FCC will hold responsible for violations of rules when broadcasters are hosting each other’s channels on multicast streams during the 3.0 changeover.

The FCC Media Bureau will issue a decision by Nov. 30 on a contentious sale of three stations owned by Edward Stolz, said Larry Patrick, the court-ordered receiver who's overseeing the stations and their proposed sale for $6 million to religious broadcaster VCY America. “I just want to be out of this,” said Patrick, founder of media brokerage Patrick Communications, in an interview.

FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has been “very aggressive” working with other countries to reach agreements on robocall enforcement, and the Enforcement Bureau is paying more attention to accessibility issues, a virtual FCBA CLE heard Wednesday. Such agreements “come up routinely,” when the agency meets with foreign regulators, said her aide David Strickland. “A lot of these robocalls are coming from overseas.”

An order on updating the table of allotments would incorporate changes from the broadcast incentive auction, the repacking, and from after a freeze on changes was lifted in November, says the draft the FCC released Tuesday. The order is set for commissioners' Oct. 26 meeting (see 2110040068). The table was last updated in 2018. The order would remove language in regulations that became outdated with the auction’s reallocation of channels and the DTV transition. The order doesn’t stem from a preexisting notice and comment process because the revisions “merely correct outdated information from the 2018 Table as a result of channel reassignments and/or community of license changes that have already been approved by the Commission,” the draft says. A third round of connected care pilot program winners will treat "high-risk pregnancy/maternal health, mental health conditions, opioid dependency, COVID-19, and chronic conditions," says a draft public notice on docket 18-213. Selected participants would have six months to file their initial funding requests with Universal Service Administrative Co.