Monty Tayloe

An FCC proposal that requires disclosing AI-generated content in political ads seems aimed at having rules ready for the 2024 presidential election, statements Thursday from FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and agency spokespeople indicate. However, broadcast insiders told us there probably isn’t enough time for that to happen without causing severe disruption. The FCC is proposing an update of the political file rules “to meet the moment we are in,” Rosenworcel said during a news conference. Her statement was in response to a question about whether the rules would be in effect on Election Day. Rosenworcel didn't explicitly say the item was intended for the 2024 election, though. “She has been clear that the time to act on public disclosure of AI use is now,” an agency spokesperson said in an email after being asked to clarify the planned timing of the proposal.

The NAB Television Board of Directors promised in a policy statement Wednesday to prioritize local broadcasters' interests in NAB’s advocacy, “including on those issues that may be in tension with other NAB member business interests." This was a veiled reference to the networks and their streaming businesses, numerous attorneys and broadcasters told us. The policy statement is widely seen as a reaction to growing conflict between broadcast affiliates and their network partners over content and issues such as virtual MVPD regulation.

Sinclair Broadcast will sell anything in its portfolio -- at “the right price” -- so it can close the gap between its valuation and share price, CEO Chris Ripley told The Media Institute during a luncheon Tuesday. Ripley also predicted that generative AI eventually will create most media, and said asymmetric regulation and increased competition are broadcasting’s biggest obstacles. “Unfortunately, for our industry, we can't seem to get out from underneath some of these old regulations,” Ripley said. “There really isn't any reason for that to be, besides that's the way it always was.”

An FCC draft NPRM proposing a host of changes to the low-power TV rules is expected to be approved unanimously at the commissioners' open meeting Thursday with few alterations from the draft version, agency and industry officials told us. LPTV broadcasters told us they view many of the proposals as ministerial “housekeeping,” and the LPTV Broadcasters Association and the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance want the item to seek comment on easing restrictions on the relocation of LPTV stations. LPTVBA President Frank “SuperFrank” Copsidas said proposals to impose filing requirements on LPTV stations similar to the rules for full-power stations are unfair because LPTV is a secondary service. “If the FCC wants to treat us like full-power stations, give us their protections,” Copsidas said.

A proposed Missing and Endangered Persons (MEP) emergency alert system code was universally supported in comments from native groups, public safety officials, CTIA and NCTA. Comments were filed in docket 15-94 last week. Some entities differ on how a wireless emergency alert version should be implemented, and on whether an additional code is needed specifically for missing indigenous people. "There is little or no doubt that a dedicated alert code of this type will save lives and will therefore greatly exceed any nationwide implementation costs,” the National Tribal Telecommunications Association (NTTA) said of the MEP code.

Mission Broadcasting’s withdrawal from its proposed $75 million purchase of WADL Mount Clemens, Michigan, from Adell Broadcasting likely means the matter won’t end up in a hearing before the FCC’s administrative law judge, broadcast attorneys told us. Mission submitted notice to the agency on Wednesday that the deal would not be consummated (see 2405220074).

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a draft NPRM Wednesday that would seek comment on requiring disclosures when a political ad on TV or radio contains AI-generated content. The item proposes requiring on-air and written disclosures in broadcaster online public files, and also requiring disclosures by cable operators and satellite TV providers, said an FCC news release. “As artificial intelligence tools become more accessible, the Commission wants to make sure consumers are fully informed when the technology is used,” Rosenworcel said in the release.

Broadcasters expect a draft order that updates the foreign-sponsored content rules to contain language requiring entities buying political issue ads to certify that they aren’t foreign agents (see 2403210071). However, the final version of the order remains in flux, an FCC official told us.

Mission Broadcasting is withdrawing from its proposed $75 million purchase of WADL Mount Clemens, Michigan, according to documents obtained Wednesday by Communications Daily. The FCC approved the sale in April but with a host of conditions that would essentially prevent Nexstar from operating the station through a local marketing agreement, as had been planned. The FCC order “constitutes a law that prohibits the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the purchase agreement,” Mission said in a letter to WADL owner Adell Broadcasting. The order conditionally granting the sale said that if Mission didn’t accept the conditions, the matter would be designated for hearing. The transaction won’t be consummated, “thus obviating any basis for a hearing,” Mission told the FCC in a rejection of grant filing Wednesday. Broadcast attorneys have told us that they expect that the dissolution of the deal would lead to the FCC not moving forward with the hearing, but it’s not certain how the agency will proceed. Last year, a hearing on the Standard General/Tegna deal was terminated on the deal’s breakup. Attorneys have said that a hearing proceeding could be a threat to the licenses held by Mission and Nexstar. Adell Broadcasting CEO Kevin Adell told us he believes a hearing would have been a “dumb risk” for Mission and Nexstar and said he isn’t bothered by the deal’s dissolution. “It doesn’t matter to Kevin Adell,” he said. Adell said Nexstar still needs to find a home for the CW network in the Detroit market by the end of August, and that he believes his company could reach a deal with Nexstar to carry the network through a local marketing agreement. Adell had previously threatened to pursue legal action against Mission if the deal weren't consummated. He didn't comment Wednesday on whether he was still planning to pursue the matter in court. Nexstar and Mission didn’t immediately comment.

NAB, NPR and other opponents of the FCC’s authorization of geotargeted radio used Thursday’s comments deadline to take additional shots at the technology, while proponent GeoBroadcast Solutions said the agency should “keep an open mind.” Two broadcast entities, Press Communications and REC Networks, have called for reconsideration of the agency’s order allowing content origination on FM booster stations. Geotargeted radio will “erode public confidence in FM radio broadcasting” and harm stations “baited into employing the technology,” NAB said in docket 20-401.