Spanish Broadcasting System asked the FCC to approve a stock sale that would let the company settle ongoing litigation but put it over the foreign-ownership cap. In a petition Monday, SBS said it has total foreign equity interests of 11.33% now, and the settlement would give more non-U.S. entities new shares of SBS Class A common stock, along with cash. That would increase "total equity ownership by non-U.S. persons to a percentage close to or exceeding the 25% foreign-ownership benchmark," it said.
The FCC should make clear that the foreign sponsorship ID rules adopted 4-0 in April (see 2104220074) don't apply to standard advertising sales by local stations, regardless of ad length, said ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates in a docket 20-299 clarification request Monday. They said the lack of definition of "traditional short-form advertising" in the foreign sponsorship order means common forms of broadcast advertising could be subject to the rules, even though contrary to FCC intent.
The FCC Media Bureau terminated multiple investigations into political file recordkeeping compliance failures. Greeley Broadcasting will create a plan to ensure future compliance with its political file obligations and submit periodic compliance reports to the bureau, in a consent decree order Monday closing an investigation into the company's failure to keep required political files. The agency said it agrees to process Greeley's pending radio license renewal applications. The bureau also settled investigations of political file compliance with similar consent decrees for KOFI Inc. and Wayne Radio Works, both listed in Monday's Daily Digest.
Alpha Media wrapped up its restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it said Thursday. Chairman-CEO Bob Proffitt said it now has “greater financial resources and flexibility, and we will continue to invest in new digital capabilities to better serve our advertisers and communities across our local markets.” The FCC Media Bureau approved license transfers associated with the reorganization last week. See our report.
The FCC Media Bureau OK'd some channel substitutions and seeks comment on another. Sinclair KRCR-TV Redding, California, will switch from Channel 7 to Channel 15. Sinclair's KTVM-TV Butte, Montana will go from 6 to 20. Sinclair's KECI-TV Missoula, Montana, will move from 13 to 20. WGEM Licensee's WGEM-TV Quincy, Illinois, will switch 10 for 19. Comments will be due 30 days after appearance in the Federal Register on KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting's KPTV Portland, Oregon's requested substitution of 21 for 12. Bureau OK of Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation's request to substitute WYES-TV New Orleans Channel 28 for 11 (see 2107020052) takes effect Monday, says that day's FR.
ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliate boards will meet in person for the first time in two years at the NAB Show, the association announced Thursday. The event in Las Vegas didn't happen physically last year, and this year was delayed because of COVID-19. Affiliate officials gather Oct. 11-12 in the "closed meetings," emailed an NAB representative. For more on the event's safety precautions, see our report.
Byron Allen’s Allen Media is buying Gray's WJRT-TV Flint, Michigan, for $70 million, Gray said Wednesday. It said this smooths the path for approval of its purchase of 17 Meredith stations (see 2105030056) by removing the only market overlap. Gray said the WJRT deal is expected to close in Q3 or Q4, before Gray/Meredith is completed. Gray and Allen Media announced in April that Allen would buy 10 Quincy Media stations related to Gray/Quincy (see 2104290067).
Comcast's retransmission of WPIX New York is governed by an agreement with Nexstar, but the cable operator is ignoring the agreement to the tune of millions of dollars of unpaid retransmission consent fees, the broadcaster said in a complaint Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court in New York County. Nexstar said it sold WPIX in 2020 to Mission Broadcasting, and it and Mission have a local marketing agreement with Nexstar providing programming and other support services. It said Comcast had no objection there. When Mission told Comcast the retrans agreement between the two didn't apply to WPIX, Comcast complained to the FCC about the LMA terms. Comcast petitioned the FCC earlier this month for a declaratory ruling that Nexstar is attributed with WPIX and that its divestiture of the station as part of Nexstar buying Tribune to stay under the national ownership cap is "a sham." Comcast said it has a retrans agreement with WPIX owner Mission, yet Nexstar asserted retrans consent and other rights over WPIX. It suggested possible remedies such as ordering a rewrite of the LMA. In a statement Wednesday, Comcast said the Nexstar complaint "is just an attempt to distract from the important issues that we have brought to the FCC’s attention, including that Nexstar’s control and influence of WPIX violates the national ownership cap and the FCC’s merger conditions on its acquisition of Tribune Media.”
FCC Media Bureau OK of Sinclair’s request to substitute KBOI-TV Boise Channel 20 for 9 (see 2107020052) takes effect Wednesday, says that day's Federal Register.
Denials of two petitions for reconsideration of relaxation of some FCC technical rules for low-power FM stations (see 2106160048) take effect Aug. 13, says Wednesday’s Federal Register.