Comments are due April 8, replies April 23 in docket 21 -50 on Gray Television’s petition to switch KFVS-TV Cape Girardeau, Missouri, from channel 11 to 32, said Tuesday's Federal Register. Comments are due April 9, replies April 26 in docket 21-9, for KTUL Licensee’s request to swap KTUL Tulsa from channel 10 to 14.

FCC dismissal of four petitions for reconsideration of its FM translator rule update takes effect April 9, says Wednesday's Federal Register. The petitions were from Charles Anderson, the LPFM Coalition, Fellowship of the Earth and Skywaves Communications (see 2010060068). A correction to a cross-reference in the FM translator order also takes effect that day, the FR says.

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $3,500 forfeiture for Lighthouse Ministries of Northwest Ohio for filing a late renewal application for low-power FM station WKJH-LP Bryan, Ohio, and operating without a license after its license expired, said a notice of apparent liability Monday. Lighthouse told the agency it mistakenly believed the station’s license renewal was due the following year, the NAL said. The bureau will grant renewal “upon the conclusion of this forfeiture proceeding if there are no issues other than the apparent violation that would preclude grant of the Application,” the order said. Lighthouse didn’t comment.

Ark Multicasting wants FCC permission to modify its construction permits to build a single ATSC 3.0 transmitter and convert to a license before the permits expire in July, though rules authorizing distributed transmission system technology Ark wants to use haven’t been published in the Federal Register, said a filing posted in docket 20-145 Friday. Tuesday, CEO Joshua Weiss spoke Media Bureau Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman. Ark wants the agency to authorize the license and let company have its full DTS plans and construction approved later through a minor modification request. The FCC says “it seeks to avoid forcing” low-power TV stations “from making significant expenditures in new ATSC 1.0 facilities by July 13, 2021 only to later be faced with a further expenditure of resources if the station chooses to convert those facilities to ATSC 3.0,” Ark said.

All low-power TV and TV translators must terminate their analog operations by July 13, regardless of whether their digital facilities are operational, the FCC Media Bureau said in a reminder public notice Thursday. Stations that haven’t built a digital facility have to go silent by the deadline and stay that way until they have digital facilities, said the PN. “If a station goes silent prior to completing construction of its digital facility, it may file a request for silent authority.” Stations can ask for a 180-day extension of their digital construction permits but must file the request by March 15. Those requests must demonstrate circumstances beyond the licensee’s control, the PN said. Stations are required to notify viewers of the transition, the PN said.

The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on several channel substitution requests, said public notices posted Thursday. KHQA Licensee wants to move its KHQA-TV Hannibal, Missouri, from channel 7 to 22. Dominion Broadcasting wants to swap WLMB Toledo from channel 5 to 35. WLUK Licensee wants to move WLUK-TV Green Bay, Wisconsin, from channel 12 to 18. WFXL Licensee wants to swap WFXL Albany, Georgia, from channel 12 to 29. Federal Register publication will determine deadlines

New sponsorship identification requirements for foreign-sponsored content should apply to “long form foreign government-provided programming aired pursuant to leasing arrangements,” said Fox in a call with FCC Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey Monday, per a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-299. It would be “appropriate” to require stations carrying such programming to check the Foreign Agents Registration Act registration list and base disclosure rules on the list, Fox said. Fox’s KICU-TV San Jose airs programming from the China Government Television Network and began running a continuous disclosure of the content’s source after learning in 2020 that CGTN was designated a foreign mission: “CGTN did not notify the station it was registered under FARA or as a foreign mission,” Fox said. “Although not required by the current FCC sponsorship identification rules, given the designation, we felt the disclosure was necessary for full transparency.”

Comments are due March 17, replies March 29 in docket 21–59 on Scripps' FCC petition to move KRIS-TV Corpus Christi, Texas, from channel 13 to 26, said Tuesday's Federal Register. It said the deadline for comments in docket 21-61 on Gray Television's request to shift KCBD Lubbock, Texas, from channel 11 to 36 and KHGI Licensee's request in docket 21-55 to swap KHGI-TV Kearney, Nebraska, from channel 13 to 18 is April 1, replies April 16.

E.W. Scripps Q4 sales rose 40% to $591 million over Q4 2019, the company reported Friday. It's “a full-scale television company and the largest holder of broadcast spectrum in the country," following its acquisition of Ion, said CEO Adam Symson.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau mailed the first batch of equal employment opportunity audit letters for 2021 Thursday, said a public notice. Each year, about 5% of all stations are selected for EEO audits.