The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment on two proposed TV channel substitutions in Tulsa and in Jefferson City, Missouri, said Tuesday public notices. KTUL Licensee wants to substitute channel 14 for channel 10 for KTUL Tulsa, and KRCG Licensee wants to swap channel 29 for channel 12 for KRCG Jefferson City. The dates will be after Federal Register publication.

Comments on an FCC proposal to change FM booster rules to allow geotargeted radio broadcasts (see 2012010059) are due Feb. 10, replies March 12, said a Media Bureau public notice in Monday’s Daily Digest.

Sony will build NextGenTV compatibility into five lines of Bravia XR TVs for 2021, said the company Thursday. Preloaded on all the sets will be a new streaming feature called Bravia Core, developed with Sony Pictures Entertainment. It’s capable of achieving “near lossless” quality equivalent to that of Ultra HD Blu-ray, with streaming up to 80 Mbps, Sony said.

SoundExchange will audit Cumulus, Emmis, Pandora and Urban One to verify royalty payments for online music, said the Copyright Royalty Board. Other Friday Federal Register notices indicated audits for Music Choice and Rockbot. “The decision to audit a company is not necessarily any indication that SoundExchange considers something amiss with that company’s royalty payments -- instead they audit a cross-section of services each year,” blogged Wilkinson Barker's David Oxenford. Outside accounting firms do the analysis, issuing a report that's reviewed by the audited parties before being given to SoundExchange, which can collect underpaid royalties, the broadcast attorney wrote, adding that results aren’t usually public.

The draft ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission system order “will adversely impact the availability of television white spaces (TVWS) spectrum in rural areas and undermine the expansion of rural broadband access,” said Microsoft in a call with aides to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington Tuesday, per a filing posted Friday in docket 20-74. “The current DTS signal spillover standard should be maintained,” and any more than “a minimum amount” should be permitted via a case-by-case waiver process, the filing said. The DTS has sufficient votes to be approved (see 2101050063).

LG Electronics is “very pleased” with its NextGenTV launch, said John Taylor, senior vice president-communications and public affairs. “It was not what we anticipated a year ago at CES 2020, but kudos to the broadcasters for keeping the foot on the accelerator” to roll out 3.0 services to 20 markets in 2020, despite the pandemic, he told a Pearl TV NextGenTV media briefing virtually Thursday. LG plans a broad assortment of 3.0 TVs for 2021 in screen sizes from 55 to 88 inches, he said. “We expect more from the industry, too. We know we’re not going to build this market alone.” LG expects “many more models from more manufacturers as the stars align in 2021 with the majority of Americans being able to receive the NextGenTV.” BitRouter is entering the market with its ZapperBox set-top (see 2101070063).

The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force increased the repack reimbursement fund allocation for low-power TV and translator stations from 85% of verified estimates to 92.5%, bringing them into line with full-power stations and other entities that receive repacking reimbursement, said a public notice. “This will result in a total allocation for LPTV/Translator stations of $91,782,921 and a total allocation from the Reimbursement Fund for all eligible entities of over $2.028 billion.” The reimbursement program has received over 93,000 invoices in more than 31,000 submissions, and all full-power TV stations have vacated their pre-auction channels, Thursday's PN said. As of Monday, over 95% of the repacked stations are operating on their final facilities, the PN said. The task force is “optimistic” the 41 stations remaining on interim facilities will meet their revised deadlines.

E.W. Scripps completed its $2.65 billion deal to buy Ion Media from Black Diamond Capital Management, divesting 23 stations to the newly formed Inyo Broadcasting, it announced Thursday. The FCC approved Dec. 15 but announced the OK only in the brief listing of broadcast actions three days later (see 2101070039). No petitions to deny were filed, and no conditions were required, a Scripps spokesperson said. Scripps is holding on to 48 of the stations and plans to combine Ion’s content with its Katz networks and Newsy for a “full-scale national television networks business,” the release said. “Bringing our networks together with ION will create a formidable national television business focused on connecting with audiences and advertisers in the rapidly evolving media landscape,” said Scripps CEO Adam Symson. Inyo is headed by interim CEO John Chachas and Chief Operating Officer Louis Zachary, the managing principals of Methuselah Advisors, a media broker that worked with Scripps in the past and on this deal (see 2011050024). The FCC didn’t comment.

ATSC scheduled live virtual workshops for Tuesday, coinciding with the all-digital CES 2021 but after the show's main activities are “done for the day,” emailed a spokesperson. ATSC President Madeleine Noland moderates the first panel, “ATSC 3.0 at the Consumer’s Fingertips,” at 7 p.m. EST. Panelists are Steve Koenig, CTA vice president-research; Mark Aitken, Sinclair senior vice president-advanced technology; Alfred Chan, MediaTek vice president-TV and smart home business unit; Nick Kelsey, SiliconDust chief technical officer; and John Taylor, LG Electronics senior vice president-public affairs and communications. An 8 p.m. EST webinar on remote learning is to be moderated by Jerry Whitaker, ATSC vice president-standards development. His panelists are Lonna Thompson, America's Public Television Stations general counsel; Todd Achilles, Evoca CEO; Fred Engel, UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina chief technology officer; and Aby Alexander, Thomson Broadcast president-Americas. Koenig plans to provide some details on NextGenTV sales forecasts, the spokesperson said.

Mission Broadcasting, a sidecar to Nexstar, wants a 90-day extension to file ownership reports on several station purchases, including its recent buy of WPIX New York from E.W. Scripps (see 2012300053). The letter to the FCC Media Bureau, posted Tuesday, said the delay would let the company provide a consolidated ownership report.