Media General requested waivers for the FCC network non-duplication rule and the syndicated exclusivity rule concerning its WNCT-TV Greenville, North Carolina. WNCT can’t realize the benefits of its exclusive programming rights on the cable systems in Greenville and Kingston, North Carolina, it said in a petition posted Thursday in docket 12-1 (http://bit.ly/1sZ82bk). The broadcast programming rights that the station bargained for with CBS “are being ignored in favor of the programming broadcast by WRAL-TV” Raleigh, it said. Nielsen survey data show WRAL didn’t have any over-the-air viewership in the communities, Media General said. The FCC should grant the petition with respect to WRAL in the communities, it said. That will let WNCT “benefit from the exclusivity rights for which it bargained,” it said.

The FCC should grant a blanket waiver until Sept. 1, 2015, of the construction deadline for low-power TV stations authorized to build digital LPs, commented NAB (http://bit.ly/1oMPjJR) in docket 03-185 in response to an Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance petition (CD July 29 p17). The post-incentive auction repacking is likely to displace many LPTV stations, and such stations aren’t eligible for reimbursement for their relocation costs, NAB said. “It is therefore unreasonable to require broadcasters to invest in new low power facilities today that may well be displaced in repacking in the next few years.” Granting the blanket waiver would also save the FCC the trouble of processing the numerous individual waiver requests that are likely to be submitted if it isn’t successful, NAB said. Not granting the waiver increases broadcaster uncertainty about the repacking process, which is also enhanced by doubt that the $1.75 billion TV broadcaster relocation fund will be able to cover relocations for full-power and Class A stations, NAB said. “Simulations released by the Incentive Auction Task Force have well over 1000 full power and Class A stations being relocated.” NAB estimates that the relocation funds would be able to cover the relocation of only 400-500 stations. To keep full-power and Class A broadcasters from having to pay for their own relocation, the FCC should either treat the relocation fund as a limit on the repacking, or require “winning wireless bidders in the forward auction to cover the additional costs of relocating incumbent broadcasters,” NAB said. “The Commission should not make an already difficult situation worse by requiring broadcasters to make investments in facilities that are likely to ultimately be stranded.” Thursday, when NAB’s filing appeared in the docket, was when initial comments were due on the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance petition.

The FCC Media Bureau extended the deadline for comments on a petition to amend the rules for FM stations. Initial comments are now due Sept. 18, and replies Oct. 3, the bureau said Thursday in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1Bh3PDE). SSR Communications wants a rulemaking to create a C4 allocation and amend technical rules for the FM broadcast service, it said. REC Networks requested the extension, the bureau said.

The European Broadcasting Union is enabling sports fans tuned to radio coverage of the Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships this week to see as well as hear the action through a new service called Visual Radio, a live data slideshow showing results and pictures from the event, the EBU said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1nPxcTj). Broadcasters that carry feeds from the event can beam the slideshow to DAB+ receivers with a built-in color screen, or to hybrid digital or FM receivers through a new RadioDNS server that EBU has created for the event, it said. Broadcasters can also embed the slideshow on their websites for accessing the data online, it said.

NAB urged BMW to reconsider its decision to remove AM radio from its BMW i3 vehicle. BMW’s electric car competitors addressed AM signal interference “sufficiently enough that their vehicles still come equipped with AM radio,” NAB President Gordon Smith said Wednesday in a letter to BMW USA CEO Ludwig Willisch (http://bit.ly/1utvwaq). AM radio is a “community bulletin board in hometowns across America,” he said. NAB is ready to work with BMW “to address concerns you may have over AM Radio,” Smith said.

The time for the FCC to act on revitalizing the AM band is near, said FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. The FCC should move forward with an FM translator window designed for AM broadcasters, he said Wednesday at the Ohio Association of Broadcasters’ AM radio town hall (http://bit.ly/1AexETK). The commission also needs to seek public comment on a new batch of proposals for improving FCC AM radio rules, he said. Pai said his goal is for the commission to adopt reforms by Halloween. Pai considered whether nighttime skywave protection for clear-channel stations should be eliminated, and whether the commission should take action to advance the use of synchronous transmission systems on the AM dial. This approach “holds considerable promise for improving AM reception, particularly in densely populated urban areas,” he said. Pai also wondered whether to allow AM stations to go all-digital on a voluntary basis.

Public interest groups asked for a deadline extension to file applications for review on the FCC Media Bureau’s approval of license renewals for Fox stations WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, and WNYW-TV New York. The bureau granted the license renewals and a temporary waiver of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rules to allow Fox to own both the stations and the New York Post (CD Aug 11 p14). United Church of Christ, Free Press, Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Voices for New Jersey would like until Oct. 8, instead of Sept. 8, to submit an application for review, they said Tuesday in a motion for extension of time (http://bit.ly/1pMHCY4). The groups each have separate counsel, “all of whom are currently working on several commission matters due on or around September 8,” it said. Also, counsel had previously scheduled vacations in August, and they don’t have the resources available to meet an early September deadline, it said.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said the FCC should hold an up-or-down vote on ending the sports blackout rule. The time has come for the FCC to repeal its sports blackout rule, he said Tuesday at a Sports Fans Coalition event in Buffalo (http://bit.ly/1osy6ev). The FCC’s job is to serve the public interest, “not the private interests of team owners,” he said. Pai said he couldn’t promise Buffalo residents that they'd be able to watch all Buffalo Bills games on TV if the rule were eliminated. “But that’s no excuse for keeping it on the books.” The commission shouldn’t get involved “in handing out special favors or picking winners and losers,” he said. Repealing the rule “may lead to unintended consequences and deny viewers of valuable sports programming on broadcast television,” said the Protect Football on Free TV campaign. Fans, organizations and community leaders sent more than 10,000 letters to the FCC in support of maintaining the rule, it said. “It’s unfortunate that pay-TV special interests continue to bankroll this effort to overturn a rule that works for millions of Americans,” it said. The campaign is led by former NFL player Lynn Swann (CD July 30 p19).

The FCC should improve its collection and release of Form 323 broadcast ownership data, The Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights said in comments on the 2014 quadrennial review posted online in docket 14-50 Tuesday (http://bit.ly/Y1Ljjs). “[W]hile the Commission’s response rates are improving and are virtually complete in full power television, low power television and AM radio continue to suffer significant non-response rates,” the filing said. “This is particularly troubling, since these are the services that might be expected to have the greatest participation by women and people of color,” the Leadership Council said. The group also faulted the FCC for doing “no analysis of its data,” making it harder for researchers to use, according to the filing. The FCC should also complete other ownership studies related to diversity, the filing said. “[T]he Commission should explore all of its options with respect to justifying race-conscious policies and not prematurely rule out any for lack of evidence that it has not collected,” the filing said. The FCC should also approve rules to require disclosure of shared services agreements and reduce ownership caps to motivate larger broadcast groups to spin off stations to new owners, the filing said. “More efforts like this are needed, particularly if they are achieved in concert with meaningful policies that can promote the transfer of those stations to women, people of color and other members of underrepresented groups,” the filing said.

CBS and Tribune renewed their affiliation agreement and will move the Indianapolis CBS affiliate from LIN Media’s WISH-TV to Tribune’s WTTV starting Jan. 1, said a news release from CBS (http://bit.ly/1kXapdy). Through the deal, Indianapolis Colts games will be broadcast on WTTV starting in 2015. The agreement also includes affiliation agreement renewals for four Tribune Media-owned CBS stations: WREG-TV Memphis, WHNT-TV Huntsville, Alabama, KFSM-TV Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and WTVR-TV Richmond, Virginia, the release said. CBS also renewed its affiliation agreement with Dreamcatcher Broadcasting’s WTKR Norfolk, Virginia, which is operated through a shared services agreement with Tribune.