Statements by the commissioners of Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League directly contradict NFL claims that sports blackouts are a necessary component of a successful league operation, said the Sports Fans Coalition. The statements of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman were made in federal court depositions, Sports Fans Coalition said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 12-3 (http://bit.ly/1rhF4nB). The commissioners said blackouts don’t work and “televising local games is the best approach,” the filing said. The coalition discussed the depositions this week with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, it said.

The FCC seeks comment on whether it should change the way it collects Form 317 data for the annual DTV ancillary/supplemental services report for DTV stations, said a notice Wednesday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1oYwqal). It said the request for information is part of the FCC’s effort to reduce filing requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The FCC sought comment on whether the information collection is necessary and ways to possibly “minimize the burden” for stations. Comments are due Sept. 15

TVfreedom.org again put its support behind the Community Access Preservation Act. S-1789, also supported by the public, educational and government channel industry, is aimed at keep PEG channels afloat through cable franchising agreements (CD Jan 6 p6). Passage of the CAP Act “is fundamentally critical to the long-term sustainability of more than 5,000 PEG access channels operated by municipalities, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations nationwide,” TVfreedom.org member American Community Television said Tuesday in a news release. ACT joined the organization this month, it noted. TVfreedom.org submitted letters to the House and Senate subcommittees on Communications and Technology, it said. Congress should “preserve the current structure of the lifeline basic service tier, which today includes access to PEG channels and the full complement of local broadcast TV stations,” it said in the letters (http://bit.ly/WfS7cA) (http://bit.ly/1ynWAXZ).

Comments on proposed changes to rules governing the emergency alert system are due Aug. 14, with replies due Aug. 29, in docket 04-296, the FCC said Tuesday in a Federal Register notice (http://1.usa.gov/1r2xZWs). The FCC released the NPRM last month (CD June 30 p14). The proposals in the NPRM are intended as first steps to fix the vulnerabilities uncovered in the national EAS test, Pillsbury attorneys said Tuesday in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1apzXs4). The FCC proposes that a reasonable time period for participants to replace unsupported equipment, perform necessary upgrades and other tasks “be six months from the effective date of any rules adopted as a result of the NPRM,” they noted.

The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment on a petition from the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance for a blanket extension or waiver of the expiration date of all outstanding construction permits for new digital low-power TV and TV translator stations to the Sept. 1, 2015, digital transition deadline. Initial comments are due Aug. 14, replies Aug. 29, the bureau said Monday in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1kWqI4u).

The Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance urged the FCC to undertake all reasonable efforts to preserve low-power TV and translator facilities to the greatest extent possible when planning and executing the broadcast spectrum incentive auction. In calculating the effects of LTE-into-DTV interference, the commission “must pay particular attention to the impact of LTE interference on LPTV and translator stations,” ATBA said in response to an FCC public notice (http://bit.ly/1sfkOTL). The latest public notice sheds little light on how the FCC will use the measurements to determine the technical rules and regulations that will eventually apply to inter-service sharing, it said. Until such rules are proposed, ATBA can only limit its observations on the methodology used to conduct the measurements and validity of data presented “but cannot adequately analyze the impact and use of such studies in developing inter-service policies and rules,” it said. Cohen Dippell, a broadcast engineering firm, told the FCC that further scrutiny of TV receiver performance is required. If the FCC anticipates an aggressive incentive auction whether or not a meaningful number of broadcasters surrender their spectrum, “this will result in a large number of broadcasters being reassigned to a new channel,” it said in comments (http://bit.ly/1noMHB6). With the repacking, the to-date unrecognized interference mechanism “may manifest itself in many new repacked stations’ reception as well as existing stations’ reception,” it said. “This will result in greater loss of service and does not meet the ‘all reasonable efforts’ provision.”

SoundExchange finds it “convenient” that Bunzel Media Strategies President Reed Bunzel’s Friday blog post (http://bit.ly/1jyYbas) (CD July 14 p17) is “based on a self-serving report [http://bit.ly/1nGf3Yl] commissioned by the NAB shortly following [SoundExchange President Michael] Huppe’s keynote” at a June seminar, said the performing rights organization in a statement Friday. “SoundExchange has always recognized that FM radio provides some value to individual artists, but it actually does little to grow the overall pie for the recorded music industry,” it said. “SoundExchange is not suggesting a world where FM radio goes away -- we're simply suggesting a world where FM radio pays recording artists and labels fairly,” it said. “Musicians should share a piece of the $17 billion in revenue that their music helps create."

KAXT LLC received an FCC OK to sell Class A TV station KAXT San Francisco-San Jose to OTA Broadcasting, said a Media Bureau order released Friday (http://bit.ly/1jkjFHP). It denied a request to block the deal, noting its asset purchase agreement was declared valid by an arbitrator, and also denied a character objection to the transaction.

Bunzel Media Strategies President Reed Bunzel criticized SoundExchange President Michael Huppe for blaming FM radio for declining record sales, in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1jyYbas) Friday. “What Huppe -- and his fellow label execs in denial -- fail to accept is that the recorded music industry has used the terrestrial radio industry as its primary promotion and marketing platform since the 1950s, without paying a penny,” he said. “Performance fees, blanket licensing, uneven playing fields, and ‘artist’s fair shares'” is “another discussion entirely,” he said. Terrestrial radio “is in no way responsible for the tumult that the recorded music industry” is experiencing, said Bunzel. SoundExchange didn’t comment by our deadline.

A Block Communications petition (http://bit.ly/1iQRY3M) for the FCC to change retransmission consent negotiation rules to offset the bargaining power of larger broadcasters and pay-TV companies would result in “governmental intrusion” and is beyond FCC authority, NAB said Monday in a reply filing (http://bit.ly/1mk5DWg). “Given the individualized factors at issue in any particular negotiation, it would not be possible for the Commission to adopt rules that establish a perfect balance in every negotiation.” Congress “made it quite plain” that retrans negotiations should “function without government intervention,” NAB said in a filing posted Wednesday to RM-11720. It asked the FCC to deny the Block petition.