The FCC Media Bureau denied Maricopa County Community College District’s request for a waiver of the commission’s underwriting rules. Maricopa requested the waiver to adopt measures to address the economic challenges of decreased funding from federal and state sources, the bureau said in a letter to Maricopa (http://bit.ly/1sScCGQ). The stated purposes for the waiver “are not so unique and unusual in itself as to warrant a waiver of the underwriting rules and policies,” it said. “If Maricopa wishes to petition for a change in the rule, the appropriate vehicle would be a petition for rulemaking, not a waiver request.”

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $25,000 fine against Televisa for apparently operating its satellite news gathering vehicles on unauthorized frequencies while telecasting sports programming internationally. “Televisa received a warning advising it to stop operating on channels for which it did not hold a valid station authorization,” the bureau said in a notice of apparent liability (http://bit.ly/1hOhXb3). The bureau proposed the base forfeiture and a $5,000 upward adjustment, it said. Televisa is a multibillion-dollar enterprise, it said.

Internet Broadcasting Systems signed an agreement with Southern California Public Radio to provide digital ad operations for SCPR’s radio station group, IBS said in a Thursday dated news release posted Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1jtK6nw).

The FCC Media Bureau won’t “just roll over and abandon” its new scrutiny on deals involving sharing agreements and contingent financial arrangements in the face of the NAB’s court challenge (CD May 13 p3), said Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford in a blog post Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1stwVbH). “The NAB gave the FCC several chances to do so by writing letters stating its objections to the application of the policy, and all were ignored,” Oxenford said. The challenge of the FCC policy will be closely watched by all companies involved in shared services agreements and those with deals involving potential SSAs, said Oxenford.

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $15,000 fine for Glendive Broadcasting and its Glendive, Montana, station KXGN-TV, said a notice of apparent liability (NAL) released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1k2h9nn). KXGN failed to file its children’s programming reports on time for multiple quarters, constituting “apparent willful and/or repeated violations,” the NAL said. The bureau proposed a $6,000 fine against Lake Superior Community Broadcasting and its Michigan stations WBKP Calumet and WBUP Ishpeming for the same violation, said another NAL (http://bit.ly/1orMrqU). A $1,000 fine was proposed against KXLF Communications and its Montana station KXLF Butte for failing to publicize the location of children’s programming reports, said a third NAL (http://bit.ly/REBRPr). The bureau also admonished KWGN Denver for violating the FCC’s host selling rules in 2006 when a cereal commercial aired on the CW that used characters from the kids’ show Xiaolin Showdown, during a broadcast of the show (http://bit.ly/1v5N5Mw).

Gannett will buy six Texas TV stations from London Broadcasting for $215 million, Gannett said in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1qDGCZv). The purchase will provide new markets for Gannett’s digital marketing services group and further Gannett’s “transformation into a diversified multi-media company,” said Gannett CEO Gracia Matore in the release. The new stations are expected to generate around $50 million revenue in 2014, the release said. After the closing, current London Broadcasting Chief Operating Officer Phil Hurley will jump to Gannett to lead the six stations, the release said. The deal is not expected to run afoul of FCC ownership rules, a Gannett spokesman told us. The stations involved are NBC affiliate KCEN-TV Temple, CBS affiliate KYTX Longview, ABC affiliate KIII Corpus Christi, NBC affiliate KBMT Beaumont and its digital sub-channel KJAC, Fox affiliate KXVA Abilene and KIDY San Angelo, Gannett said. The deal is expected to close this summer, Gannett said.

The FCC Media Bureau proposed fining four stations that allegedly failed to file children’s TV programming reports in a timely manner. The bureau proposed a $15,000 fine for KYUS-TV Miles City, Montana, owned by KYUS Broadcasting, it said in a notice of apparent liability (http://bit.ly/1ltPuLV). The bureau proposed a $3,000 fine each for Spanish Television of Denver-owned KTFD-DT Boulder, Colorado (http://bit.ly/1mVvYr2), Gray Television-owned WCAV-TV Charlottesville, Virginia (http://bit.ly/1jY0tNG), and K36DB-CD, a Vail, Colorado, Class A station owned by Resort Television (http://bit.ly/1iPwcQR).

Auction 84 ended Tuesday with $891,500 in provisionally winning bids. Ten of the 22 AM construction permits (CP) to be auctioned were sold, according to the FCC auction results (http://fcc.us/1opfP0Y). Alexander Broadcasting won a CP in Stony Point Town, New York, for $409,000, and Levine/Schwab Partnership won a CP in Culver City, California, for $409,000, the FCC said. Other CPs were won in Montoursville, Pennsylvania; Micanopy, Florida; and Spring Valley, Nevada. Unsold markets include Lebanon, Tennessee; Colorado Springs; and Lovelock, Nevada. Five CPs sold for the minimum bid and the remaining five sold after active bidding, a broadcast attorney said. While the lack of interest may be attributable in some measure to the much-reported disadvantages to which the AM industry is subject, other factors certainly came into play, Fletcher Heald attorney Raymond Quianzon said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1hKeElq). The only eligible bidders were applicants who had filed applications in 2004, he said. After 10 years of waiting, “it’s understandable that applicants may have lost their lust for an AM in, say, Kuna, Idaho ... or Windsor, Va.,” he said.

NPR supports a more restrained FCC enforcement policy to address the uncertainty faced by public radio stations and other producers reporting on matters of public concern. The FCC’s “fleeting utterance” approach “has led to unnecessary and protracted delays in the processing of station license applications,” NPR said in an ex parte filing in dockets 12-106, 13-86 and 13-249 (http://bit.ly/1mSkGnm). NPR reiterated its position that the current waiver system works well for noncommercial radio stations concerning the use of on-air time to raise funds for third-party nonprofit organizations, it said. The FCC’s proposal to allow noncommercial educational stations to interrupt programming for this purpose raises “serious operational, fundraising and other concerns,” it said. NPR also continued to support revitalizing the AM band, including opening an FM translator filing window for AM station licensees, it said.

The FCC Media Bureau sent letters to 11 stations Monday requiring they respond to complaints against them alleging political file violations. The Campaign Legal Center and Sunlight Foundation filed the complaints against stations owned by Gannett, Scripps and others (CD May 2 p6). “We take political file complaints seriously and anticipate resolving these quickly,” said Chairman Tom Wheeler in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1mOK8yz). “I hope this serves as a reminder to all stations of their obligation to maintain political files in accordance with statutory provisions and our Rules.” The bureau concluded that further information is necessary to resolve this matter, it wrote the 11 stations. The licensee “must indicate whether the referenced documents comply in all other respects with the Commission’s statutes and rules and, if not, explain why” by May 27,it said. Stations might consider “developing internal systems to minimize omissions of required data from political advertising documentation,” said Fletcher Heald attorney Howard Weiss in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1iGyEVz). The possibility of such complaints should provide a strong incentive for all TV stations “to take steps to tighten up that end of their operation to the extent possible,” he said.