The FCC issued a final rule Wednesday amending the FM table of allotments by adding Channel 263A at Hamilton, Texas. “We modify the FM station KNUZ license to specify operation on Channel 291A in lieu of Channel 224A at San Saba, Texas, and the FM station KRNR license to specify Channel 224A in lieu of 263A at Goldthwaite, Texas,” the Media Bureau said. The changes will be effective July 11.

Comments are due to the FCC July 7, replies July 22, on Maine Public Broadcasting Corp.’s petition to substitute WMEB-TV Orono Channel 22 for 9.

Arm & Rage's attempt to limit FCC Enforcement Bureau document requests about fraud and tax evasion charges and the broadcaster's related request for an order (see 2205240047) are "based on nothing more than imaginings, assumptions, and conjecture about the Bureau’s intent in building its case moving forward," the bureau said in docket 22-122 Monday. It said Arm & Rage's Joseph Armstrong argued the bureau isn't entitled to discovery on elements of the crime for which he was convicted, but determining whether that conviction makes him and Arm & Rage unqualified to hold an FCC license means deriving into the circumstances of the conviction for submitting a false tax return. Arm & Rage can always challenge specific discovery requests in the future and seek a forced exclusionary ruling then, it said.

For its review of Standard General's proposed buy of Tegna, the FCC Media Bureau wants insight into New Standard's retransmission consent negotiation strategy. In a docket 22-162 filing Friday, the bureau made several requests for information, including whether retrans consent agreements would be negotiated jointly post transaction, if there would be any sharing agreements and details of anticipated staff reductions. The bureau also requested copies of submissions made to the FTC and DOJ on antitrust review. Responses are due June 13.

The White House should block Standard General’s proposed buy of Tegna, said the NewsGuild sector of the Communications Workers of America in a letter to President Joe Biden posted on the NewsGuild’s website Thursday. “Mr. President, you can do something to protect workers, journalists, local news, and hardworking families. Please urge the FCC to reject the Apollo/Standard General/TEGNA deal.” The Tegna transaction would “kill journalism jobs, undermine local news and raise prices for American families,” the letter said. The labor union for journalists also weighed in at the FCC (see 2205130072). Through station swaps designed to trigger after-acquired clauses in retransmission consent contracts, the deal “would put in place a premeditated price fixing scheme that would supercharge inflation by jacking up prices on everyday Americans,” the letter said. NewsGuild-CWA also argued the transaction could violate FCC ownership caps if loopholes allow Apollo Global Management, which already owns stations, to take over the Tegna stations. In the deal’s FCC filings, Apollo is an investor in the transaction but won’t own a controlling interest in the new entity. Apollo, Standard and Tegna didn’t comment.

Radio personality Hugh Hewitt said proposals for geotargeted radio would line the pockets of “big tech,” in a letter to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr posted in docket 20-401 Thursday. Hewitt, who works for Salem Media -- an opponent of the proposal -- said the proposal, which would allow radio stations to target advertisements to small sections of their markets, “is a torpedo aimed at midship for my program and those like it.” Hewitt echoed arguments from NAB and others that the targeted ads -- which could potentially be offered at cheaper rates to advertisers because they would reach fewer listeners -- would create “downward pressure” on advertising rates. This “could very well be the final straw for many stations -- especially smaller stations -- and would only further strengthen digital platforms such as Google, Twitter, and Meta,” Hewitt said. Carr should recognize the proposal as a “real threat” to radio because of his “admirable crusade to combat censorship and promote free political discourse,” Hewitt said. “When Chairman [Ajit] Pai was in office I would email him with the understanding that my communications are for the applicable notice and comment proceedings, and I welcomed him on air to discuss,” Hewitt said. “The same invitation is open to you.” "Mr. Hewitt expresses concern about Big Tech and that geotargeting by radio will somehow inure to Big Tech’s benefit," emailed a spokesperson for GeoBroadcast Solutions, the primary proponents of the geotargeted radio proposal. "But any small- and medium sized station owner will tell you that it’s precisely because radio cannot geotarget that advertisers have fled to the very platform Mr. Hewitt is concerned about: Big Tech.”

Aspects of the FCC’s adjustments to political ad recordkeeping rules that required OMB approval will take full effect July 5, says a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register. The order updated FCC rules to conform to the language in the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act and added online presence to the list of considerations broadcasters take into account when determining whether a write-in political candidate should receive political candidate ad pricing.

FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin should dismiss the hearing proceeding on Pennsylvania radio broadcaster Roger Wahl’s license over his failure to participate, said the Enforcement Bureau in a motion posted Wednesday in docket 21-401. Dismissing the matter would lead to the revocation of Wahl’s license for WQZS(FM) Meyersdale. “Mr. Wahl has repeatedly failed (or refused) to provide the Bureau with a complete response to the Bureau’s discovery requests, or, in the case of the Bureau’s most recent document requests, with any response at all,” said the EB. Halprin previously warned Wahl, who has been representing himself, he must adhere to the case’s deadlines or risk dismissal (see 2204290073). “Lack of counsel or unfamiliarity with Commission processes does not excuse nonfeasance,” said the motion. If Halprin doesn’t dismiss the matter, she should compel Wahl to respond, the EB said.

Low-power FM broadcaster Marion Education Exchange has 20 days to respond to Enforcement Bureau information requests and file a notice of appearance in its hearing proceeding or lose its license, said an order from Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin posted Tuesday in docket 22-76. The hearing proceeding stems from allegations that the Marion, Ohio, broadcaster has repeatedly failed to respond to FCC inquiries and gave the agency false information about the make-up of its board. MEE’s attorney, George Wolfe, withdrew as Marion’s counsel after the broadcaster ceased communicating with him, the order said. “MEE’s failure to respond in any way to any discovery deadlines in this proceeding and its apparent lack of communication with its attorney of record are not the actions of a party that genuinely intends to fulfill its burden of proof in this hearing,” the order said. If MEE doesn’t meet the ALJ’s requirements, the hearing proceeding will be dismissed, leading to the broadcaster’s license not being renewed, the order said.

A draft further NPRM that was circulated to FCC commissioners’ offices last week would seek comment on whether to allow the sunset of the requirement that stations broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 also offer an ATSC 1.0 stream that is “substantially similar,” industry and FCC officials said (see 2204250021). That requirement is set to sunset July 17, 2023, a date that was set by the 2017 order that authorized ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. The draft item is seen as broad and isn’t expected to feature many tentative conclusions, industry officials said. The FNPRM seeks comment on the state of the NextGenTV transition and on the scheduled sunsets of two rules adopted in that order, an FCC spokesperson told us. The 2017 3.0 order included sunsets on both the substantially similar requirement and on the requirement that broadcasters use the A/322 standard on physical-layer protocol for 3.0 transmissions. The 2017 order said the agency would monitor the 3.0 transition and a year before the sunsets were to expire would seek comment on whether marketplace conditions warranted an extension, the spokesperson said. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the NAB Show in April that she sees the current framework of 3.0 as the correct one right now, and she and Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer mentioned concerns about the standard’s lack of backward compatibility (see 2204250067). Pearl TV and other broadcast organizations have argued that allowing the sunset to occur won’t lead to viewers being disenfranchised because of market forces -- adoption of 3.0-ready devices isn't yet widespread and stations need viewers to sell ads.