The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on Maine Public Broadcasting’s request to change WMEB-TV Orono, Maine, from Channel 9 to 22, said an NPRM posted Wednesday in docket 22-215. Comments will be due 30 days after Federal Register publication, replies 45.

Scripps Broadcasting’s change of KBZK Bozeman, Montana’s channel from 13 to 27 is effective as of Tuesday, said that day’s Federal Register.

Broadcaster Arm & Rage wants Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin to limit the Enforcement Bureau from requesting documents related to fraud and tax evasion charges against Joseph Armstrong and to issue an order clarifying that past allegations of fraud against him are irrelevant (see 2205190050, said a motion in limine and a response to a motion to compel posted Tuesday in docket 22-122. Armstrong was convicted of making a false statement on a 2008 tax form, but acquitted of fraud and tax evasion, the filings said. Armstrong’s conviction followed his selling of cigarette tax stamps for a profit after changes in the tax rates that he voted for as a Tennessee legislator, but that sale was legal, the filings said. “There is no allegation that Mr. Armstrong made that false statement to defraud the government or otherwise avoid paying his taxes. He has been exonerated of that allegation, and that is more than enough to deem it irrelevant under Commission policy here,” said the motion in limine. The Enforcement Bureau has said in previous filings that it doesn’t intend to seek discovery related to the charges Armstrong was acquitted of, but has repeatedly referred to fraud in its filings, Arm & Rage said. “This proceeding has repeatedly referenced fraud even though, under Commission policy, suggestions of fraud are irrelevant and inappropriate. A&R respectfully requests that the Presiding Judge stop those references before they go any further. “

The FCC Media Bureau denied NAB and NPR’s request for an extension of filing deadlines for comments on GeoBroadcast Solutions’ tests of geotargeted radio tech, said an order posted Tuesday in docket 20-401. NPR and NAB “have not shown good cause” for the extension (see 2205180048), said the order. “We agree with GeoBroadcast that the public interest will be best served by expeditious review of the GeoBroadcast test reports and other material in the record,” the order said. NAB Chief Legal Officer Rick Kaplan called the denial “surprising and disappointing,” in a release Tuesday. The FCC “has provided numerous extensions to GBS totaling over two years in length,” said NAB. “We are not aware of a situation where the FCC has denied such a reasonable request, especially in a technical proceeding where documents were not readily available for examination.” “It is the Commission’s general policy that requests for extension of time will not be routinely granted,” the bureau said. The agency shouldn’t “rush to judgment” on the geotargeted radio FM booster proposal, NAB said.

Birach Broadcasting faces a $17,500 penalty for unauthorized silences and filing violations at KTUV(AM) Little Rock and its FM translator K260DT Little Rock, said a Media Bureau order listed in Monday’s Daily Digest. Birach requested special temporary authority for the stations to remain silent only after complaints were filed with the agency, and KTUV’s online public files weren’t properly maintained, the order said. Birach also certified in a renewal application filed before the stations went silent that they were still broadcasting. Since the application was pending when the stations went dark, Birach was obligated to inform the agency, the order said.

FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin should reject the American Militia Association’s motion to intervene in a hearing proceeding for a Pennsylvania radio station owned by Roger Wahl, said the Enforcement Bureau in an opposition filing posted Friday in docket 21-401. AMA CEO Robert Kluver sought to intervene because he owns radio stations that compete with WQZS(FM) Meyersdale and disputed filings in the case saying Wahl’s is the only station in the market (see 2205170080). The EB called that information “thought-provoking” but said AMA should be denied because the request is late-filed, and Kluver appears to have no personal knowledge of the issues in the case. “It appears that Mr. Kluver’s knowledge related to this proceeding emanates from documents submitted to the Media Bureau, Mr. Wahl’s responses to the Enforcement Bureau’s discovery requests, and information reported in the media.” The bureau “intends to investigate the allegations Mr. Kluver makes in his motion” and could enlarge the case based on them, the filing said.

The FCC Media Bureau extended filing deadlines for the Standard/Tegna deal by about a month in response to a request from several groups opposed to media consolidation (see 2205180041), said a public notice Friday. Petitions to deny had been due May 23, but are now due June 22. Oppositions are due July 7, replies July 18. Public Knowledge, Common Cause and the Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild sector also asked the FCC to require additional information from the broadcasters, but the bureau hasn’t ruled on that yet, the PN said. “While the Motion remains pending and in light of the questions raised therein, we will grant a limited extension of the petition to deny deadline for the underlying transactions.”

NAB and NPR’s request for an extension of deadlines to file comments on geotargeted radio tests uses “fuzzy” math, said GeoBroadcast Solutions in an opposition filing posted Friday in docket 20-401. A report on the test of the technology at KSJO(FM) San Jose will have been in the docket for 262 days when comments are due June 6, and the report for WRBJ-FM Brandon, Mississippi, will have been in for 68 days, said GBS. “There is thus no reason why Movants cannot produce responses during the generous timeframe the Commission granted,” GBS said. “This proceeding does not propose any requirements; it involves an entirely voluntary technology.” NPR and NAB “failed to demonstrate that the Commission should deviate from its standard procedure of not permitting extensions of time.”

NPR supports an FCC proposal to eliminate requirements that noncommercial educational (NCE) FM stations protect channel 6 television stations from interference, it said in a call with FCC Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner Wednesday, according to an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 03-185. NPR and Shuldiner also discussed “the parameters” of the FCC’s draft FM6 NPRM (see 2205180065) and “how NPR’s concerns about the continuing operation of FM6 may be relevant.” NPR historically opposed the continued operations of FM6 stations (see 2006100036).

Channel substitutions for two Gray TV stations took effect Thursday, said that day’s Federal Register. Gray’s WDTV Weston, West Virginia, switched from Channel 5 to 33, and KSCW–DT, Wichita, Kansas, shifted from 12 to 28.