Two Florida Democrats, Reps. Charlie Crist and Darren Soto, weighed in on the FCC extending the Dec. 17 deadline for CXR Radio Station Trust to sell off radio stations divested as part of the Terrier/Cox deal, said letters posted in docket 19-98 Monday. CXR has asked for more time but would-be purchaser Spanish Broadcast Systems said CXR has rejected multiple offers from SBS for WPYO(FM) Maitland, Florida (see 2111180069). If the FCC were to grant the extension "based on unsupported claims about the unsatisfactory state of the market -- claims that are undermined by the fact that CXR has received a viable offer from an established radio operator,” it would undercut the purpose of radio ownership rules, Soto wrote. CXR “is under an obligation to consummate the sale of the stations as soon as reasonably practicable,” wrote Crist. Under SBS, WPYO would be the first and only Hispanic-owned station serving Orlando, Crist said.

Comments are due Dec. 13, replies Dec. 23, on Auction 112, which involves construction permits for 27 full-power TV stations and is set for June, said a public notice Friday in docket 21-449. The permits are for channels that have been allotted but for which there isn’t a current licensee, the PN said. The allotments include stations in Syracuse; Great Falls, Montana; and Flagstaff, Arizona.

A holiday marketing campaign on ATSC 3.0 and the enhanced audio features it enables begins in late November, said Pearl TV Thursday. The nine-week campaign will air in the 34 markets that have 3.0 and will educate consumers about Dolby audio features, such as enhanced dialogue, it said. Dolby’s Sound Decisions marketing campaign will demonstrate 3.0-exclusive audio features, and broadcasters will also air commercials on 3.0, themed the "Future of Television." ATSC 3.0 enabled TV will be available in stores “just in time for the holiday shopping season and a variety of retailer deals associated with recognized shopping events,” said Pearl.

A trust created to divest radio licenses as part of the Terrier/Cox deal rejected repeated purchase offers from Spanish Broadcast Systems, said SBS in comments posted in FCC docket 19-98 Thursday. CXR Radio Station Trust asked for more time to sell the stations (see 2111100079); the deadline is currently Dec. 17. SBS has made three offers for WPYO(FM) Maitland, Florida, but CXR, which is overseen by Houlihan Lokey broadcast broker Elliot Evers, rejected them as too low, SBS said. Evers told SBS he plans to hold the station off the market until its performance improves and its value rises, said the SBS filing. SBS’ most recent offer, made Nov. 3, was in excess of the station's value as determined by SBS’ appraiser, SBS said. The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on station valuations isn't a sufficient reason to extend the sale deadline, said SBS. “The Media Bureau has expressly rejected the notion that a divestiture trustee may defer its required station sales while awaiting optimum market conditions,” SBS said: CXR’s request “comes at a time where few would argue that society, the economy, and even radio revenues are on the rebound from the crisis.” Evers declined to comment.

The FCC unanimously approved an NPRM Monday seeking comment on allowing use of computer models to show FM directional antenna patterns for applications. The item had been set for Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting, and wasn’t expected to be controversial -- no outside parties submitted filings to docket 21-422. The final version appeared little changed from the draft. Allowing broadcasters to use computer simulations instead of the full-size and scale models currently required will save money, broadcast engineers told us. “The requirements can be quite expensive,” said du Treil Lundin President Bob du Treil. “We tentatively conclude that requiring" FM and low-power FM "applicants to provide physical measurements as the only means to verify directional antenna patterns is outdated,” the NPRM said. It stems from a June petition by Dielectric, Jampro Antennas, Shively Labs, Radio Frequency Systems and the Educational Media Foundation. Petitioners argued that computer models are cheaper and may have improved accuracy over the model method. AM and TV antennas already can use computer modeling to demonstrate their patterns for applications, and the current rule puts FM applicants “on an unequal footing with their AM and DTV counterparts,” the NPRM said. A deletion notice Tuesday removed the item from the meeting agenda.

The Hart-Scott-Rudino waiting period for Meredith’s sale of its digital, content and print arms to Dotdash Media expired Friday, said Meredith Monday. The FCC Media Bureau approved the sale of Meredith’s stations to Gray Television Friday. Meredith will seek shareholder approval for the Gray transaction at a Nov. 30 shareholder meeting and expects closing on both deals Dec. 1.

The two mutually exclusive applicants for the FCC’s Auction 111 have until Nov. 30 to reach a settlement agreement to be resolved without competitive bidding, said a Media Bureau public notice Monday. Auction 111 consisted of low-power TV stations and TV translator stations (see 2109210056). The applicants are Major Market Broadcasting of New York and Venture Technologies Group. Sixteen other applications either didn’t have conflicts or had conflicts that have already been resolved, the PN said.

Technology for stations to geotarget radio broadcasts “is beneficial to minority communities, including radio broadcasters, small businesses, and the public,” said National Newspaper Publishers Association CEO Benjamin Chavis in a letter to the FCC posted in docket 20-401 Monday. The tech will help minority-owned broadcasters and let minority-owned businesses afford broadcast advertising by creating targeted, cheaper ad spots, he said. The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council have been pushing the FCC to change booster rules to allow the tech, as has the tech’s creator, GeoBroadcast Solutions (see 2102100055). NAB and iHeartMedia argued the tech would disadvantage minority groups.

The FCC approved Gray Television’s $2.7 billion purchase of 17 TV stations from Meredith, said a letter from the Media Bureau's Video Division posted Friday. “The Transaction serves the public interest, convenience, and necessity.” Approval was expected and Gray executives recently said it would come soon (see 2111050063). The deal involves one overlapping market that Gray addressed by divesting WJRT-TV Flint, Michigan, to Allen Media (see 2107150003), and drew no formal objections. The transaction will make Gray the No. 2 U.S. broadcaster by revenue, and give it an audience reach of 25% of households, well under the 39% cap. Two informal objections, including a late-filed one from a Las Vegas-area broadcast antenna installer who said Meredith had a policy against carrying ads that encourage cord cutting, were rejected. “We cannot conclude, as Mr. Antenna suggests, that such a policy exists, or ever existed, at Gray or Meredith,” staff said: The deal would create public interest benefits for viewers because of Gray’s Washington bureau and the advantages of greater scale. Once the sale is consummated, Meredith will separate into two companies, one consisting of the broadcast properties and owned by Gray, and the other -- Meredith’s print, content and digital businesses -- will become a subsidiary of Dotdash Media (see 2111100051). The deal is expected to close Dec.1, Meredith has said.

Meredith’s board approved a stock distribution connected with the company’s planned spinoff of its nonbroadcast TV businesses, part of the arrangements for Gray Television’s buy of Meredith’s TV stations (see 2106030074), said a Meredith release Tuesday. The companies are expected to close their deal “immediately” after the stock distribution, which is planned for Dec. 1. Gray executives said on a recent earnings call the transaction was expected to be finalized soon (see 2111050063). The deal awaits approval from Gray’s board in a planned Nov. 30 vote and FCC approval, the release said. The spinoff, which includes Meredith’s content, digital and magazine arms and will be called “New Meredith,” will become a subsidiary of Dotdash Media, the release said. The FCC didn’t comment Wednesday.