Comments are due Nov. 17, replies Nov. 22, on CXR Radio Station Trust’s request for a one-year extension of the Dec. 17 deadline for CXR to divest Florida FMs WSUN Holiday and WPYO Maitland, said an FCC Media Bureau public notice posted in docket 19-98 Wednesday. Those licenses were assigned to CXR as part of Terrier Media’s deal for numerous Cox Media stations (see 1911220069), with the requirement that they be divested to an unrelated party within two years. Terrier is affiliated with Apollo Global Management.
Broadcasters should never be partisan, should focus on “the counterpunch” and shouldn't be afraid to negotiate, said outgoing NAB CEO Gordon Smith in a livestreamed “state of the industry” address before NAB’s Marconi Awards presentation Wednesday. Smith steps down at year-end and will be replaced by current NAB Chief Operating Officer Curtis LeGeyt (see 2104070045). The speech had been planned for the since-canceled NAB Show 2021. Smith has headed NAB for 12 years, after a two-term stint in the U.S. Senate. LeGeyt is “the right person at the right time for this job,” Smith said Wednesday. The outgoing CEO praised NAB’s role in securing COVID-19 pandemic relief for broadcasters and “standing up to the tech giants,” and said broadcasting has never been more important as an institution than over the past 20 months. Smith advised advocates for broadcasting to prioritize issues with practical consequences, hire “the best, not the most,” and not “punch” until they have assessed the likely response from their opponent. “Some things have to ripen, and you want to calibrate your punch when it’s most impactful,” Smith said. He will continue to work for NAB as an adviser starting in January.
The FCC should require NAB to conduct a “timely” inquiry on the accessibility of children's broadcast programming, said Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the National Association of the Deaf, the American Council of the Blind and others in a joint reply comment filing posted in docket 18-202 Tuesday. In earlier comments, NAB said changes to kidvid rules hadn’t affected programming accessibility (see 2110080056), but the groups said the data is insufficient. “Despite two years of specific forewarning that this inquiry would be forthcoming, NAB has advanced a mere few hundred words of bare contention that the status quo is acceptable,” the filing said. NAB is the only entity positioned to gather systemic data on the accessibility of broadcast content, said the groups. “Children with disabilities deserve a more serious vindication of their civil rights to view educational video programming on equitable terms.” If NAB doesn’t provide more data quickly, the FCC should reassess the changes to the kidvid rules allowing broadcasters more flexibility to satisfy kidvid requirements with shorter programs and multicast programs. NAB declined to comment.
The FCC received no submissions from U.S.-based foreign media outlets for the Oct.11-April 12 period, it said in a report to Congress Monday. The previous semi-annual report, in May 2021, had only one submission, from Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, which had also submitted in previous iterations of the report (see 2105100054). The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act requires the reports.
The FCC unanimously approved a Further NPRM seeking comment on proposals from NAB’s petition on ATSC 3.0 multicasting. The FNPRM released Friday tentatively concludes that the agency should let 3.0 stations license multicast streams that are hosted by other stations (see 2110280064). It proposes allowing stations broadcasting in 3.0 on their own channels to license ATSC 1.0 multicast streams hosted by other stations without simulcasting that stream in 3.0 themselves. Licensing multicast streams would make clear what station is responsible for FCC violations on a given stream, the FNPRM said. It would also address concerns about noncommercial educational stations hosting the streams of commercial broadcasters, the FNPRM said. FCC rules prohibit airing broadcast ads over NCE spectrum. The proposals could help address broadcaster capacity concerns “by facilitating the participation of stations uncomfortable with a purely contractual approach and making the participation of NCE stations legally permissible,” the FNPRM said. The FCC declined to seek comment on an NAB proposal for broadcasters to host multicast streams even without broadcasting in 3.0 but asked about allowing 3.0 broadcasters to host their primary and multicast streams on different stations to prevent service loss. “Is there any reason to treat ‘simulcast’ multicast streams differently than ‘simulcast’ primary streams?” the FCC asked. The FNPRM seeks comment on how to prevent broadcasters from taking advantage of the rule changes “to aggregate programming or broadcast spectrum on multiple stations in a market in a manner that would not otherwise be possible or permitted.”
IHeartMedia investor Global Media & Entertainment Investments withdrew a request that the FCC approve iHeart to be up 49.99% foreign-owned, GMEI said in a letter posted in docket 21-141 Thursday. IHeart itself had requested to be only up 14.99% foreign-owned, and opposed GMEI’s request that the FCC increase the percentage (see 2110140043). GMEI is "hopeful" the withdrawal "will conserve the Commission’s and all parties’ resources and enable prompt grant of iHeart’s Petition,” the letter said. The iHeart petition would allow GMEI to increase its position in iHeart up to the allowed percentage. GMEI also spoke with Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner on the matter, the letter said. The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector last week OK'd the iHeart petition (see 2110270042).
The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $3,000 forfeiture for Broady Media Group’s WENO(AM) Nashville over a late renewal application, said a notice of apparent liability Wednesday. WENO’s application was due April 1, 2020, but wasn’t filed until July 31, 2020, the NAL said. “The Licensee provides no explanation for the untimely filing of the Application.”
NAB doesn’t object to the FCC collecting equal employment opportunity information under certain conditions, but state broadcast associations said the agency shouldn’t collect any EEO data, according to reply comments posted in docket 98-204 Tuesday (see 2110010066). The FCC “should decline here to take any such action,” said state broadcast associations in a joint filing, arguing the agency lacks the authority to collect the data and saying the data collection is redundant and raises constitutional concerns. If the FCC does collect EEO data, it shouldn’t be disclosed in a station-attributable form, said the state associations. “Indeed, this is the only permissible approach,” NAB said. It said FCC efforts to increase diversity would be more effective if they were focused on outreach rather than “regulatory fiat.” There's "no evidence, including in the comments on the Further Notice, that more paperwork obligations or data will actually increase employment diversity in broadcasting,” NAB said.
The FCC’s noncommercial educational FM new station filing window will open Tuesday and close at 6 p.m. EST Nov. 9, said a Media Bureau reminder public notice Monday. The deadline will be “strictly enforced” against both too early and too late applications, the PN said. The bureau will also strictly adhere to the 10-application limit for participants, the PN said. “If it is determined that any party to an application has an attributable interest in more than 10 applications, the Media Bureau will retain the 10 applications that were filed first,” and dismiss the rest, the PN said. The window is the first to use the bureau’s licensing and management system and is expected to draw a large number of applications (see 2110290060).
The FCC Media Bureau opened docket 21-422 for filings about the draft NPRM on using computer modeling to verify the pattern for directional FM antennas, said a public notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the draft NPRM at their Nov. 18 meeting (see 2110280065).