Broadcast programming streaming service Locast will pay the plaintiff networks that sued it (see 1907310043) $32 million in statutory damages, under a proposed settlement (in Pacer, docket 19-cv-7136) filed Thursday with U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. The settlement between Locast and plaintiffs including Disney, NBCUniversal Media, Fox Broadcasting, CBS and ABC means Locast operators David Goodfriend and the Sports Fan Coalition and its directors are permanently enjoined from operating Locast or a similar service. It would dismiss Goodfriend as a defendant. Gigi Sohn, who has been a Locast board member, was nominated this week by the White House to an open FCC commissioner seat. Asked about timing, Locast counsel didn't comment.
IHeart Media’s request for FCC OK to be more than 25% foreign-owned got the nod by the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector, said an NTIA letter posted in docket 20-51 Wednesday (see 2110140043). The approval is among the first under the revised process that replaced the former "Team Telecom" review by U.S. security agencies after a 2020 FCC vote. The committee wants the FCC to condition approval on iHeart’s compliance with the same conditions it agreed to for a previous foreign ownership request: to hire a U.S.-based U.S. citizen to oversee national security concerns and be approved by DOJ. IHeart would notify DOJ before using any “new Outsourced or Offshored Service Provider” to collect personal information about subscribers, and about changes to where such data is stored. Those conditions are standard for foreign ownership requests, broadcast attorneys told us.
The briefing schedule for broadcasters’ challenge of FCC rules on foreign-sponsored content disclosures was changed, after a joint motion from both sides seeking to resolve scheduling conflicts (see 2108130074). Final briefs are due Feb. 25, said the modified schedule (in Pacer) from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Monday. They were due Feb. 22. Initial briefs from broadcasters are now due Dec. 7, the FCC response Jan. 21, and the broadcaster reply Feb. 11.
The FCC Media Bureau issued two forfeiture orders for $1,500 each over late-filed license renewal applications, said notices in Monday’s Daily Digest. Pilgrim’s Journey's renewal application for WPJI-LP Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was due April 1, 2020, but not filed until May 19. Pilgrim’s Journey told the agency it wasn’t aware of the deadline because the company’s former president, who had handled FCC matters, died. Katie Davis’ renewal application for FM translator K269AV Tonopah and Goldfield, Nevada, was due June 1 but filed July 28. Davis didn’t give the FCC an explanation, the order said.
The full FCC denied Foundation for a Beautiful Life applications for review seeking permission to operate its Saratoga, California, low-power FM station, said an order released Monday. FBL’s license originally faced difficulty when the FCC said it constructed what's now DKQEK-LP Cupertino several miles from the location where it was licensed. FBL continued to broadcast from the site after its license was dismissed, and didn’t wait for the agency to rule on a special temporary authority request seeking permission to provide COVID-19 updates to Cupertino’s Mandarin-speaking residents. After the Media Bureau denied FBL’s requests, it appealed to the full FCC and unsuccessfully sought a stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2006260052). FBL argued the station provided an important information service for Chinese residents of the market, and that many of its errors were inadvertent. FBL unsuccessfully appealed a requirement that it submit copies of the bureau’s order commanding it to cease operating with any application it files for the next 10 years. By operating the station without a license, FBL was effectively a pirate, the FCC said. "The existence of a serious health crisis, while important, is not a mitigating factor,” said the order. “It does not override licensing requirements or justify a unilateral use of the public airwaves without prior authority.” FBL didn't comment.
An order updating the DTV table of allotments was unanimously approved Friday and deleted from the agenda for Tuesday’s FCC commissioners’ meeting, said a deletion notice listed in Monday's Daily Digest. The order was considered noncontroversial at the FCC and among broadcasters. “It’s really just housekeeping,” said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Matthew McCormick in an interview. The order would adjust the rules for the table of allotments to incorporate changes to the way TV channels are organized stemming from the broadcast incentive auction, the repacking and the lifting of a freeze on changes in November. The order also deletes rules that have become obsolete, according to the final version. McCormick said the changes are unlikely to have much effect on stations seeking to adjust their channels.
“Attribution in a security incident is complicated and can be speculative,” emailed a Sinclair spokesperson in response to a report that the company’s recent hack (see 2110180063) was the work of a Russian-based gang of cybercriminals called “Evil Corp.” “Our focus remains on continuing to work closely with a third-party cybersecurity firm, other incident response professionals, law enforcement and governmental agencies as part of our investigation,” the spokesperson said. The company is making progress at restoring systems after the attack, Sinclair said. “All of our stations and Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) are currently on the air and broadcasting,” and “a large portion of other programming has and is airing as scheduled,” said the spokesperson. “We are still working to return to our complete regular programming schedule and to resolve all programming issues that may arise.”
Audacy bought “an exclusive, perpetual license” to use WideOrbit’s digital audio streaming technology WO Streaming, said a release Wednesday. Audacy said this lets it deliver enhanced consumer-facing streaming features. Audacy will operate the service under the name AmperWave, and the WO Streaming team has joined Audacy. Audacy didn't comment on the purchase price. See also the personals section of this issue.
The Parents Television Council wants KREM Spokane, Washington, and owner Tegna to investigate how a clip of pornographic material aired for about 10 seconds during a weather segment on the station’s evening news broadcast Sunday. “Let there be no suggestion that the airing of the pornographic content might have been an ‘accident’ or a ‘mistake,’ said PTC President Tim Winter in a release Wednesday. “Someone with the wherewithal to pass that content through the control room did so intentionally. If it were not aired by someone’s design, why is it always porn that gets aired ‘by accident’ instead of innocuous content?” “We have apologized to our viewers and are diligently working to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” emailed a Tegna spokesperson. In 2016, then-Schurz-owned WDBJ Roanoke, Virginia, paid a $325,000 FCC forfeiture after it aired an image that contained pornography during a news story about a firefighter’s adult film career (see 1604040057). Schurz appealed the amount but eventually paid in order to close its sale to Gray Television. Schurz’s then-attorney, Jack Goodman, said in an interview Wednesday that FCC authority to fine stations over airing pornographic content remains “constitutionally dubious.”
Clarify rules for broadcasters hosting ATSC 3.0 multicast streams as part of the transition to the new standard, asked NAB in calls with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr last week, said a filing posted Monday in docket 16-142. A draft item addressing NAB’s petition on the matter was recently circulated (see 2110130061). “NAB’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Commission has a consistent regulatory framework as the Next Gen TV rollout continues,” the group said.