Two of the lawsuits against Sinclair, Tribune, Gray and other large broadcasters over advertising price collusion (see 1807310054) were consolidated and transferred to U.S. District Court in Chicago, said an order (in Pacer) Thursday from the U.S. District Court judicial panel on multidistrict litigation. The potential class-action lawsuits were filed after reports emerged DOJ was investigating the broadcast groups for conspiring to fix ad prices. Though the order transferred only cases filed in Maryland and Illinois, the plaintiffs expect 15 similar cases in other districts to be transferred to the same court, they said in a filing Thursday. “These actions involve common questions of fact, and that centralization will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation” the panel said. Friday, the companies didn’t comment.
A Miami pirate radio operator reached a settlement with the FCC Enforcement Bureau requiring he pay $2,680 of his $20,000 penalty, but will owe the rest if caught operating a pirate station again in the next 20 years, said a consent decree released Wednesday. After being caught, Sergio Plasencia sent the agency years of tax returns to show he couldn’t afford the proposed $20,000. Along with owing the money if he transmits an unauthorized signal again, Plasencia also will owe if he’s found to have misled the agency about his financial situation.
The FCC’s grant of Ion's request for changes to the DTV table of allotments and community of license for its WPXQ from Block Island, Rhode Island, to Newport (see 1809180049) is effective Thursday, says a final rule for Thursday's Federal Register.
The FCC didn’t properly provide notice of the market comparability standard used in the incubator order, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters in a petition for review (in Pacer) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The incubator NPRM referred to allowing broadcast ownership waivers given through the program to be granted in similarly sized markets to those where the incubation occurs, but the order says the two markets must be only in the same market size tier, and the comparable market can’t have fewer independent owners, the petition said. “The difference between these two concepts is substantial." The standard in the order allows broadcasters in markets “that are substantially smaller with at least 45 full power radio stations to use the waiver in any of the ten largest (measured by size or by revenues) markets,” the petition said. It's ”arbitrary and capricious" and “an abuse of discretion,” the petition said. Prometheus Radio Project also appealed (see 1809040065). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Thursday he's concerned litigation could slow down incubator implementation (see 1809270059).
Rendering a “premium TV experience without the premium price” of a pay-TV subscription is the positioning behind TiVo’s 4K-capable Bolt OTA DVR that combines over-the-air reception through an HD antenna with streaming capability via an onboard modem, said the company Thursday. TiVo designed the product to resonate with the 25 percent of pay TV homes that describe themselves as “cord-cutter intenders” -- those that are weighing dropping their cable or satellite subscriptions for budgetary reasons, said the company. “Cord cutter regretters have already moved to using only internet TV services, including streaming apps, but are now rethinking their decision based on missing programming choices and inferior viewing experiences,” it said. The Bolt “helps these customers regain a premium TV experience without needing to re-subscribe to a pay-TV service that charges them for channels they don’t want, or requires them to rent set-top boxes,” it said. The product becomes available for sale Friday at $249, plus a $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annual service fee. "The new device and plan provides consumers with significant hardware and performance updates, including 4K, dual and mobile streams plus popular, fan-favorite TiVo features like SkipMode and OnePass," emailed a TiVo spokeswoman Thursday when we asked what consumers get for their monthly or yearly service fees.
The FCC and Congress should consider competition from companies outside the radio industry, said numerous broadcast comments Monday in docket 18-227, responding to the FCC call for information on the state of audio competition. The Media Bureau should “root out” the “increasingly dangerous myth that radio broadcasting constitutes a separate market for economic competition,” Sun Broadcasting and WBOC said. “The increasing share of local advertising revenues earned by online and mobile outlets, including the digital giants, has squeezed radio stations’ share of local ad revenues,” said NAB. “No longer are there silos, where radio stations compete only with each other for advertising revenue and listeners,” filed Connoisseur Media, Townsquare Media, Mid-West Family Broadcasting, Midwest Communications and the Frandsen family stations. MusicFIRST Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition said radio broadcasters enjoy a competitive advantage, and limits on ownership should remain. “History has made clear” relaxing ownership rules would “substantially reduce competition among AM/FM radio stations,” they said,
Hearst launched Hearst Anyscreen, an over-the-top advertising platform for Hearst-owned programming, it said Monday. It said Anyscreen ties Hearst TV station local content and content from a variety of other programmers to ad inventory, with audience targeting across a variety of connected TV platforms, including Roku, Android TV, Apple TV, DirecTV Now, Google Chromecast and Sling TV.
E.W. Scripps expects political advertising revenue to grow by more than half in 2018 compared with the last midterm elections in 2014, it said Monday: 2018 political advertising revenue for Scripps will top its $75 million total from 2014 and its $101 million from 2016.
The FCC shouldn’t fast-track relaxing the rules on where FM translators can relocate after being bumped from their frequencies for interfering with full-power FM stations, said the LPFM Coalition in supplemental comments posted in docket 18-119 Monday. The coalition accused NAB of mischaracterizing the coalition’s position on the matter in the association's replies (see 1809060051). NAB said the coalition “supports a prohibition against any translator channel changes that reduce spectrum opportunities for LPFM operators.” The coalition comments instead argued FCC action on translator interference must comport with the Local Community Radio Act, and preclusion studies could assist with interference disputes. The Administrative Procedure Act “requires an agency to ignore such incorrect information,” the coalition said. "Reject both NAB’s mis-statements and its ill-founded fast-track channel hopping proposal.” NAB "looks forward to the Commission’s resolution of this proceeding and appreciates the Commission’s efforts to provide translator licensees with more certainty while protecting the existing service provided by FM broadcasters,” a spokesperson said.
The FCC Media Bureau granted Ion’s request to change its WPXQ-TV community of license and the DTV table of allotments from Block Island, Rhode Island, to Newport, on condition the company continue to serve Block Island, said an order Tuesday (see 1806120016). “The record supports the general conclusion that Newport is a vibrant year-round community, while Block Island may be associated with more seasonal occupancy.”