The “Trump FCC” is allowing Sinclair to turn local TV news “into a coordinated national platform for the delivery of messages” that attack opponents of the president, former Chairman Tom Wheeler blogged for the Brookings Institution Thursday. Sinclair and the FCC didn’t comment. By doing away with Wheeler-era rules that prevented sidecar arrangements, the agency “rubber-stamped” the “charade” that sidecar deals comply with ownership regulations, Wheeler said. “The efforts of the Trump FCC to help Sinclair expand its national political propaganda machine have not even been subtle.” Sinclair’s initial announcement of a Tribune combination that at the time didn’t comply with the national ownership cap “was a strong indicator that Sinclair believed the Trump FCC would conveniently change the law to help them,” Wheeler said. “There is an arrogance in engineering federal regulation to benefit a specific company -- especially when the chairman of the Trump FCC has preached ‘regulatory humility.’”

Salem Media Group reached a $10,000 FCC settlement over subsidiaries consummating a pro forma transaction before it was approved, said an order and consent decree in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. It's connected to applications for a pro forma transfer of licenses between Salem subsidiaries, including Caron Broadcasting and South Texas Broadcasting. Though other parts of the deal were approved in December, the transfers involving South Texas weren’t, but the companies consummated all of them, the document said. When the Media Bureau granted the South Texas transactions in February, Salem revealed the deal had already been consummated, the bureau said.

The FCC effort to update kidvid rules “has begun with grossly misplaced priorities,” said the Parents Television Council Wednesday. The draft NPRM “reads like a ‘wish-granting factory’ for the broadcast industry,” PTC said (see 1806260067). “Where are the NPRM’s proffered benefits to America’s children? Where are the bullet points which focus on the needs of families?” asked President Tim Winter. The proposed changes are based on data provided by broadcasters, but the agency should gather data on the needs of children and families, PTC said. Still, the group praised the commissioner who led the effort to create the draft. “We are truly grateful to FCC Commissioner [Mike] O’Rielly for his leadership on this potentially thorny issue.” PTC said. ”It’s high time for modernizing and improving the rules.”

The FCC Media Bureau granted one-month extension of comment deadlines for the FM translator interference proceeding, acceding to radio broadcasters (see 1806260042), an order said Wednesday. Beasley Media, iHeartCommunications, Radio One and others want more time to gather Nielsen data on “locations of listening to full service FM radio stations.” A “brief extension” will allow for “more thorough comments” without causing undue delay, the order said. Comments in docket 18-119 are now due Aug. 6, replies Sept.5.

The attorneys general of California, Oregon, and the District of Columbia want to join the AGs of Illinois, Iowa, and Rhode Island in petitioning the FCC to deny Sinclair buying Tribune (see 1806210071), said a motion to amend the original state petition posted in docket 17-179 Wednesday. California, Oregon and D.C. weren’t included in the original filing because a meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General led to their being unavailable, the motion said.

The BBC released an audio app that “brings together our live and on-demand radio, music and podcasts into a single personalised app for the first time,” blogged the broadcaster Tuesday. “It’s all part of the BBC reinventing itself for a new generation,” it said. “We’ll be adding new functionality and looking for people to feed back.”

Radio broadcasters want a one-month extension on comment deadlines in the FCC’s FM translator interference proceeding (see 1805100057) to allow gathering of more data, said a motion posted Tuesday in docket 18-119 by Beasley Media, the Educational Media Foundation, iHeartCommunications, Radio One, Gradick Communications, Neuhoff and Withers. Comments are due July 6, replies Aug. 6. The broadcasters want the comment deadline moved to Aug. 6, replies due Sept. 5. “The undersigned are working on gathering market-derived data across the radio industry as to the locations of listening to full service FM radio stations based on Nielsen audience data,” they said. “The requested extended Comment period will allow time for this extensive data undertaking, which requires the organization and presentation of the factual record in accessible formats.” The delay won’t hurt the public interest, the companies said. IHeart also requested delay (see 1806250039).

The Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau updated price ranges in the FCC catalog of eligible repacking reimbursement expenses to reflect the annual update of the producer price index by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said a public notice released Tuesday in docket 16-306. The PPI increased 2.4 percent compared with the previous figure. The new numbers were integrated into the licensing and management system, the PN said. “This update does not require any action on the part of reimbursement-eligible broadcasters and MVPDs.”

The full FCC denied Edward Stolz and Deborah Naiman’s application for review of Media Bureau approval of Entercom buying CBS Radio, said an order Tuesday. The appeal is part of a long effort by Stolz to overturn the deal; the Office of General Counsel has called his filings “repetitious” (see 1805090040). Stolz’s argument on CBS TV stations distorted news is “unadjudicated” and “unsubstantiated,” the order said, and there’s no presumption that an act by one CBS TV station would indicate misconduct at the company or its other stations, the order said. Stolz identifies no "facts that raise questions about CBS’s qualifications to hold the radio station licenses that are the subject of the proposed transfer of control,” the order said.

E.W. Scripps agreed to sell five radio stations in Tulsa to Griffin Communications for $12.5 million, the seller said Monday. It's the first step in an effort to sell all 34 radio stations (see 1801260032), it said. Scripps President Adam Symson expects more sales announcements “soon.” Griffin owns four TV stations in Oklahoma City, the release said, and the deal is expected to close in Q4.