Mutually exclusive FM translator applications from the January filing window (see 1712050048) have until June 14 to reach settlement agreements, said an FCC Media and Wireless bureaus public notice Tuesday. The window for settlement agreements opens May 24, the PN said. A list of mutually exclusive translator applications is appended to the PN.

Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment proposals for the FCC‘s broadcast incubator program were posted in docket 17-289 as comments in the incubator proceeding. The ACDDE recommended a program based on congressionally authorized tax credits, after being urged not to do so by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 1803270041).

President Donald Trump again tweeted in support of Sinclair and condemned broadcast networks Tuesday. Trump tweeted pro-Sinclair sentiments Monday in response to widespread online criticism of the broadcaster requiring anchors throughout the country to read on-air the same prepared remarks about fake news (see 1804020056). “The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair,” tweeted Trump Tuesday. “The ‘Fakers’ at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!” Later, Trump took additional aim at CNN. “Check out the fact that you can’t get a job at ratings challenged @CNN unless you state that you are totally anti-Trump?” Trump tweeted. “Little [CNN President] Jeff Zuker [sic], whose job is in jeopardy, is not having much fun lately. They should clean up and strengthen CNN and get back to honest reporting!” The Save Local Media Coalition, formed to oppose Sinclair buying Tribune, condemned the president’s tweets and the deal. “Trump’s tweet and Sinclair's requirement that anchors repeat Trump propaganda about ‘fake news’ backs up the conclusion that Sinclair and Trump and [FCC Chairman Ajit] Pai have formed an unholy alliance,” said coalition member group Herndon-Reston Indivisible in a statement. "Promulgating a centralized command and control national editorial message disguised as an authentic, locally created and believed commentary, is inherently dishonest and disgraceful,” said Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black in the statement. CCIA is also a coalition member. Sinclair and the FCC didn’t comment.

Programming for ATSC’s annual Broadcast TV Conference in Washington isn't complete, but the May 23-24 event is open for registration and does have a theme -- “Road to ATSC 3.0: Destination Next Gen TV.” A newly posted registration page bills day one as a 3.0 “implementation review” and day two as the Next Gen TV Conference. The event is ATSC’s first annual meeting since the FCC in November authorized 3.0's voluntary deployment (see 1711160060) and framers completed work on the last of 3.0's suite of standards in January (see 1801090056). "Road to ATSC 3.0" also will be the name of the exhibit sponsored by ATSC, CTA and NAB in the Grand Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center during next week's NAB Show, said ATSC President Mark Richer in the April issue of the group's monthly newsletter The Standard, which was released Monday. The exhibit will highlight early 3.0 deployments, said Richer. More than 40 exhibitors will showcase 3.0 technology on the NAB show floor, he said.

The FCC Media Bureau rejected De La Hunt Broadcasting’s petition for reconsideration of eliminating the main studio rule (see 1801110033) for raising issues that weren’t brought up during the rulemaking process and for being too narrowly focused, said an order Monday in docket 17-106. De La Hunt has a construction permit that will likely expire before it can build a new facility, and wanted the FCC to issue a recon order that would eliminate the main studio rule but also allow broadcasters with construction permits for new facilities with less than six months left in the construction period to be given another six months to build. The company had the CP during the main studio elimination rulemaking but didn’t file comments asking for this change, the bureau said. “As part of the main studio proceeding, no party presented to the Commission the argument that it should provide an extension of time for existing construction permits.” De La Hunt’s request is more properly addressed through a waiver, the bureau said. A Media Alliance comment on De La Hunt’s petition claiming the order eliminating the main studio rule contained an error (see 1803150033) wasn’t itself a recon petition and didn’t address any issues in the petition, the bureau said in a footnote. “If Media Alliance intended to seek Commission reconsideration of that separate issue, it should have filed a timely petition for reconsideration, which it failed to do.”

Four more broadcast equipment and services suppliers will participate in the Phoenix “model market” initiative for deploying ATSC 3.0, said Pearl TV in a Tuesday announcement. Dielectric will supply UHF bandpass filters to Phoenix TV stations participating in the initiative, Enensys is supplying its 3.0 broadcast gateways, GatesAir the latest generation of its Maxiva TV transmitters, and Triveni Digital is providing its Broadcast Services Management Platform content distribution systems, said Pearl. Harmonic announced Tuesday it will supply the Phoenix stations with its Electra X 3.0 media processors (see 1803270006).

Petitions for Reconsideration of the FCC’s ATSC 3.0 order from NCTA and the American Television Alliance (see 1803060053) are being published in Thursday’s Federal Register. Oppositions are due April 13, replies April 27, the FR said.

Radio equipment from two Boston-area alleged pirate radio stations was seized in a federal forfeiture action Monday, said a release from DOJ Wednesday. “We are pursuing multiple legal routes to stop pirate broadcasters; the seizure action in Boston is just one of them,” said FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold, in the release. The stations, which the government said were unlicensed, were identified by DOJ as “Big City” and “B87.7 FM,” both broadcast from Dorchester, Massachusetts, the release said. They had received multiple warnings from the FCC but continued to broadcast, the release said. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly praised the seizure in a statement crediting Chairman Ajit Pai’s leadership on radio piracy: “This FCC will not sit idly by while pirates flaunt our rules.”

Video delivery products and services supplier Harmonic is joining Pearl TV and its team of “ecosystem partners” deploying ATSC 3.0 field trials in the Phoenix “model market” of 10 TV stations (see 1711140053), said Harmonic in a Tuesday announcement. Harmonic will supply the Phoenix stations with its Electra X 3.0 media processor, it said. The Phoenix testbed initiative is “the first time that a single market will test the ATSC 3.0 standard and provide a framework to the industry," said Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle in a statement. Partnering with companies like Harmonic can help Pearl TV “validate groundbreaking improvements for over-the-air broadcasting and experiment with innovative use cases that ATSC 3.0 enables,” she said.

Tower company Tower King II faces a nearly $13,000 proposed penalty over an incident that killed three of the company’s employees during an antenna installation in Miami in September (see 1709280066), said a release Tuesday from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The incident was caused by the failure of a device that attaches to communications towers to hoist loads, called a gin pole system, OSHA said. A Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue spokesman told us the workers fell hundreds of feet in the collapse. “Investigators determined that the employer failed to ensure the capacity of the rigging attachments were adequate to support the forces imposed from hoisting loads,” the OSHA release said. The $12,934 penalty is the maximum allowed under the law, OSHA said. “This tragedy underscores the importance of having a qualified individual conduct an analysis before performing construction work on communication towers,” said Condell Eastmond, Fort Lauderdale OSHA office director, in the release. Tower King II told Communications Daily before the accident that it was heading to Florida for work related to the post-incentive auction repacking. Tower King II has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to pay the fine, request a meeting or contest the findings, the release said. Tower King II didn’t comment.