The FCC should create a new C4 FM class, take more action against pirate radio, and eliminate its rural radio policy, but shouldn’t get rid of AM/FM subcaps, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) in individual meetings Monday and Wednesday with Chairman Ajit Pai and every other commissioner, recounted a filing in docket 14-50. Pai circulated an NPRM on C4 FM this week (see 1802060049). The new class would be an opportunity for many minority-owned stations to “improve their technical facilities” without impinging on the footprint of neighboring stations, MMTC and NABOB said: “Under the current regulatory environment, many independent and minority-owned stations are and will be forever unable to upgrade their facilities.” Eliminating AM/FM subcaps is expected to be part of the 2018 quadrennial review recommendations (see 1801080059). It would lead the radio and radio equipment industries to cease investing in radio, NABOB and MMTC said. That would be a “death knell” for AM, undermining the FCC AM revitalization, they said. “AM stations (which are disproportionately minority owned) would suffer deeply.” The FCC’s rural radio policy prevents minority broadcasters, historically shunted toward owning stations in rural areas by discrimination, from relocating to more competitive markets, the filing said. The policy should be repealed, the two groups said. The FCC needs additional enforcement power “to shut down pirates without relying on DOJ to sue,” NABOB and MMTC said.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for emergency stay of FCC media ownership changes (see 1801260046) but asked for more information about the proposed minority incubator program, said an order (in Pacer) Wednesday. Prometheus Radio Project and Media Mobilizing Project’s emergency petition didn’t show “a clear and indisputable abuse of discretion,” likelihood of irreparable injury, a lack of alternatives for relief or an error of law, the order said. Though the rejection is a setback for public interest groups, the court’s request for an FCC report on the proposed incubator program is an indication the issue of minority ownership is still alive here, said University of Minnesota School of Journalism assistant professor-media law Christopher Terry. The incubator program is the agency’s answer to court remands requiring consideration of minority ownership in relaxation of media ownership rules, and the public comment period for the “exact design” of the program doesn’t end until April 9, the order said. “The FCC is hereby directed to file a report on or before August 6, 2018 regarding the status of the incubator program.” That’s an indication the panel will decide if the program fulfills the requirements it laid out in prior decisions, Terry said. The 3rd Circuit put the public interest group petitions of the reconsideration order and the 2014 quadrennial review on hold until August as well. That means little is likely to happen in the proceeding until then, Terry said. Wednesday was the recon order's effective date, and with a stay off the table for now, broadcast deals taking advantage of the relaxation of rules are likely to proceed, he said. The 3rd Circuit also declared (in Pacer) motions to intervene in the case by broadcasters were now rendered moot. NAB is "grateful" that the FCC's "meaningful reform" can proceed, a spokesman said via email. “We are pleased that the Third Circuit has allowed the Commission’s modernized media ownership rules to take effect," an FCC spokesman told us. Attorneys representing the petitioners didn't comment.

The BBC is launching its first augmented reality smartphone app for the "Civilisations" series coming this spring. Developed by BBC R&D and Nexus Studios, it lets people explore a virtual art exhibition. BBC’s R&D arm developed SOMA (single operator mixing application), a browser-based mixer that lets an operator cut between cameras, prerecorded video, audio and graphics for live broadcast from a remote location via the internet, it said. It also made available a 360-degree video tool with 3D audio.

The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) released recommendations for members and media companies to use when “designing, procuring and implementing their systems, software and services,” said a news release Monday from the North American Broadcasters Association and the European Broadcasting Union, the entities that developed the WBU’s recommendations. “It is important that broadcasters reinforce the need for cyber security with their vendors,” said WBU Technical Committee Chairman Simon Fell.

Sinclair/Tribune deal opponents the Coalition to Save Local Media met last week with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to argue against the takeover by Sinclair, said filings posted Monday in docket 17-179. The transaction will hurt competition, cause a rise in retransmission consent rates and reduce localism, said representatives of coalition members Ride-TV, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Sports Fan Coalition, Computer & Communications Industry Association, NTCA and National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America. "Transaction-related public interest harms to viewpoint diversity, localism, and competition overwhelm any purported public interest benefits." Sinclair and allies have defended the deal (see 1712060055).

Some TV stations involved in the post-incentive auction repacking will have equipment inspected by the FCC between February and May to confirm “the existence and functionality” of the baseline equipment listed in their repacking reimbursement forms, the Media Bureau and Incentive Auction Task Force said in a public notice on docket 16-306 Monday. “This program supports the Commission’s responsibility as a prudent steward of taxpayer money to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse,” the PN said. “Approximately 60” of the 957 total stations in the repacking will be visited, though the PN said that number could change. The stations inspected include some randomly selected and some “certainly selected” based on “judgment or discretion,” the PN said. The visits will be conducted by a third-party contractor and consist of a “one or two day onsite physical inspection of the broadcaster’s existing facility and equipment, including an auxiliary facility, if applicable,” the PN said. The stations selected will be notified by letter ahead of time, the PN said. Additional site visits may be held to confirm that equipment paid for with reimbursement funds has been deployed, the PN said.

The 3rd U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals should reject broadcaster motions to intervene in public interest groups’ request for an emergency stay of FCC relaxation of broadcast ownership rules (see 1802020065), said Prometheus Radio Project and Media Mobilizing Project in an opposition filing (in Pacer). Prospective intervenors Bonneville International, Nexstar, NAB, Sinclair, News Media Alliance, 21st Century Fox, News Corp. and Connoisseur Media should be denied because their filings argue the merits of the FCC’s media ownership order on reconsideration and so aren’t “germane,” the public interest groups said. If those entities will be injured by the staying of the order, “it is the result of the FCC’s persistent and repeated failure to follow the directives of this Court,” the public interest groups said. NAB and Sinclair raised points germane to the stay request but only repeated the agency’s points, Prometheus and the Media Mobilizing Project said. Connoisseur disputed the public interest groups’ filing in a response (in Pacer) Monday, arguing it has the right to intervene because the stay request also would freeze the recon order’s changes to the rules on embedded markets. “The oppositions did address the mandamus request and its call for a stay of the changes in the FCC’s ownership rules,” it said. Connoisseur lobbied the FCC for the embedded markets rule change, and "neither Petitioners nor any other party opposed this change, and no party before the FCC suggested that this policy change would have any effect on minority ownership,“ Connoisseur said. “Grant of Petitioners’ mandamus request would provide Petitioners relief they never requested from the FCC.” A ruling on the emergency stay request is expected soon; without court intervention, the recon order takes effect Wednesday.

Oral argument for public interest groups’ challenge of the FCC restoration of the UHF discount (see 1706150044) will be April 20 at 9:30 a.m., said a Thursday order (in Pacer) from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. An upcoming order is expected to dictate how time will be divided among the FCC, petitioners such as Free Press and the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and intervenors such as Ion and Sinclair.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a notice of violation to Pentecostal Temple Development for WGBN(AM) McKeesport, Pennsylvania. The station was warned for failing to abide by rules requiring procedures and schedules for monitoring power levels, tower lighting and other systems. WGBN didn’t have calibration procedures for equipment and didn’t submit a required form, the notice said.

Public interest groups’ claim the FCC ignored the directives of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal on media ownership are “baseless,” the agency said in its response to the emergency stay request of the commission’s newly relaxed broadcast ownership rules (see 1801290036). The FCC “carefully analyzed whether each of its rule changes would have a ‘material impact on minority and female ownership,’” as the 3rd Circuit ordered, the response said. Even if the FCC had failed to meet the court’s requirements, it wouldn’t justify the “sweeping relief” of a stay or the appointment of a special master, as Prometheus Radio Project and Media Mobilizing Project requested. The public interest groups attempted “to shoehorn their stay request into a mandamus petition” to get around rules requiring that they seek a stay from the FCC before seeking judicial intervention, the FCC’s filing said. “Petitioners’ failure to seek a stay through the normal channels is perhaps unsurprising, as they could not satisfy the traditional stay criteria.” The public interest groups “rely on speculative harm to the public that they claim might result from media consolidation at some undefined future time,” the filing said. The court’s prior rulings don’t require the agency to collect more data on the effects of ownership rules on minorities, the agency said. “To the contrary, this Court merely stated: ‘If [the Commission] needs more data to do so, it must get it,’” the FCC said. The agency concluded it didn’t need further data to readopt a revenue-based definition of eligible entity instead of one based on race or gender, the filing said. “Because the Commission complied with this Court’s mandates in all respects, Petitioners cannot meet the high bar of showing a clear and indisputable right to mandamus relief,” said the FCC filing. NAB and Sinclair Broadcast filed to intervene in the case on the FCC's side, but the court hasn't ruled on their motions. In a joint filing Friday, they responded to the stay request anyway, along with an attached pleading asking the court to allow their response. The FCC supports letting the broadcast entities respond, but Prometheus and the Media Mobilizing Project haven't consented, NAB and Sinclair said. The broadcaster joint filing argues the public interest groups' request for a stay and writ of mandamus is a thinly veiled attempt to prevent other parties from opposing a request or a stay" and is procedurally improper. "Petitioners could easily have sought a stay and know how to do so; they should not be allowed to sidestep that process or box directly affected parties out of the discussion," the joint filing said.