Conducting the nationwide emergency alert system test following hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria “will provide insight into the resiliency of our national-level alerting capabilities in impacted areas,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a news release Tuesday. The test is set for Sept. 27 at 2:20 p.m., but could be moved to Oct. 4 if the September date is canceled because of another emergency. The EAS test also will provide data on how the Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System performs “during and following a variety of conditions,” the agency said. “With two major hurricanes already making landfall, and a potential for two more impacting our nation, we need to have the ability to maintain the continuity of critical infrastructure under various conditions.”

Washington, D.C., launched a government noncommercial radio station that will provide information on community affairs, current events and government resources, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) office said in a news release Tuesday. DC Radio will be run and broadcast from the city’s Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment, and is part of a broadcasting partnership between Howard University’s WHUR-FM and the city. The station is one of two municipally owned full-power radio stations in the country, the release said.

A call by top House Commerce Committee Democrats for the FCC to investigate whether Russian government-owned radio service Sputnik broadcasts propaganda over U.S. airwaves aimed at influencing the 2016 presidential election and other contests is “the newest intellectual height reached by the US establishment,” said Sputnik parent Rossiya Segodnya Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan in a statement. House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Michael Doyle, D-Pa., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., sought the FCC probe Monday, citing concerns about potential violations of the Communications Act's public interest standard. Sputnik began terrestrial broadcasts in July in the Washington, D.C., area using 105.5 FM, which it leased from owner Reston Translator (see 1709180054).

All full-power and Class A TV stations changing channels in the post-incentive auction repacking have to file transition progress reports, the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force said in a reminder public notice Wednesday. The first deadline is Oct. 10, the PN said. “Stations must file quarterly reports starting with the first full quarter after release of the Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice on April 13, 2017.” Reports must provide information on steps stations took toward construction of new facilities in Q3, the PN said.

Sony Friday lifted the wraps off its first 8K broadcast camera to include three 8K sensors. It developed the UHC-8300 with “customer input provided by NHK,” which is planning the launch of 8K commercial broadcast services in 2018 as a prelude to 8K Super Hi-Vision coverage of the Tokyo Olympics in July 2020, Richard Scott, head of media solutions at Sony Professional Europe, told a news conference webcast live from Sony’s IBC booth in Amsterdam. “We expect this camera to be used not only for 8K production, but also for 4K production.” The Sony DADC New Media Solutions business, which offers digital supply chain services and physical disc replication, is being put under the wing of the Sony Professional Solutions Group, said Adam Fry, vice president-Sony Professional Europe. The move is in keeping with Sony Professional’s strategy to convert itself from a company known exclusively as a broadcast hardware products supplier to “one offering an equal balance of hardware and services within just a few years,” Fry said: It "will accelerate Sony to being a true services company.”

The full FCC rejected two applications for review by PMCM and one by Viacom appealing Media Bureau decisions on the broadcaster's effort to transmit a signal on virtual channel 3.10, an order released Friday said. PMCM appealed bureau rulings that its WJLP Middletown Township, New Jersey, be assigned to virtual channel 33, because 3 already is assigned to another station in the area (see 1607260059). Viacom’s application for review sought to keep WJLP from being carried on channel 33 by local MVPDs. The FCC concluded that bureau assignment of channel 33 was correct, and that Viacom’s and PMCM’s other filings were procedurally defective. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in April denied a PMCM request for a writ of mandamus on the matter (see 1704050063). PMCM and Viacom didn't comment.

The FCC Media Bureau wants more information from Sinclair and Tribune on how their proposed deal would be brought into compliance with ownership rules and specifics on the deal’s effects on news coverage at Tribune’s stations, Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey told the companies in a letter last week. The broadcasters need to describe what “specific steps” the companies will take to comply with the national ownership cap and duopoly rules, she said. As filed, the deal would be 6.5 percent over the cap, and would include overlaps in several markets that wouldn’t be in compliance with ownership rules. Opponents asked the FCC to require more information of Sinclair/Tribune when the transaction was first filed, but the agency denied those requests (see 1708040002). Since then, a perceived lack of specifics about divestitures and the public interest benefits of the deal have been targets of foes (see 1708080067). Many of the public interest benefits listed by Sinclair were based on expanded news coverage, and the information request seeks more precise information about the new company’s plans for local news. The bureau wants information on plans to add local programming and local newscasts to Tribune stations, increase coverage of local government, and to “increase or decrease” the number of journalists and investigative reporters at Tribune stations. Carey also asked for details on how the deal would increase the efficiency of implementing ATSC 3.0, and the impact of the new company’s greater audience reach. The Coalition to Save Local Media praised “scrutiny” of the deal, saying the FCC request would help answer “questions raised by interested parties as well as Members of Congress that have gone unanswered.” The group, which includes Public Knowledge, Dish Network, the Competitive Carriers Association and the Blaze, said that “the FCC and Department of Justice should closely scrutinize this merger and deny it.” Sinclair didn’t comment. After a speech Friday to the Center for Democracy & Technology (see 1709150062), Chairman Ajit Pai declined to comment on the letter, other than to say it "speaks for itself."

FCC online public files make it even more important for stations to have properly filed quarterly issues/program reports, Fletcher Heald attorneys Anne Goodwin Crump, Scott Johnson and Susan Marshall blogged. TV stations already have this requirement, but it will begin applying to radio as well March 1, said the lawyers, with clients including broadcasters. “Now, anyone with a little time on their hands can scrutinize both the content of documents in the file and the timeliness of their filing.” Issues/programs lists are the “primary means” a station uses to create a record of public service to support a license renewal application, the experts said: The next quarterly issues/programs list is for the quarter ending Sept. 30 and is due by Oct. 10.

HC2 LPTV Holdings will buy 38 Class A and low-power TV stations from Mako Communications and associated companies Mintz Broadcasting, Nave Broadcasting and Tuck Properties for $29 million, said an SEC filing Wednesday. The deal includes all of Mako’s LPTV assets.

Comcast and Dish Network losing subscribers is good for streaming services like CBS All Access, CBS CEO Les Moonves told investors Thursday. Cord-cutters end up migrating to streaming offerings like All Access, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker emailed investors earlier in the day. MVPD consolidation hasn’t “impacted” retransmission consent fees, Moonves told a Goldman Sachs conference. He believes Sinclair's buy of Tribune will be approved, and CBS will look at expansion opportunities in American Football Conference markets such as Houston and Cleveland. Moonves believes CBS’ TV business is “strong,” a spokesperson confirmed. CBS will renew its NFL rights in 2022, and Moonves expects Amazon and Google to bid on the digital rights, Ryvicker wrote.