BBC is working on an “original interactive audio drama pilot” for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice devices that lets users “actively” play a role in plots. “We wanted to make it feel like you’re having a genuine, direct interaction with the other characters in the piece,” blogged BBC R&D producer Henry Cooke Wednesday. “We haven’t come across any other interactive stories like this on voice devices, and we’re excited to see how people respond.” BBC R&D built a “story engine” that will allow the pilot to be released “across different voice devices,” he said. “As far as we know, there aren’t many people developing cross-platform voice experiences in this way.”

The FCC likely will loosen its broadcast ownership rules for top-four TV stations, which could give broadcasters increased leverage and make retransmission consent negotiations with MVPDs tougher, Cowen analyst Paul Gallant emailed investors Wednesday. Broadcaster ability to own two must-have stations in a market "would clearly enhance prospects" in retrans talks, Cowen said, pointing to Time Warner Cable's subscriber losses in its 2013 dispute with CBS (see reports in the Aug. 26 and 30 issues of this publication). Cowen said since Chairman Ajit Pai said MVPD consolidation hurts broadcasters, it's unlikely the FCC would block that greater broadcaster negotiating leverage with limits on joint retrans. It also said broadcast ownership rules changes could lead to station swaps across multiple markets, with numerous broadcast groups ending up with top-four combinations, giving numerous broadcasters more retrans power without going through large-scale deals like Sinclair buying Tribune. The FCC is less likely to change the UHF discount than to address the ownership rules, and seems likely in coming months to OK simulcasting ATSC 3.0 signals, Cowen said: If the agency sticks to not preventing broadcasters from tying 3.0 carriage to 1.0 carriage, that could also make retrans talks -- including issues of buying equipment and devoting bandwidth to ATSC 3.0 channels -- with MVPDs more tense. Gallant said agency approval of Sinclair/Tribune without conditions limiting joint retrans seems likely, though that might not come this year.

Citing temporary technical issues with the FCC Media Bureau Licensing and Management System over Labor Day weekend, the bureau and the Incentive Auction Task Force are pushing forward by seven days the priority filing window deadline for TV stations that got new channel assignments after the incentive auction to be reauthorized and relicensed, said a public notice issued Wednesday. The filing window now closes Sept. 15 instead of Sept. 8, they said. The bureau earlier this month delayed an ownership report deadline also amid LMS issues (see 1709050053).

The “pace of work” is accelerating on the CTA-CEB32 “family” of recommended ATSC 3.0 practices now that more of the next-generation broadcast system “becomes finalized,” wrote Brian Markwalter, CTA senior vice president-technology and research, in the September issue of ATSC’s monthly newsletter, The Standard. Once work on CTA-CEB32 is complete, it will consist of 11 parts plus an overview that will be “easily mapped to ATSC 3.0 standards,” said Markwalter, an ATSC board member. CTA-CEB32's components “will help close the loop between the broadcast side and receivers through industry agreed-upon guidance so that interoperability can be achieved in a mixed environment of independent broadcasters and TV manufacturers,” he said. CTA-CEB32.5 on ATSC 3.0 audio was the first component to be finalized, and recommended practices for the system’s logical layer (CEB32.3) and video (CEB32.4) are “approaching the ballot stage,” while that for the physical layer (CEB32.2) is being drafted, he said. Work begins next on system integration (CEB32.1), he said.

The FCC shouldn’t entertain requests to eliminate broadcast rules such as the online public file, children’s TV reports and Form 323 filings, the Institute for Public Representation said in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 17-105. The institute also updated Rosenworcel on its objections to the reinstatement of the UHF discount and the status of its case against the 2014 quadrennial review (see 1708220058) in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where an FCC motion to hold the case in abeyance is still pending.

The FCC should waive Tuesday’s repacking construction permit deadline for stations assigned to channel 14, said Ion in a letter posted in docket 12-268 Friday. Ion has filed a recon petition (see 1708240040) asking the FCC to reassign stations that were repacked to channel 14 since they face interference from land mobile operations. “The Commission and ION know that any construction permit application ION files for channel 14 in San Francisco will result in ‘unresolvable interference.’ But if ION fails to file the required construction permit application by the upcoming deadline, it may be alleged to be in violation of the FCC's repack rules,” the company said. The FCC should act on its recon petition and similar requests by Univision and others, waive the Tuesday deadline for channel 14 stations, locate alternative channels for stations that were repacked onto the channel, and reimburse all stations there for equipment necessary to overcome the location on the dial’s interference challenges, Ion said.

The FCC needs to study whether the improvements brought by ATSC 3.0 are worth rendering many existing TVs obsolete and disproportionately affecting low-income and minority households, blogged Rosa Mendoza, executive director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership on Thursday. “Without sufficient answers, low-income and minority families could be adversely affected and we could see the digital divide widen.” The FCC should require that broadcasters simulcast in both 1.0 and 3.0 during the transition, and give consumers enough time to switch to the new technology, HTTP said.

Raycom Media temporarily extended its carriage agreement with DirecTV through Tuesday to ensure uninterrupted service for 54 stations amid recovery from Tropical Storm Harvey (see 1708310049), the broadcaster announced Thursday.

Sinclair reached a multiyear affiliation deal with Fox Broadcasting for five Sinclair Fox affiliates that were at the end of their terms, said a Sinclair news release Wednesday: WACH Columbia, South Carolina; KFOX-TV El Paso; KRXI-TV Reno; WFXL Albany, Georgia; and WSBT-TV South Bend, Indiana. It "includes the ability to participate in vMVPD deals,” said Sinclair Executive Vice President-Distribution and Network Relations Barry Faber.

Evine Live will sell WWDP Norwell, Massachusetts, for “an aggregate of $13.5 million in a series of two transactions,” Evine said in a news release Wednesday. “The transaction includes two agreements with unrelated parties.” The deal will allow the company to retire $6.2 million in high-interest debt, the release said. The deal is expected to close in Q4 or in Q1.