Moving forward in the quadrennial review docket without studying the impact of the incentive auction on ownership diversity would be “a significant failure” and violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the orders of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the United Church of Christ Communications Office in an ex parte filing in docket 14-50. “The Commission must conduct an analysis of the Incentive Auction’s impact on minority and female ownership in order to comply with the Third Circuit mandate in Prometheus II.” The FCC also should improve its collection of Form 323 demographic data and its analysis of that information, UCC said. The commission also should begin studying shared service agreements and local news sharing agreements along with the effects of ownership rules and duopolies, UCC said. The FCC “must conduct studies if Congress is ever to adopt a new minority tax certificate, which has received high-profile and public support from Republicans, Democrats, and the NAB,” UCC said. “While many actors in this space have professed interest in reinstatement of the tax certificate, an adequate record is necessary for the Congress do to so.” Representatives from Common Cause, the Future of Music Coalition, National Hispanic Media Coalition and UCC met with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, the filing recounted.

Univision and Grupo Televisa want the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling authorizing up to 49 percent foreign ownership of Univision, said a petition released Thursday. The petition is connected with a plan for Univision to hold an initial public offering of its common stock. “Grant of the relief requested would enable Univision to accommodate increased foreign investment that may result from public participation in the IPO,” and “accommodate additional investment by Televisa, a Mexican company that is an existing investor in, and business partner of, Univision,” the petition said. Foreign investors now own 15.6 percent of Univision, but after the IPO, “it will be difficult and may be legally impossible for Univision to determine the citizenship of all of its shareholders,” the petition said.

An FCC declaratory ruling that broadcaster relocation expenses incurred before the close of the incentive auction will be eligible for reimbursement (see 1604180072) took effect Wednesday, when it was published in the Federal Register.

The FCC decided more than a decade ago that the newspaper/TV cross-ownership ban wasn't in the public interest and it should remove the ban as part of the media ownership proceeding, said NAB in an ex parte filing posted in docket 09-182 Wednesday. The decline of newspapers “appears to be evident to everyone from laypersons to journalists to PhD economists, and should not be lost on the agency charged with reviewing its broadcast ownership rules,” NAB said. “The only result that can rationally be expected from the continued prohibition is to hasten the demise of print newspapers.” A draft media ownership order would leave much of the cross-ownership ban in place (see 1606280056).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit extended the briefing schedule for Free Access & Broadcast Telemedia's second case challenging FCC incentive auction rules. Though the D.C. Circuit threw out FAB's first challenge of the auction rules at the end of June (see 1606290057), a separate challenge against another aspect of the rules hasn't gone to oral argument. FAB asked that the briefing schedule for that case be extended so that the parties in that case can account for the court's pending ruling in Mako Communications' challenge of the auction rules. Mako's case was heard alongside FAB's first case, but the court has to rule on it. Final briefs in the second FAB case are now due Nov. 8.

The FCC is seeking comment on a petition by Frontier Media for a declaratory ruling that it would be in the public interest for several radio stations it's buying to be 100 percent foreign owned. Australians Richard and Sharon Burns own 20 percent of the 29 Alaska and Texas-based radio stations involved in the transaction, but the deal would lead to them owning 100 percent of the stations involved, said a public notice issued Wednesday. “Frontier Media notes that Richard Burns has been managing the Alaska radio stations for ten years and the Texarkana stations for three years and thus, is 'thoroughly familiar with FCC rules and operating procedures,”' the PN said. “Australian ownership poses no national security or other threat to the United States, given the fact that Australia is one of our most steadfast allies and shares many of our cultural traditions,” Frontier said. Comments are due Aug. 5, replies Aug. 22. The FCC recently issued an NPRM on loosening foreign ownership rules. Pandora previously applied for a declaratory ruling that would allow it to be up to 100 percent foreign owned (see 1407010085) but was granted up to only 49.9 percent (see 1505040065).

Past seasons of CW Network scripted series will remain exclusively on Netflix, the streaming company and the broadcast network said in a news release Tuesday. Starting with the 2016-17 season, Netflix subscribers will have streaming access to full seasons of CW scripted series beginning eight days after the season finale, they said.

Station deal volume reached $728.9 million in the Q2, SNL Kagan said in a release. TV deals were $681.2 million of the total, the researcher said Friday. Eighty percent of TV deal volume in Q2 was spinoffs related to Nexstar's buying Media General, it said. Radio deals totaled $47.8 million, the “lowest quarterly deal volume in 34 years, since the first quarter of 1982,” SNL Kagan said. The largest Nexstar deal was the $270 million sale of KWQC-TV Davenport, Iowa, and WBAY-TV Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Gray Television, the release said. The largest radio deal in Q2 was the sale of four FM stations in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, market from Apex Media to Community Broadcasters for $5.9 million, SNL Kagan said.

The FCC should continue to require broadcasters to make a physical public inspection file available at their stations, said Howard University media professors in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-161. Suggestions to make public files available entirely online “ignore an important reality of America today,” the filing said. “A significant number of Americans still do not have access to online services and a significant number of those who do have no access to broadband.” The FCC 2016 broadband progress report says 34 million Americans lack access to broadband service, the academics said. “An exclusive use of online platforms, therefore, will cut off a large number of Americans from access to comments regarding stations that are expected to serve the 'public interest.'” Arguments that few members of the public go to stations to see the public files and that the rules are obsolete should be disregarded, the filing said. “The underlying principle of transparency in public reactions to station performance has not grown obsolete -- these stations operate in the public interest, necessity and convenience.” Few members of the public know they're entitled to view the public file, the filing said. The FCC should strengthen requirements for broadcasters to let the public know they have the option to view the documents, wrote Carolyn Byerly, Chuka Onwumechili, Abbas Malek, Clint Wilson and a few others.

Amazon and PBS signed a multiyear agreement for a collection of PBS Kids series programs available exclusively through Amazon Prime Video. Prime members can watch select videos via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected and mobile devices and online, said Amazon. Programs will premiere on PBS stations and then become available on Amazon Prime Video after an undisclosed period of time, the companies said. PBS Kids titles also will be available with the Amazon FreeTime Unlimited subscription service. PBS Kids shows focus on “fundamental academic areas” such as literacy, science, technology, engineering and math, plus collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity, said Lesli Rotenberg, general manager, PBS children's media and education.