The FCC shouldn't stop broadcasters from pre-empting political advertisers using last-in, first-out (LIFO) policies, broadcast companies, associations and affiliate groups said in reply comments in docket 15-24, responding to Canal Partners Media’s request that the commission do so. “The law requires that stations treat candidates as well as they treat their best commercial advertisers -- but stations certainly are not required to provide candidates with better treatment than their best commercial advertisers,” said Media General, echoing NAB, Sinclair and every other entity that filed reply comments. It would be “a mistake” for the FCC to start dictating the way stations sell advertising time, said the ABC affiliates. CBS and NBC affiliate groups also opposed Canal in their reply comments, and nearly all endorsed NAB’s position opposing the change. NAB has acknowledged that the LIFO policies favor commercial advertisers over political candidates, Canal said, pointing to an NAB publication called The Political Broadcast Catechism. Canal also said TV stations haven't been disclosing their LIFO policies to political ad buyers, and disputed that blocking LIFO policies would elevate candidates over other advertisers. “Until someone becomes a “legally qualified candidate,” that person "cannot get in line to establish a position in the LIFO pecking order,” Canal said. “But commercial advertisers can get in the LIFO line whenever they want.”

The FCC Media Bureau put a freeze on certain filings connected with Auction 98, it said in a public notice Monday. The affected filings include applications to modify Auction 98 FM allotments; petitions that propose a change in channel, class or community for allotments scheduled for the auctions; or any petition that fails to “fully protect any Auction 98 Allotment," the PN said. “This freeze will automatically terminate the day after the filing deadline for post-Auction 98 long form applications,” the PN said. ”This temporary freeze is designed to promote a more certain and speedy auction process.”

The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on the Radio Broadcasters Coalition's petition for a class waiver of the sponsorship identification requirements, the bureau said in a public notice posted Friday in docket 15-52. The coalition filed a petition Nov. 26 seeking a waiver of the requirement that broadcasters air sponsorship identification announcements at the time sponsored material is broadcast, the bureau said. The coalition requested radio broadcasters that air music or sports programming be allowed to provide information about sponsored material through less frequent on-air announcements with enhanced online disclosures, it said. This waiver would extend to music and sports programming on radio stations that have websites, but not to sponsored content within news, informational or political programming. The waiver will give broadcasters of music and sports programming more flexibility to provide this information in a consumer-friendly and modern way that uses the Internet, the coalition said. Comments are due April 13, replies May 12.

HBO Now, HBO’s stand-alone offering, is a Comcast competitor, TDG Research analyst Alan Wolk said in a note Thursday. HBO Now is suited for cord-nevers and cord cutters, he said. Comcast hopes its customers will use X1 and X2 set-tops, while other multichannel video programming distributors could shift to a bring-your-own-device system, he said. Set-top boxes are dated, difficult to update and unreliable, he said. Customers could buy Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV or Roku and MVPDs could provide an app, he said. Operators could instead offer branded devices and make customers install and maintain them, he said. “This would take the onus to provide STBs off the operator” and allow more frequent updates, Wolk said. Comcast wants to control its interface and “create a standard for the industry,” selling X1 and X2 to peers, he said. The set-top could include streaming services, like Amazon or Netflix, he said. Pay-TV subscribers who have HBO Go have “the best of both worlds” with HBO live through set-tops and on-demand through an app, he said. HBO Go is available on mobile and in-home connected devices at no extra charge, he said. MVPDs shouldn’t worry about HBO-subscribing customers deserting them, he said. To keep HBO customers, MVPDs can offer a lower package price, add 10 MB of Internet speed for free or give two free years of HBO for renewals, he said.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is removing barriers to innovation by reducing quotas setting the number of Canadian programs that local TV stations and specialty channels must broadcast, the CRTC said in a news release Thursday. Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC's Chairman, also discussed the changes in a speech Thursday to the Canadian Club of Ottawa, said a news release. The CRTC will ensure these stations and channels reinvest a portion of their revenues to help create content by Canadians, it said. Programs like drama and documentaries will continue investing at least 75 percent of these funds to content created by independent producers, it said. The CRTC will eliminate the rules that specialty channels, like HGTV Canada and MusiquePlus, can broadcast only certain programs, it said. Existing channels can acquire or produce shows that respond better to their audience and new specialty services can enter the Canadian market, it said. VOD services can offer exclusive content to cable and satellite subscribers, if they are available to all Canadians over the Internet without a TV subscription, allowing "Canadian services to compete on a more equal footing with online video services," the agency said. The regulator will launch two pilot projects that will allow live-action drama and comedy series with budgets of $2 million per hour or that are based on best-selling novels written by Canadian authors to be considered Canadian productions, it said. "Existing funding models could be updated to provide incentives for international co-productions and co-ventures, promotion and international distribution opportunities and the creation of online content," it said. Canadian TV employs almost 60,000 people and invests more than $4 billion every year, it said. The agency launched "Let's Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians" in 2013 to focus on the future of TV, it said.

The FCC’s “complex and under-developed dynamic reserve pricing proposal” won’t generate as much participation and will lead to a less successful auction than a pricing plan from the Expanding Opportunity for Broadcasters Coalition, the EOBC said in reply comments on the incentive auction public notice in docket 12-268. The EOBC pricing plan would weight stations’ interference higher than their population served in calculating opening bid prices. The FCC also shouldn’t allow anything to delay the auction, EOBC said. “Any deviation from the FCC’s current auction timeline would be unjustified and have potentially disastrous consequences,” EOBC said. “It is imperative that the FCC now adopt these data-driven proposals to ensure that the Incentive Auction achieves its full potential.”

Yahoo expanded its relationship with Disney/ABC Television Group, and Disney/ABC content will be featured on Yahoo, the Internet company said in a news release Thursday. Clips from Disney/ABC will be available on Yahoo Screen and Yahoo TV, it said. The daily Yahoo Your Day series with Yahoo editors will launch on Good Morning America March 16, it said. Yahoo News and ABC News will also collaborate further on major news events, including the 2016 presidential election, Yahoo said. ABC News will distribute content from Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric, it said.

The FCC Media Bureau extended the reply comment filing deadline for a proceeding on defining multichannel video programming distributor to April 1, the bureau said in an order Wednesday in docket 14-261. The bureau approved NCTA's motion for an extension of time to respond, it said. NCTA requested a 30-day extension, but the bureau said it found two weeks to be sufficient.

Shareholders of E.W. Scripps and Journal Communications approved the companies’ previously announced plans to combine their broadcast divisions while separately spinning off and joining their newspaper arms, Journal said in a news release Wednesday. The combined broadcast operations will take on the Scripps name, while the print company will be called Journal Media Group. The new Scripps company will have approximately 4,000 employees, and the Scripps family shareholders will continue to have voting control, the release said. Journal Media Group will be based in Milwaukee with 3,600 employees, and combine Scripps' newspapers and digital products with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Journal’s other publications and digital offerings, the release said. The transactions are expected to close early in Q2, Journal said.

The FCC should “establish a path to Class A status” for low-power TV stations that survive the post-incentive auction repacking and “have demonstrated a commitment to serving their communities,” Gray Television said in an ex parte filing in docket 03-185 Wednesday. “Those LPTV stations that do secure a channel and that demonstrate a commitment to serving their local communities should be given the opportunity to apply for Class A status and secure a permanent channel in the post-auction environment.”