The FCC is considered likely to grant a petition from broadcasters and tech companies to authorize the physical layer of the next generation ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (see 1404090027), broadcast attorneys told us Wednesday and Thursday. The gradual, industry-driven transition plan is seen as asking relatively little from the commission, and shouldn't be “a heavy lift,” a broadcast lawyer said. That is in keeping with recent forecasts from ATSC President Mark Richer that broadcasters and tech companies would "take the lead" at the FCC in "a unified approach" that won't be "controversial" (see 1603280043).
The FCC proposal to require pay-TV carriers to share their content stream with third-party set-top box makers is unnecessary and would open up programmers, pay-TV carriers and consumers to security threats, said MPAA Senior Vice President-Government and Regulatory Affairs Neil Fried and NCTA President Michael Powell during a demonstration and news briefing Wednesday. “The market is already solving the problem,” Powell said of the apps-based approach favored by pay-TV companies. Multichannel video programming distributors are working toward eliminating set-tops entirely and replacing them with apps, Powell said.
Trade groups representing broadcasters, tech companies and others jointly filed a petition for rulemaking Wednesday asking the FCC to allow broadcasters to begin using the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard. “This enhanced digital IP-based standard will create the bedrock for continuing innovation by the television industry for decades to come,” said the petition filed by America's Public Television Stations (APTS), CTA, NAB and a group of broadcasters and electronics companies called the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance, which was officially formed Tuesday (see 1604120069).
FCC fines and enforcement advisories are “a step forward” on pirate radio, but the commission should increase equipment seizures to truly reduce the amount of unlicensed operators, broadcasters and their lawyers said in interviews Tuesday. That day, the Enforcement Bureau issued a $15,000 forfeiture for unlicensed Broward County, Florida, station WBIG. Now, the FCC should seize the equipment of pirates like WBIG, broadcasters said. The bureau has been stepping up pirate radio enforcement, though a whistleblower was said to claim priorities had shifted away from such activities amid tight budgets, covered in a Special Report on FCC partisanship (see 1512150014).
The incentive auction and ensuing repacking are expected to dominate next week's NAB Show, but the auction's seeming-inevitability and strict anti-collusion rules will likely change the tone of those conversations, compared with past years, said industry representatives in recent interviews. Broadcasters who attend the convention with the incentive auction technically in progress are likely to be mostly those planning to continue broadcasting, a lawyer noted. That makes attendees more likely to be focused on post-auction strategizing and equipment and resources conducive to a smooth repacking, the attorney said.
Complications for an FCC headquarters move are mounting. A lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the owner of its current building, and the General Services Administration ruled that its current location is considered to be on a floodplain. The commission has been seeking extra money from Congress for the move, which in part is needed because agency staff has shrunk (see 1602100058).
FCC-proposed changes to rules for third-party set-top boxes (see 1602180065) would have a negative impact on programmers, and on minority programmers in particular, MPAA President Chris Dodd and NCTA President Michael Powell said Tuesday at a briefing hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. The FCC proposal would give third-party set-top manufacturers access to programming they haven’t paid for, devaluing the content industry, Dodd and Powell said. If tech companies want access to content, they should negotiate with programmers the way multichannel video programming distributors do, said Victor Cerda, president of network V-me.
Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected requested injunctions against the incentive auction by Class A and low-power TV broadcasters, those cases are proceeding on the merits and could still have an effect on the auction proceedings, according to court filings and interviews. Briefing in the cases filed by Free Access & Broadcast Telemedia (FAB), Mako Communications and Videohouse will be complete in May, with court decisions likely being issued during or just after the auction, attorneys have told us. Legal challenges against the FCC's treatment of LPTV would greatly complicate the auction if resolved in the broadcasters' favor, since the current repacking plan doesn't set aside room to protect LPTV, broadcast attorneys told us.
Schurz Communications paid its full $325,000 FCC indecency fine -- the maximum possible -- to lift an Enforcement Bureau hold on the Gray/Schurz transaction, Schurz’s attorney Jack Goodman told us Monday. The bureau “held up” the transaction even though approval of the deal “posed no risk” to the FCC's being able to recover its proposed forfeiture (see 1507010066), Goodman said. The Parent’s Television Council pointed to the proceeding against WDBJ Roanoke, Virginia, and broadcaster reaction to it during a news-media call Monday as evidence that indecency regulation can be effective.
The FCC voted to seek comment on expanding the scope of its video description requirements, with Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly approving in part and dissenting in part because they said the proposal exceeds the FCC's authority. As expected, the NPRM asks for comment on increasing both the number of hours of described video required (see 1603160057) and the number of pay-TV carriers and broadcasters required to provide the service. That's an overreach, since Congress authorized the FCC only to increase the number of required hours, the Republican commissioners said. "The law is what the law is," Pai said. "It simply doesn't allow the commission to have its cake and eat it too." FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler called the proposal "logical," and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said it furthers the goal of "universal opportunity and inclusiveness."