A broadcast tower owned by noncommercial KOZK Springfield, Missouri, collapsed while being worked on Thursday, killing one worker, local fire and rescue officials told us. Six people were working on the 1,980-foot tower, near Fordland, when it collapsed, said a spokesman for the Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District. The workers, identified by the spokesman as contractors, were about 105 feet off the ground when the tower collapsed, the spokesman said. Three were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, he said. The work was taking place to comply with “FCC regulations,” the spokesman said. Fire and rescue officials were unsure which agency will handle an investigation of the cause of the incident. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated a 2017 tower collapse in Miami that killed three workers and eventually proposed a $13,000 fine to the contractor (see 1803270044). KOZK, OSHA and the Webster County Sheriff’s Office didn’t comment.
The FCC is expected to have an edge in Friday’s oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit against Free Press and other groups on the agency’s restoration of the UHF discount, but not as big of one as usual, attorneys and industry officials said in interviews. Courts tend to defer to agency decisions, but that dynamic is complicated by this decision being a direct reversal of a 2016 FCC decision to strike down the discount, said Fletcher Heald appellate attorney Harry Cole, who isn't connected to the case. “The FCC has broad discretion,” Cole said, but such a 180-degree turn allows opponents to paint it as a decision motivated by politics rather than the measured work of an expert agency. If the D.C. Circuit isn’t sure what argument is better, it will defer to the commission, said an experienced telecom litigator.
The FCC will consider FM translator interference and mid-band spectrum for 5G, with a focus on the 2.5 GHz band, at its May 10 commissioners’ meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged Wednesday. The agency also will vote on a media modernization proposal to eliminate requirements that broadcasters physically display their licenses, plus a hearing designation order and enforcement item that will remain confidential until the meeting. Pai noted it's the first meeting since 2009 lacking Mignon Clyburn, leaving as commissioner before then (see 1804170056) and 1804180071).
The FCC Public Safety Bureau is acting to increase the use of the Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS) to propagate emergency alert system warnings, rather than the legacy “daisychain” system, said the bureau’s report on the 2017 Nationwide EAS test, released Friday. The internet-based CAP (common alerting protocol) alerts sent through IPAWS contain more information, have better audio and allow multi-language alerts, the report said. The test shows EAS participants have “improved in their ability to successfully alert the public,” the report said, though it also shows a drop from 2016 in test participation, and a Federal Emergency Management Agency report on the nationwide test released last week questioned the accuracy of the results reporting.
LAS VEGAS -- Radio broadcasters have invested in data and connected with listeners through Facebook, and should be concerned about the current backlash against consumer data collection, radio executives said on a panel at the NAB Show. Broadcasters need to “keep a close eye” on consumers' reaction to data collection, because radio broadcasters already have a great deal of “sunk cost” at stake in consumer data, Cox Media Group Executive Vice President Bill Hendrich said. “We have all benefited from Facebook,” said broadcast consultant Fred Jacobs, president of Jacobs Media Strategies.
LAS VEGAS -- FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal on changing the process for interference complaints between FM translators and full-power stations is expected to be get broad support from industry, broadcasters and their attorneys told us. Though few details were released, industry officials don't expect much push back from the eighth floor.
LAS VEGAS -- The FCC Media Bureau is “outlining” NPRMs on dispensing the additional repacking reimbursement funds, will soon issue a public notice announcing a secondary reimbursement allocation, and is planning to tackle kids' video rules and retrans reform in 2018, said Media Bureau Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman on a panel at the NAB Show Monday. The commission is also “actively working” on policies to address interference between FM translators and full power stations, Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner said.
The post-incentive auction repacking’s recent cash infusion, construction process and looming phase deadlines are expected to dominate discussions at the NAB Show, which begins Saturday, broadcasters and their legal representatives said in interviews. NAB expects attendance to approach 100,000, a spokesman said. Exhibitions will feature about 1,700 companies, including 244 first-timers, the association said.
President Donald Trump tweeted in support of Sinclair Monday after the company was widely criticized for requiring anchors to read a script condemning fake news. “So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased,” Trump tweeted. “Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.”
Broadcast industry officials see the recent seizure of a pirate radio operator’s equipment as a positive sign that the FCC is increasing its enforcement efforts against unlicensed operators (see 1803280049), but the existence of the pirate stations can be a reaction to a lack of diversity and localism in radio, a person affiliated with one of the stations involved in the seizure told us. The listeners of pirate station Big City FM won’t start listening to other Boston-area stations now that Big City is shut down, because those licensed stations don’t offer diverse or local voices, the unlicensed-affiliated person said. “I understand the need for diversity, but there’s other ways to provide that rather than stepping on [the Emergency Alert System],” said Massachusetts Broadcasters Association Executive Director Jordan Walton in an interview.