The conflict over ATSC 3.0 rules continued Thursday. Democrats inside and outside the FCC slammed the plan, as one of the biggest groups in communications that says it represents the public interest bickered over conflicts of interest with the main broadcaster association. Commissioners may not all OK the move when they vote on it in a week.
When he was an FCC commissioner, now-Chairman Ajit Pai frequently criticized then-Chairman Tom Wheeler for overseeing an FCC divided along party lines. With Pai nearing one year in charge, his commission appears to have a similar partisan divide to the preceding one, found a review for this Special Report of all commissioners' meeting votes under both leaders in their first year or so. Not all interviewed for this article agree partisanship continues unabated under Pai, although all agree it's increased from the distant past. And when all and not just meeting votes are included, Pai does fare better.
The FCC majority engaged in “direct attack on consumers and small business” during Chairman Ajit Pai’s 10 months, said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in a news conference Wednesday preceding a briefing from the Voices for Internet Freedom coalition. In both events, Clyburn castigated Pai and the FCC majority for “hypocrisy” and a stream of policies she said favor large companies. “This is a sad path,” Clyburn said. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, Democratic National Committee Deputy Chairman Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., were also critical of the FCC majority. Net neutrality is “a justice issue, a civil rights issue,” Khanna told the event. FCC leadership is “fixated on billion dollar public companies and what it best for their bottom line,” Clyburn said. Congress held a hearing on net neutrality Wednesday (see 1711010052).
The FCC Media Bureau reached a $1.5 million settlement with commonly controlled companies that used minor modification rules to move low-power TV stations from their original communities of license to bigger markets, said a consent decree Tuesday. DTV America, Tiger Eye Broadcasting, King Forward and Tiger Eye Licensing also must relinquish more than 20 licenses and modify numerous other licenses. Several pending station applications from the broadcasters will also be dismissed.
That the FCC isn't seeking new comments ahead of the vote on its draft media ownership order on reconsideration is unlikely to present a problem in approving the rules or defending them in court, supporters and opponents of the proposed changes (see 1710260049) told us. The agency received public input on the original 2014 quadrennial review order and on the petition for reconsideration that's the basis for the draft recon order, said Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. The agency can make rules based on that record, said Schwartzman, who's involved in litigation against FCC ownership rules. Demonstrating a basis for the rule changes and that they represent a logical outgrowth from the original order and petition for recon likely will be part of the FCC’s defense against a very likely court challenge, said an official formerly in the Office of General Counsel.
The FCC’s draft ATSC 3.0 order requires broadcasters to offer the same programming on both their simulcast 3.0 and 1.0 stations but appears to have looser restrictions on contours and image quality, will allow low-power TV flashcuts, and as expected (see 1710170048), doesn’t interfere with retransmission consent negotiations involving 3.0, according to a draft order released Thursday. The draft includes a further notice in which the agency would seek comment on using vacant channels during the 3.0 transitions and on waivers for simulcasting rules.
The FCC plans Nov. 16 votes on media ownership and ATSC 3.0, as expected, (see 1710250049), and wireless and wireline infrastructure and cable items, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged, although drafts of the items have not yet been issued. Commissioners also will vote, as expected (see 1710100063), on the next phase of the FCC's spectrum frontiers initiative, setting aside high-frequency spectrum for 5G. The order would make available another 1,700 MHz of high-frequency spectrum “for flexible terrestrial wireless use while providing 4 gigahertz for core satellite use,” Pai said. The FCC approved the first order under ex-Chairman Tom Wheeler in July 2016 (see 1607140052).
A draft order on reconsideration that would eliminate cross-ownership and duopoly rules was circulated to the eighth floor to be voted at the FCC’s Nov. 16 meeting (see 1710250037), as expected, Chairman Ajit Pai told the House Communications Subcommittee during an oversight hearing (see 1710250050) Wednesday. The November meeting is widely expected to include a vote on authorizing ATSC 3.0, industry officials said. FCC action on net neutrality rules isn’t expected until December, agency and industry officials told us.
The FCC approved elimination of the main studio rule 3-2 Tuesday over the expected objections of Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1710130054). Rosenworcel also voted against a plan to tweak broadband-service spectrum rules (see 1710240050). This main studio deregulation will “hollow out the unique role broadcasters play in local communities,” said Rosenworcel. Broadcasters can help communities in times of crisis, but “they can only do so when they have a real presence in their area of license,” she said. “Why would an industry that repeatedly extols the virtues of its local roots want to eliminate their only real connection to that very same community?” Clyburn said.
Broadcasters in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands estimate their industry sustained between $20 million and $30 million in damage from hurricanes Irma and Maria, and without financial help, some will be forced to leave the industry. That's according to Reuben Jusino, former Puerto Rico FCC resident agent, and Eduardo Rivero, task force chair and vice president of the Puerto Rico Radio Broadcasters Association. They spoke during a seminar Thursday conducted by a task force of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands broadcasters seeking to get stations back on-air. “There are broadcasters that it's going to be difficult to come back,” said Rivero.