Sinclair will offload stations into a divestiture trust to bring its proposed buy of Tribune under the 39 percent FCC national ownership cap. The final combination, under the UHF discount, would reach 37.3 percent of households, Sinclair said in an amendment to deal filings Wednesday. In three markets, Sinclair will seek to take advantage of the FCC’s new openness to common ownership of two top-four stations in the same market, and offloads other stations to bring the deal into compliance with current rules.
The looming fight on Capitol Hill over President Donald Trump’s bid to cut federal funding to CPB in the president's FY 2019 budget proposal is shaping up to end the same way as did the administration’s CPB elimination proposal for FY 2018, with lawmakers instead maintaining CPB’s existing appropriations level, congressional appropriators and public broadcasting supporters told us. The administration proposed cutting federal funding to CPB and 21 other entities beginning in FY 2019 as part of a bid to cut the deficit by $3.6 trillion (see 1802120037). The House and Senate Appropriations committees cleared FY 2018 federal budgets last year maintaining CPB annual funding at $445 million (see 1705230041, 1707200065 and 1709070064).
Commissioners unanimously approved a draft order eliminating a requirement that broadcasters and cable carriers keep hard-copy books of FCC rules on their premises. The item was slated for Thursday’s FCC meeting but, as expected (see 1802160024), will be removed from the agenda after the early approval on circulation. Though the draft had already been circulated to eighth-floor offices, it was added to the on-circulation list in preparation for being approved ahead of the meeting, an official said. The requirement applies to low-power TV, TV and FM translators, TV and FM booster stations, cable TV relay station licensees, and certain cable operators. Eliminating the requirement "will advance the Commission’s goal of reducing outdated regulations and unnecessary regulatory burdens," the order said. The electronic version of the Code of Federal Regulations available online "is often more current than the printed version, which is published only once a year," the order said. "Removing this requirement also would help small broadcasters in particular by enabling them to cut unnecessary costs."
The FCC’s draft NPRM on mid-term equal employment opportunity reports is expected to receive broad support from all commissioners, and a draft item eliminating requirements for hard copies of FCC rules should be approved unanimously, possibly even before Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting (see 1801310065), FCC officials told us. Docket 17-105 has seen little activity on either issue since the items were put on the February agenda. Both are seen as minor and noncontroversial, said Wiley Rein broadcast attorney Greg Masters.
A draft NPRM on creating a new C4 FM class circulated to the eighth floor by Chairman Ajit Pai last week (see 1802060049) broadly seeks comment on the idea but contains few if any tentative conclusions, an FCC official told us. Though advocates see the idea as a way to help radio stations left out of AM revitalization, translator owner beneficiaries of revitalization and larger station owners are expected to oppose the new class, said broadcast attorneys and C4 advocates. “NAB will respectfully oppose this proposal,” said a spokesman.
Broadcasters need more information to start dealmaking after the 3rd U.S Circuit Court of Appeals’ rejection of a stay request (see 1802070053) for the FCC’s relaxation of broadcast ownership rules, said analysts, broadcast attorneys and TV brokers in interviews. Broadcasters aren’t likely to wait for the public interest challenge of the agency’s media ownership reconsideration order to be decided on the merits, but they want to see how the FCC and DOJ treat Sinclair/Tribune (see 1802090039) before pulling the trigger on transactions, said Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker. “Nobody wants to be the test case,” said Todd Hartman, vice president at TV broker Kalil & Co.
Industry is backing Commissioner Mike O’Rielly's January blog post to relax kids' video rules (see 1801260031) as public interest advocates are mobilizing against the perceived threat, officials on all sides told us last week. O’Rielly Tuesday said he believes the FCC will act in 2018. Others aren't so sure. The FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai’s office haven’t commented.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for emergency stay of FCC media ownership changes (see 1801260046) but asked for more information about the proposed minority incubator program, said an order (in Pacer) Wednesday. Prometheus Radio Project and Media Mobilizing Project’s emergency petition didn’t show “a clear and indisputable abuse of discretion,” likelihood of irreparable injury, a lack of alternatives for relief or an error of law, the order said. Though the rejection is a setback for public interest groups, the court’s request for an FCC report on the proposed incubator program is an indication the issue of minority ownership is still alive here, said University of Minnesota School of Journalism assistant professor-media law Christopher Terry. The incubator program is the agency’s answer to court remands requiring consideration of minority ownership in relaxation of media ownership rules, and the public comment period for the “exact design” of the program doesn’t end until April 9, the order said. “The FCC is hereby directed to file a report on or before August 6, 2018 regarding the status of the incubator program.” That’s an indication the panel will decide if the program fulfills the requirements it laid out in prior decisions, Terry said. The 3rd Circuit put the public interest group petitions of the reconsideration order and the 2014 quadrennial review on hold until August as well. That means little is likely to happen in the proceeding until then, Terry said. Wednesday was the recon order's effective date, and with a stay off the table for now, broadcast deals taking advantage of the relaxation of rules are likely to proceed, he said. The 3rd Circuit also declared (in Pacer) motions to intervene in the case by broadcasters were now rendered moot. NAB is "grateful" that the FCC's "meaningful reform" can proceed, a spokesman said via email. “We are pleased that the Third Circuit has allowed the Commission’s modernized media ownership rules to take effect," an FCC spokesman told us. Attorneys representing the petitioners didn't comment.
Tech companies and the U.S. government need to study ubiquitous social media and mobile tech and prevent their use from harming children and society, said legislators, physicians and advocates at a Common Sense event Wednesday. In trying to make apps, mobile video, games and social networking more attractive, tech companies created addictive products that are causing harm, said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Rep. John Delaney, D-Md. The constant reliance on mobile technology “isn’t a drug, but it might as well be, because it does the same thing,” said Robert Lustig, pediatric endocrinologist at University of California, San Francisco. “It works on the same part of the brain.”
The FCC Media Bureau circulated an NPRM Monday seeking comment on creating a new C4 class of FM stations, said Chairman Ajit Pai in his address to a Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council event Tuesday. “This reform could allow hundreds of Class A FM stations to broadcast with increased power.” There was "a lot of talk during previous administrations about trying to take action to promote ownership diversity -- but there was little to nothing done,” Pai said. “I am determined that the FCC on my watch will take concrete steps to create a more diverse communications industry.”