The FCC approved the first grants of licenses purchased in the TV incentive auction and will let “phase zero” low-power TV stations and translators displaced far ahead of the special LPTV displacement window move to temporary channels or temporarily channel share. Among those 2,317 licenses in the wireless band OK'ed were licenses bought by T-Mobile, Dish Network through ParkerB, Comcast through CC Wireless Investment, and AT&T -- 52 pages of licenses in all -- said a public notice by the Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau. Fifty bidders paid $19.3 billion in the auction for a total of 2,776 licenses. The licenses approved cover some of the largest U.S. markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. “We have received information from T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile), one of the recipients of the licenses granted today in the 600 MHz Band, indicating that it may commence operations or conduct FFA [first field application] testing using some of its 600 MHz Band licenses later this year,” the PN said. The displacement window for LPTV and translators likely won’t open until Q1, which could leave some LPTV and translators in the cold, said filings from the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition, T-Mobile and NAB (see 1706050066). To address a gap, the IATF and Media Bureau will allow low-power broadcasters that are notified by the new owners of 600 MHz spectrum that they have 120 days to cease operations to request a waiver of the current freeze on displacement applications and apply for special temporary authority (STA) to operate on a temporary channel or seek a temporary channel sharing arrangement, another PN said. The temporary channels requested must be in the bands allocated for TV and can’t interfere with existing broadcasters, the PN said. “In considering the STA request, we will assess whether the proposed displacement facility complies with our technical and interference rules.” For temporary channel sharing, “two or more eligible LPTV/translator stations may each request a waiver of the Displacement Freeze and submit a displacement application that proposes to share a channel with the other eligible LPTV/translator,” the PN said. “Relief, if granted, will be temporary.” The Media Bureau meanwhile gave special permission for KCRA (DT) Riverside, California, a winning bidder in the incentive auction, to consummate a transaction before disbursement of incentive auction payments, said another PN. Under incentive auction rules, stations that were winning bidders would have to wait until the auction payments went out, the PN said. KCRA sought to “consummate a pro forma intra-corporate reorganization” before the payments are disbursed, the PN said. The timing is sensitive and “tied to the maturity of certain notes and a new bond offering,” the PN said. Since the deal is pro forma and won’t change the holder of the license, the bank accounts or the FCC registration number involved, the Media Bureau granted the request, the PN said. “Our decision is limited to the specific facts and special circumstances before us.”
Sinclair’s proposed buy of Tribune Media would put too many U.S. homes within reach of not enough voices, media consolidation opponents, union officials, academics and MVPD officials told us. After the $3.9 billion deal, the resulting company would reach 69.4 percent of U.S. homes. “I’m not sure it’s a great thing for the American consumer,” said DePauw University media professor Jeffrey McCall. Though some broadcast-side proponents of the deal said it’s necessary for Sinclair to grow to compete in the modern media market, analysts and broadcast officials said the transaction is intended to increase Sinclair’s reach and enhance the viability of the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.
The FCC ATSC 3.0 rulemaking saw more replies underscoring the sometimes contentious nature of what broadcasters hope is a switch to the next-generation standard. Earlier replies in docket 16-142 (see 1706080067) and initial comments (see 1705100072) also showed some differences among broadcasters, MVPDs and consumer electronics interests. Whether to mandate 3.0 tuners is one such issue, with CTA replying to stress the importance of not imposing tuner mandates. It was the first time in the 14-month-long proceeding that CTA commented on its own rather than jointly with NAB and the other groups that petitioned to authorize 3.0 as a voluntary, market-driven service (see 1604130065).
The latest legs of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s tour of Plains states to talk rural broadband brought him to Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota, according to his tweets Wednesday and Thursday. In Minnesota Wednesday, Pai visited a fiber-to home company, watched workers wire a neighborhood, and spoke with the Minnesota Telecom Alliance. In Iowa, Pai visited two facilities that deliver broadband to small communities there. He also met with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce in Sioux City to discuss broadband access and spoke about the issue on local KELO(AM) Sioux Falls, his tweets said. In South Dakota Thursday, Pai visited an Indian reservation. “Going to Rosebud Sioux Reservation to listen to, learn from Tribal leaders,” said Pai’s tweet. He's expected to visit Wyoming for the last leg (see 1706020053).
LG Electronics used its reply comments Thursday in FCC ATSC 3.0 rulemaking docket 16-142 to press its case again that the commission needs to incorporate into rules the A/322 and A/321 physical-layer documents within ATSC 3.0 standards (see 1706070058). But Sinclair's One Media subsidiary said A/321 is ATSC 3.0's only needed physical-layer ingredient because A/322's functions already are written into FCC rules. Meanwhile, MVPDs and broadcasters argued over whether the switchover will amount to a mandate.
Sinclair's proposed buy of Tribune Media for $3.9 billion (see 1705080018), if it goes through, would improve prospects for ATSC 3.0 and fit with plans for a nationwide consortium of broadcasters supporting the new standard, but may not be a requirement for 3.0’s success, attorneys, analysts and broadcast officials told us. “Tribune provides markets where Sinclair doesn’t have coverage,” said BIA/Kelsey Chief Economist Mark Fratrik.
NAB and T-Mobile added their voices to low-power TV concerns about “phase zero” stations that will get bumped from their spectrum long before they can move to displacement channels, and LPTV industry officials told us FCC action on the matter is now more likely. The post-repacking displacement window for LPTV and translators isn’t likely to open until 2018, NAB said. “In the meantime, if a new 600 MHz licensee provides its 120-day notice and displaces LPTV or translator stations, those stations will have no opportunity to remain on the air using an alternate channel,” said the letter in docket 16-306. “This outcome effectively defeats the stated purpose of the displacement window.” In a May 30 meeting with the Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau staff, T-Mobile said the FCC should “develop effective and flexible procedures for accommodating the needs of broadcasters impacted by the deployment of 600 MHz broadband services,”
A judicial administrative stay issued against FCC restoration of the UHF discount (see 1706010081) will keep the rule from coming back into effect on its planned June 5 effective date. It doesn’t indicate much about how the case will play out, attorneys said in interviews Friday. The stay is intended to give the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit enough time to consider the emergency request for stay filed by several public interest groups, “and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” said the order (in Pacer) issued Thursday evening. Since courts are able to reject outright emergency requests for stay, it should be mildly encouraging for public interest petitioners Free Press, Common Cause, Prometheus Radio Project and the others that the court asked the FCC for a response and set aside more time to consider the matter, said Fletcher Heald appellate lawyer Harry Cole.
Hero Licensco withdrew its application to sell KBEH Oxnard, California (see 1705090067) to Meruelo Television, said a letter posted Wednesday. The deal was seen as a possible precedent setter on how the FCC would treat transactions between stations that committed to channel sharing agreements pre-auction. The deal was put out for comment by the Media Bureau, and comments are due Friday. An Incentive Auction Task Force spokesman told us the docket for comments remains open and the comments will remain part of the record. Neither station would comment on the end of the transaction. A group of broadcasters asked the FCC Wednesday to quickly approve the KBEH deal and not hold up channel sharing transactions (see 1705310047). The FCC may look more favorably on transactions that occur after the companies involved have finalized their sharing agreements, an attorney said.
The FCC will open a window for AM stations to obtain FM translators on June 26, said a public notice Thursday. That's days after the deadline for broadcasters to comment on NAB proposals for handling rising instances of translators coming into interference conflict with full-power FM (FPFM) stations.