The FCC is expected to vote in September on an order of reconsideration that would roll back many media ownership regulations, industry officials said in interviews. The item, an order on recon of the 2014 quadrennial review, is expected to be circulated to commissioners' offices next month, after their Aug. 3 meeting, broadcast allies said. Though the scope of the item is likely still in flux, most broadcast industry officials we spoke with expect the item to roll back or relax rules governing the attribution of joint sales agreements (JSAs), broadcast cross-ownership, and rules that bar broadcasters from owning multiple stations in a market.
A proposal to reserve vacant channels in the TV band for unlicensed use would make it hard for broadcasting to transition to ATSC 3.0, broadcasters and broadcast attorneys told us. Many of the new capabilities expected out of the new TV standard would require broadcasters to upgrade their facilities to use single frequency networks, a change that would become extremely difficult if vacant channels are reserved for unlicensed use, they said.
The preliminary estimated expense of the post-incentive auction repacking of $2.12 billion (see 1707140054), $365 million more than the $1.75 billion reimbursement fund intended to cover those costs, drew some concerns even as the shortfall was less than some feared. That Incentive Auction Task Force number could change as broadcaster requirements and standards for what's reimbursable become clearer and a few submissions that hadn't been included from a small number of broadcasters and MVPDs are totaled. Having a deficit to cite is expected to bolster broadcaster lobbying efforts to have Congress increase the reimbursement fund amount, said Pillsbury broadcast attorney Scott Flick. Such legislation may come soon.
The FCC unanimously approved an order increasing video description requirements for broadcast and non-broadcast networks Wednesday, removing the item from the Thursday commissioners’ meeting agenda. The text of the item shows few changes from what was proposed in the NPRM (see 1706280063), except for delaying the deadline for compliance from the start of 2018 to July 2018. Consumer groups said they're pleased with the order.
An NAB study on how many FM stations will be affected by the post-incentive auction repacking is seen as part of the association’s efforts to secure an expansion of the $1.75 billion repacking reimbursement fund and delaying the 39-month repacking deadline, attorneys and industry officials told us. In what's seen as part of the same push as the study, NAB last month released an online video on the difficulty of repacking (see 1706210054). NAB “is devoting enormous resources” to “educating” Congress and the FCC on the repacking, an NAB spokesman said, saying the association believes the reimbursement fund is too small. “Ultimately, our hope is that lawmakers and regulators agree with us, and will craft legislative and regulatory fixes that are fair to broadcasters in what was a voluntary incentive auction,” the spokesman said.
Broadcasters and MVPDs hate paperwork, according to nearly every comment filed in response to the FCC’s call in docket 17-105 for licensees to name their least favorite and what they consider most-outdated media regulations. Though the huge volume of comments took aim at FCC policies on set-top boxes, rate regulation, indecency and others, the most repeated targets were FCC filings and notice requirements that commenters believe should be either eliminated or submittable electronically. Entities on the MVPD side, such as Verizon, urged the FCC to eliminate public inspection files, and nearly every broadcaster asked for relief from “burdensome” equal employment opportunity (EEO) and broadcast ownership filing requirements. NCTA filed its comments backing relaxing rules on rate regulation, program access and program carriage in a font made to mimic the output of a typewriter. “Back when many of the regulations addressed in these comments were being considered, this is how our filings at the Commission looked,” NCTA said.
Broadcast commenters overwhelmingly backed elimination of the main studio rule, in comments filed in docket 17-106 in time for Monday’s deadline. NPR, NAB, Nexstar, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the vast majority of commenters called the rule an outdated and unnecessary cost to broadcasters. “The rule now simply serves as an artificial barrier to broadcasters seeking to allocate their resources in a manner that best serves their listeners and viewers,” said Hubbard Broadcasting. The broadcaster comments largely agree with the tentative conclusions in the NPRM proposing the rule’s elimination -- though there was pushback on whether broadcasters should be required to provide a 24-hour emergency phone number. A telephone staffing requirement "is not necessary or appropriate, and would be unduly burdensome, particularly for smaller stations,” NAB said.
An agreement between T-Mobile and PBS for the wireless company to pay for PBS low-power facilities displaced by the incentive auction to move to new channels isn’t seen as likely to pave the way for other large-scale agreements whereby wireless companies fund large numbers of broadcaster relocations, translator and low-power TV industry officials told us. There isn’t another large, “one-stop-shop” entity that owns hundreds of translators, said Jim McDonald, former president of the National Translator Association.
The FCC draft order on video description is expected to receive little industry pushback and to be approved by all three commissioners, industry attorneys and an agency official told us. Though the item won’t increase the amount of described video to the degree that a previous draft nearly approved under the previous administration late last year would have (see 1611160048), consumer advocacy groups welcome the action. The draft is “a very good thing,” said American Foundation for the Blind Public Policy Director Mark Richert. “What a shame it is that this couldn’t be done months ago.”
Some recent court decisions have “nibbled away” at the concept of Chevron deference, attorneys from the FCC Office of General Counsel said at an FCBA CLE Monday evening. The legal principle that courts should give deference to expert agencies on matters of interpreting legislation is “in flux,” said Litigation Division Chief Jacob Lewis. “Chevron lives, it’s still healthy,” Lewis said, but the doctrine is facing “more serious challenges.