LAS VEGAS -- FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated draft FM translator rules to the other eighth-floor offices to be voted on at the May 9 commissioners' meeting, he told a crowded auditorium at the NAB Show Tuesday. Pai said long-awaited forms to allow broadcasters to transition to ATSC 3.0 (see 1904100043) will be ready “by the end of Q2” and urged broadcasters to increasingly think of themselves as digital media companies. “You find yourselves in a war for attention with well-funded media giants, internet companies, and telecom companies,” he said. The show had 91,460 attendees, down from 92,912 in 2018.
LAS VEGAS -- DOJ's view of broadcast competition as concerned only with spot TV advertising is narrowly defined and unlikely to change, broadcasters and broadcast attorneys told us Tuesday. Their remarks followed an NAB 2019 panel headlined by Owen Kendler, chief of the Antitrust Division's Media Entertainment and Professional Services Section.
LAS VEGAS -- Radio license renewals are moving to a new system, the delayed FCC decision on a top-four combination in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, isn't related to the quadrennial review, and the chairman's office nixed a prison phone company deal before it reached other eighth-floor offices, said commissioners and Media Bureau staff on panels Monday and Tuesday at NAB 2019. There was heated onstage back-and-forth between Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Geoffrey Starks on pirate radio. And Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman suggested broadcasters walk back calls to relax some reporting requirements.
LAS VEGAS -- Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim said DOJ's view of broadcaster sharing agreements hadn't changed. He indicated such arrangements are being investigated, in a Q&A at the NAB Show Monday with NAB CEO Gordon Smith. The FCC Media Bureau meantime will "hopefully" release a form to allow broadcasters to transition to ATSC 3.0 before June, Chief Michelle Carey told us. Broadcasters have been waiting for that paperwork (see 1904070001).
The FCC’s upcoming quadrennial review of broadcast rules, the progress of ATSC 3.0, the repacking and FM translator interference are expected to be important topics at the 2019 NAB Show, said radio and TV broadcasters and broadcast attorneys in interviews this week. The initial comment deadline for the QR is April 29, and though radio and TV broadcasters agreed the progress toward actual rule changes is likely to be slow, both media are looking to that process to ease some regulatory burdens. “Deregulation is the No. 1 thing,” said Alpha Media CEO Bob Proffitt. About 93,000 people attended last year’s show, a spokesperson said.
Broadcasters don’t expect an order on changes to FCC kidvid rules until summer. Such an item isn’t slated for the April agenda, and broadcast industry officials don’t expect it in May, either.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai repeatedly avoided commenting Wednesday on whether the agency, to do its job, needs more money than it sought in its $335.6 million budget request to Congress. “I want you to tell me, do you need more money?” interrupted Rep. Sanford Bishop. D-Ga., during a House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing on the FCC budget after Pai had several times started to say the agency would use the current request wisely. After much back and forth, Pai said the FCC could discharge its functions with the current request or additional funds.
The FCC lacks authority to expand video description requirements to IP-delivered video and should be cautious about expanding the markets in which it's required, NAB commented, posted in docket 11-43 Tuesday. Comments are intended to inform an Oct. 8 report to Congress required of the agency by the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Expanding requirements beyond the top 60 markets could be burdensome for broadcasters since revenue in such markets is lower, NAB said. “If the Internet is used to carry live terrestrial broadcast television, the Commission should have jurisdiction under the CVAA to regulate such program delivery systems,” the American Council for the Blind said. The FCC should establish a clear stance toward accessibility requirements as video and broadcast technologies evolve, the ACB said. It said the FCC should work with industry groups to create a centralized list of described programming. “Such a centralized list will also greatly assist in assuring that covered networks under the CVAA are meeting their required mandate of 87.5 quarterly hours of described content,” ACB said. ACB and NCTA raised concern over technical limitations of providing audio description over the secondary audio program channel, where it sometimes conflicts with foreign-language translations on legacy content. “Industry is aware of the interest in facilitating greater and easier access to video described programming to avoid conflicts with foreign language programming that may occupy this same audio stream, and is working to achieve that end,” NCTA said. “Cable operators are offering more than two audio streams where it is feasible.” The FCC should consider that proposed changes to kidvid rules could affect availability of described content, programmer Litton Entertainment said. Litton opposed FCC-proposed relaxation of kidvid requirements.
ISP blocking, throttling or paid prioritization policies aren't necessarily violations of FTC antitrust rules, said Chairman Joe Simons at a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. Such conduct would need to have involved consumer harm or deception to trigger FTC enforcement actions, Simons said. “We would take action against ISPs if they block applications without adequately disclosing those practices or if they mislead consumers.” Under FCC Communications Act Title I net neutrality rules, the FTC has such authority, which some backing Title II want returned to the FCC. A bill to do that was marked up Tuesday (see 1903260064).
The only comment in the TV ratings proceeding arguing that the ratings system is fine (see 1903130061) “comes from those who profit from the current system,” replied the Parents Television Council, posted Wednesday in docket 19-41. PTC referenced joint comments from NAB, MPAA and NCTA that run the TV ratings oversight body. The vast majority of the 1,700-plus public comments in the proceeding “expressed at least some level of concern, consternation or dissatisfaction,” PTC said. The associations cautioned the FCC in their own reply comments that altering the system is outside FCC authority and the intent of legislative language that prompted the proceeding. “Remain focused on the specific congressional mandate, which is to provide information in the form of a report, and not to accept entreaties to exceed statutory authority or constitutional limits,” they said. National Religious Broadcasters opposes regulation of TV content, but said the trade groups’ statistics indicated parents have difficulty using the ratings system. Forty-eight percent "of parents it surveyed say they ‘understand very well’ the TV content ratings system,” NRB said, on a Hart Research report commissioned and entered into the record by NAB, MPAA and NCTA. That “seems to suggest that at the very least there are many parents who have questions about how those ratings are assigned, overseen, or best utilized by parents,” NRB said. “Unfortunately, many industry giants are either not aware of or not sufficiently attentive to this need.” PTC understands the current review is narrow in scope: “But it is unfathomable that the conclusion of this review could in any way suggest that no improvement is warranted.”