Arguments the FCC lacks authority to relax children’s TV rules are “specious,” NAB replied, posted Wednesday in docket 18-202. Falling audiences for broadcast children’s content obligate modernizing rules, NAB said. ”Children do not rely on commercial stations’ E/I [educational and informative] content, even in OTA [over-the-air] homes.” The association responded to comments from a collection of children’s media groups, including Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Center for Digital Democracy and Common Sense Kids Action. The record doesn’t show that nonbroadcast platforms provide “significant educational programming for children,” those groups replied. “Despite changes in viewing habits, large numbers of children still watch broadcast television.” The National Hispanic Media Coalition said the FCC should “pause” the proceeding to gather more information or risk not complying with the Administrative Procedure Act: “Neither the NPRM nor the comments filed in the record meaningfully evaluate the potential unintended effects of deregulation.” Others also urged the FCC to reset the proceeding and gather more information. “A doctor should not prescribe a litany of prescriptions before carefully examining a patient and diagnosing an illness; and neither should the FCC prescribe a litany of prescriptive remedies without a more thorough examination of what ails the Kid Vid issue,” said the Parents Television Council. Continue requiring broadcaster kids' TV reports, the children’s media groups said: “Neither broadcasters nor MVPDs should be allowed to simply certify compliance with the [Children’s Television Act] when there is no viable way to verify their compliance.” Current filing rules are a burden on small cable companies and broadcasters, said the American Cable Association and every broadcast commenter. Some content companies, such as Litton Entertainment, argued allowing broadcasters to satisfy requirements with children’s shows aired only on multicast channels will discourage production of new kid content. Lower ad revenue on multicast channels would destroy the market for new educational children’s shows, Litton said. “Allowing broadcasters to move all E/I programming to lesser-watched multicast streams would mean lower-quality (i.e., standard definition, not closed-captioned or video-described) programming and significantly fewer viewers,” said Hearst. Ion and broadcast network affiliate associations praised the FCC’s efforts, saying the media landscape “more than justifies the rule changes proposed by the Commission, and supported by most of the comments, because they will serve the public interest.”
Equal time rules for broadcast political advertisements could one day be tested by candidates campaigning on social media, said Media Bureau Assistant Division Chief Robert Baker on the FCC podcast. Traditionally, candidates running write-in campaigns have been considered eligible for equal time on stations if they can demonstrate they are campaigning, Baker said: “They're giving speeches, they've got campaign materials, they have campaign headquarters and the kinds of things that are indicative of being a candidate.” The rise of digital and social media campaigning is complicating that determination, he said. “We just had a presidential election campaign where the successful person running for president used social media in ways that will indicate, I think, for a lot of people are a much different way of campaigning." Policy remains unchanged, but “one of these days it's going to be tested,” he said. Baker’s role at the FCC is “not to be a cop and not to punish people if at all possible to avoid,” he said. In his 25 years heading the bureau’s political ad efforts, his office has gone from 15 lawyers to two and now issues far fewer complaints than his predecessor. Baker is “there to help” and lawyers and broadcasters trust they can ask questions without getting in trouble, he said. “They know I don't write things down,” Baker said. “We've eliminated a couple thousand potential disputes and those disputes are inefficient for many reasons,” he said. “Certainly, they waste the resources of the FCC.”
A draft on eliminating requirements broadcasters send hard copies of contract documents to the FCC hasn’t been subject of negotiation among eighth-floor offices, we're told. The order isn’t expected to change ahead of Tuesday's commissioners’ meeting, said officials Friday.
Lack of a final decision from Chief Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel on the Sinclair/Tribune hearing designation order won't slow or affect Sinclair merger and acquisition efforts, CEO Chris Ripley told us after speaking at NAB Show New York Thursday. Sinclair is “focused” on more consolidation in broadcast TV, and on adjacent growth avenues such as regional sports networks, cable and digital offerings, Ripley said.
Raising the 39 percent national ownership cap to 60 or 70 percent but adding a sunset clause that would require further consideration after a few years could be a way for the FCC to relax the cap in a fashion more politically palatable than getting rid of it, said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook on a panel at NAB Show New York Wednesday. Sook told us he believes FCC Chairman Ajit Pai intends to act, but it's also possible the Pai FCC won't get around to it.
There are no signs FCC action on the TV-station national ownership cap is coming soon. The expected busy agency schedule for the remaining months of 2018 means such action is unlikely this year, FCC officials, broadcasters, attorneys and analysts told us. Without any deals actively pending that push against the cap and the UHF discount not under threat, the national cap appears to be “on the backburner,” said S&P Global Senior Research Analyst Justin Nielson.
A compromise on reducing interference protection for Class A AM stations is likely to lead to a contentious proceeding, said radio engineers and attorneys in interviews Tuesday. The FCC issued a unanimously approved NPRM Friday. It's seen as offering a “middle” solution that stops short of total removal of interference protections (see 1808210045) previously proposed by the agency but that still would reduce protections for existing Class A “clear channel” stations, said duTreil, Lundin Vice President Ronald Rackley.
The midterm elections in 2018 will generate vastly more broadcast political advertising spending than the 2014 midterms, broadcasters and analysts said in interviews. A host of tight congressional races, an early focus on negative ads, and high rates of spending by outside groups are seen as reasons for the increase. That’s going to lead to “healthier than expected” political ad revenue for radio and TV stations, said BIA/Kelsey Chief Economist Mark Fratrik. E.W. Scripps projects revenue in 2018 will grow more than 50 percent over 2014. “It feels more aggressive,” Alpha Media CEO Bob Proffitt told us.
Spectrum sharing and the gravity of the spectrum crunch generated disagreement Tuesday at the annual Americas Spectrum Management Conference. Federal officials touted spectrum sharing as “the new normal” while T-Mobile Senior Director-Technology Policy John Hunter called sharing policies “draconian.” “It's incredibly difficult to measure scarcity,” said FCC Wireless Bureau Assistant Chief Matthew Pearl.
Broadcasters of all stripes, MVPDs, T-Mobile and Microsoft have differing opinions on how repacking reimbursement funds should be doled out and to whom, according to comments filed in docket 18-214 by Wednesday's deadline. NAB continued to argue that $400 million appropriated for reimbursements for FY2019 can be used to cover repacking costs for FM, low-power television and translators, but the American Cable Association said it would be “unfair” to reimburse the FM and secondary broadcasters newly covered by the Reimbursement Expansion Act (REA) from FY2019 funds until MVPDs and “all entities for whom the Reimbursement Fund was originally created” are “fully satisfied.”