With the exact nature of expected divestitures from Sinclair buying Tribune likely depends on DOJ, industry officials and analysts said in interviews they expect stations to be spun off in the Seattle and St. Louis areas and that 21st Century Fox is a likely buyer. Broadcast attorneys and analysts don’t draw any conclusions from the FCC’s stopping of the deal shot clock Thursday (see 1801110063). Since the 180-day shot clock is largely a formality anyway, the agency’s decision to start or stop it rarely signifies much, said Holland and Knight broadcast attorney Charles Naftalin. “I wouldn’t read too deep into the tea leaves.”
The FCC's plan for a new Office of Economics and Analytics was applauded by most economists and others answering our queries. They said the OEA portends more integration of economic and data analysis into decision making and more rational regulation, though the FCC and others recognize trade-offs. Some suggested that if not implemented well, the restructuring could become more akin to bureaucratic reshuffling and said OEA independence and agency leadership are key. Chairman Aji Pai's draft order to establish the office is on the tentative agenda for the Jan. 30 commissioners' meeting (see 1801090050).
The House passed a bill Thursday to reauthorize Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 through 2023 despite a series of mixed messages from President Donald Trump's administration and opposition from backers of alternate legislation that included stricter privacy protections (see 1801100056). The Rapid DNA Act (S-139), which was a legislative vehicle for a revised version of the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act (HR-4478), is seen to have a strong chance of passing the Senate. The measure also has critics in the Senate, who may filibuster it absent the inclusion of additional privacy protections. Congress included a short-term extension of Section 702 authority in its most recent continuing resolution to fund the federal government, which expires Jan. 19 (see 1712210054).
It’s not clear when the FCC will address interference issues between the growing number of FM translators and full-power radio stations, but with a coming influx of translators from the latest AM Revitalization window, broadcasters told us something needs to happen. Though departing Audio Division head Peter Doyle said in September (see 1709070039) that an upcoming agency adjudication of an interference dispute between two Indiana licensees would address the issue and provide some clarification, that case has been stalled for months. One of the parties, Radio One, on Wednesday urged the full FCC to rule on the matter. “Removing FM translator service from local listeners due to purported interference to a distant FM station far outside the local listening area unfairly, inefficiently and inequitably favors the extension of a weak signal of the distant station to vast non-local areas, to the disfavor of thousands,” said Radio One’s filing.
The nonprofit Sports Fans Coalition (SFC) launched an over-the-top translator service in the New York area Thursday that aims to allow watching live streams of local broadcasters online. But broadcast experts see the Locast.org service raising copyright, retransmission consent and programming contract questions. "We are kind of in uncharted territory," said SFC founder David Goodfriend, a lobbyist and lawyer. "I'm not naive enough to think" there won't possibly be legal challenges, he said.
LAS VEGAS -- The Trump administration has a strong interest in innovation and spurring technology, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told CES attendees. Chao emphasized that numerous officials from the White House and DOT were at the conference because technology is so important. She spoke before a Wednesday panel on drones and self-driving vehicles. The administration speakers said repeatedly that President Donald Trump wants to get rid of regulations that harm industry.
House Communications Subcommittee Republicans delivered their opening legislative response Thursday to President Donald Trump's executive actions aimed at improving broadband deployments in rural areas. Trump signed an executive order and presidential memo Monday on rural broadband issues (see 1801080063), which some communications sector officials and lobbyists have since said they view as limited in scope. Several lobbyists told us before the Thursday announcement that legislation from telecom-focused lawmakers would be needed to bolster Trump's actions.
A California Senate committee supported net neutrality legislation in a 7-2 vote that split on partisan lines at the first major state hearing for such a bill. The net neutrality bill (SB-460) by California Senate President Kevin De León (D) would require providers to follow net neutrality rules like those rescinded last month by the FCC. Industry said providers aren't doing anything wrong and warned that SB-460 would take years to implement and likely will be challenged.
LAS VEGAS -- Smart networks are coming to cable, helping find and fix technical problems even before they might cause outages or are noticed by customers, the head of the industry's R&D arm said on the sidelines of CES. Comcast is heavily using such proactive network maintenance (some others call it proactive network management) and CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney sees PNM catching on among more cable operators, he said aboard his parked bus after parts of the Las Vegas Convention Center were partly closed during a power outage (see 1801100027).
Backers of new limits on the U.S. intelligence community's use of data collected under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 girded themselves Wednesday for a Thursday House floor debate on replacing the revised text of the Rapid DNA Act (S-139), which now contains language similar to the controversial FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act (HR-4478), with text from alternate Section 702 legislation. The House voted 233-181 Wednesday to move forward with the Thursday debate and vote on the measure. The House Rules Committee voted 6-3 Tuesday to allow House consideration of an amendment to substitute text from the Uniting and Strengthening America by Reforming and Improving the Government’s High-Tech Surveillance (USA Rights) Act (HR-4124/S-1997) before a floor vote on the underlying S-139. House leaders moved last week to bring S-139 to the floor as a vehicle for taking up HR-4478's language (see 1801050059 and 1801080014).