Broadcasting&Cable
US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit Rejects Petition to Reverse FCC's UHF Discount
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has declined to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's restoration of the UHF discount on the grounds that the parties challenging it--Free Press, Prometheus Radio--did not have standing to bring the challenge. That could be a big boost to broadcast mergers and acquisitions, though it might not be the big boost for the Sinclair-Tribune deal given the FCC's other problems with the deal. The UHF discount means that only half of a UHF TV station's audience counts towards the 39% national ownership cap.
Microsoft, RTO Wireless Team on Rural Broadband Initiative
Computer giant Microsoft has teamed up with RTO Wireless to provide broadband access to more than a quarter million people in rural New York state and Maine. It is the latest project in the company's Airband Initiative to connect rural areas to broadband partnerships with Internet service providers, and energy companies and others. The goal is to close the rural digital divide by July 4, 2022, including by making use of unlicensed spectrum in the so-called TV white spaces between TV channels.
Rep. Scalise Tries Again To Repeal Must-Carry, Retransmission Regime
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) launched another effort at massive communications deregulation, one he has been pushing for most of a decade, so far without success. Rep Scalise has reintroduced a discussion draft of his Next Generation Television Marketplace Act, which repeals must-carry and retransmission consent rules and the compulsory license. That is the license that allows broadcasters to include nonlocal programming in their retransmission deals without having to secure individual rights from national network and syndication rightsholders.
Sinclair Made Last Ditch Effort to Head Off FCC Hearing
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai phoned Sinclair executive vice president and general counsel Barry Faber July 18 to let the company know that just withdrawing the three TV station "sweetheart deal" sale applications was not going to head off an administrative hearing on the proposed Tribune merger. But Faber told Chairman Pai in a letter filed with the FCC that the company was not planning to cancel the deal the week of July 16, saying that would require board approval it did not have.
Deal Critics to Tribune Board: Abandon Merger or Quit
Four high-profile Sinclair-Tribune deal critics have gotten together to urge Tribune to pull the plug on the deal. Public Knowledge President Gene Kimmelman; Brian Hess, executive director of the Sports Fans Coalition; Gigi Sohn, distinguished fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy; and Andrew Schwartzman of the Institute for Public Representation wrote a letter to Tribune board members saying, "We believe that the only reasonable and prudent action under your fiduciary duty as Tribune directors is to abandon the proposed sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group and focus entirely on
FCC Transparency Act Reintroduced
Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) has reintroduced the Federal Communications Commission Transparency Act (HR 6422), which would mandate that the FCC publish the drafts of items to be considered in a public meeting 21 days ahead of that vote.
House Subcommittee Vets New FTC (update)
The House Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, in the first oversight hearing for the new slate of Federal Trade Commission members, probed the commissioners on issues like data security, the Internet of Things, privacy, deceptive advertising, and more.
Ion, Others to FCC: 50% Ownership Cap Solution Is Too Weak
Ion, Trinity and Univision have weighed in at the Federal Communications Commission with supplemental evidence for what they argue is the need to roll back the FCC's 39 percent cap on a TV station group's national audience reach, and preferably all the way rather than raising it once again. That came in a supplemental comment, which featured the economic analysis of Dr. Harold Furchtgott-Roth, an economist, law professor and former Republican FCC commissioner. He was analyzing a BIA report on the state of the marketplace that provided its own analysis for raising it to 50 percent.
Judicial Transparency Group 'Fix the Court' Presses for Kavanaugh Documents
Judicial transparency group Fix the Court continues to try to get info on Brett Kavanaugh's time at the White House and working on the Starr Report. Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, was nominated this week to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Kennedy is exiting at the end of July.