Broadcasting&Cable

Once Again, Court Overturns FCC Changes in Media-Ownership Rules

The Third US Circuit Court of Appeals threw out changes to broadcast media ownership rules approved by the Federal Communications Commission in 2017, saying the agency should have looked more closely at potential impacts on minority ownership. The court  said it agreed with public-interest groups that “the Commission did not adequately consider the effect its sweeping rule changes will have on ownership of broadcast media by women and racial minorities.” The court will vacate and remand “the bulk of” the FCC’s actions over the last three years for further consideration by the agency.

Senator Warner on Big Tech: Status Quo Won't Cut It

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) said that we have now seen how "the misuse of technology threatens our democratic systems, our economy, and our national security." "Western companies who help authoritarian regimes build censored apps or walled-garden versions of the internet are just as big a threat to a free and open internet as government actors," he said.

AT&T Hit with Class Action Suit Alleging AT&T Pumped Up Subscriber Count for DirecTV Now

A class action suit has been filed alleging that AT&T pumped up the subscriber count for its DirecTV Now streaming service (since rebranded to AT&T TV Now) to mask "serious technical problems due to premature roll-out." AT&T has recently reported subscriber losses across multiple platforms, including AT&T TV Now. The complaint claims that AT&T and "Executive Defendants," which includes CEO Randall Stephenson, "falsely depicted DirecTV Now as a fast-growing product with increasing subscribers and strong margins that would offset declining subscriber levels in AT&T’s o

Nexstar Pays $100K Fine to Resolve FCC Investigation

The Federal Communications Commission has resolved its investigation into a couple of Nexstar stations, which follows its dismissal of a retransmission complaint against the broadcaster, which comes in the context of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's circulation of an item approving Nexstar's merger with Tribune. The FCC was looking into whether its KARK-TV Little Rock and KFDX-TV Wichita was meeting its childrens television programming requirements--specifically whether they had filed the requisite quarterly reports. Nexstar will pay a fine of $109,076. 

FCC Still Weighing Nexstar-Tribune

While the Justice Department signed off on Nexstar's purchase of Tribune in July with TV station spin-offs in 13 markets, the Federal Communications Commission has yet to complete its public interest review of the merger. Currently, the deal is on day 192 of the FCC's informal 180-day shot clock. That 180-day shot clock not an official deadline, and the FCC has occasionally gone far past it, as it did in the Nexstar-Media General merger, when it took 329 days to sign off.

FCC Defends Aug 2018 Vote on Pole Attachment Deregulation

Backed by the Justice Department, the Federal Communications Commission as told the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that it knew what it was doing when it deregulated pole attachments, and had the authority to do it. The FCC voted in Aug 2018 (unanimously, though with one partial dissent) to adopt various reforms related to new broadband attachments on utility poles. The petitioners, a group of electric utilities companies, challenged the FTC's authority to undertake the reforms in Oct.

President Trump Dumps Even More Vitriol on Media

President Donald Trump has ramped up his attacks on and threats aimed at the press. On Aug 18, President tweeted criticisms of The New York Times and the state of journalism in general: "The Failing New York Times, in one of the most devastating portrayals of bad journalism in history, got caught by a leaker that they are shifting  from their Phony Russian Collusion Narrative (the Mueller Report & his testimony were a total disaster), to a Racism Witch Hunt....'Journalism' has reached a new low in the history of our Country.

Court Vacates FCC Deregulation of Cell Tower-Site Reviews

Turns out the race to 5G can't run roughshod over the landscape, at least as the Federal Communications Commission has proposed it. In a partial defeat for the FCC and a victory for localities trying to retain their authority over cell tower placement and impact, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has ruled that the FCC did not justify its deregulation of small cell site reviews and has vacated that part of a larger wireless deployment deregulation order.