Broadcasting&Cable

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is calling on the Donald Trump Administration to focus on the art of the long-range economic growth policy. In response to the announcement that President-elect Donald Trump and VP-elect Mike Pence had helped broker a deal to keep Carrier air conditioner jobs in Indiana rather than fleeing to Mexico, ITIF said that working to keep and grow American jobs and companies was the right idea but that "lurching from deal to deal" was not.

ITIF, whose bipartisan board members range from Trump FCC transition team member Jeff Eisenach to Blair Levin, former top aide to Democratic FCC chair Julius Genachowski, downplayed the extreme reactions from both sides. "Contrary to early reactions from the left and the right, the Carrier deal opens the door to a new approach to U.S. economic growth policy that is sorely needed," said ITIF president Robert Atkinson. "It sets the precedent that growing, attracting, and retaining globally traded, innovation-based industries that are both high-value and pay high wages is central to U.S. economic growth..."

The high-tech association heads representing what they say is a trillion-dollar economic driver have outlined what they are looking for in the next Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission chair and commissioners, which includes understanding sector as well as the limits of authority, and exercising some "regulatory humility."

That came in a letter to VP-elect and Trump transition team leader Mike Pence. They said that "to ensure our government works, we must have people in place with the competencies to get the job done." Here was the job description under the FCC hearing: "We urge that nominees for FCC Commissioner seats understand and appreciate the vital role of competition in the communications sector, the limits of FCC authority across areas of responsibility, and the need for establishing a data-driven evidence base in advance of setting ex ante policies. Nominees should also have knowledge of the communications industry landscape and the role it plays in realizing inter-connected smart communications technologies, as well as an understanding of future technological developments relying on a robust communications infrastructure."

The News Media Alliance, whose board members include execs from Gannett, Belo, Cox, The Washington Post, The New York Times and about 2,000 other newspapers/media outlets, has called on President-elect Donald Trump 's transition team to prioritize getting rid of media cross-ownership rules.

In fact, that was the first on a list of things it advised would help foster economic growth and investment. Others included not withholding media credentials from outlets based on the content of their coverage — something candidate Trump did. They also put in a pitch for regular briefings — it has been months since Trump had a press conference, according to CNN — and maintaining a press pool — President-elect Trump early on made some moves without informing the press of his whereabouts. "News can strike at any time and without a pool on site to inform the public about the President’s whereabouts, speculation and fear can prevail," they said.

President Barack Obama has sent the nomination of Richard Stengel to the Senate to replace Jeff Shell as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. That came as Congress is considering a bill that would abolish the board. Actually, while Stengel succeeds Shell, he would be assuming the unexpired term of Susan McCue, who resigned. That term would expire in August 2017.

Stengel has been the under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs at the State Department since February 2014 and before that was managing editor of Time. Shell's day job is chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. Shell made news last summer when he was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and denied entry into the country despite having a passport and visa, according to BBG. BBG is the independent agency overseeing government-backed international media outlets including VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks

A must-pass defense authorization bill that emerged from a recent House-Senate conference included a provision that would restructure the Broadcasting Board of Governors to concentrate power in a new expanded CEO position, according to the conference report. The bill would eliminate the nine-member board that oversees the Broadcasting Board of Governors and give the CEO new powers. BBG oversees government-backed, nonmilitary international media outlets including VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. That would likely mean a name change since the bipartisan broadcasting board of governors is what is being eliminated.

In testimony before Congress last year, the board chair and the CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, both familiar names in broadcasting and cable circles, asked Congress to give the group's CEO position more power and to allow BBG more flexibility to fund its operations. That CEO is John Lansing, former head of CTAM and Scripps Networks. Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, is board chair. On the eve of the release of the conference report, President Obama was sending his new nominee to chair that nine-member BBG oversight board to the Senate.

The American Cable Association has asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny the request by Nexstar and Media General for a waiver of the FCC's Prohibited Communications rule, a rule that so far has blocked FCC action on Nexstar's proposed purchase of Media General. Because Media General had indicated it would be participating in the auction—it was allowed by the FCC to signal, and did signal, that it was applying to be eligible—FCC action on the transfer could provide more specific information about the auction, which is why the FCC decided it would not act on any transfers involving such stations that were filed after a January 2016 deadline.

Nexstar and Media General sought a waiver of that Prohibited Communications rule in hopes the deal approval would not have to wait until the end of the auction for a decision. The FCC has yet to act, but there has been buzz that the FCC's Media Bureau could be weighing in any time with a decision on the waiver and perhaps contemporaneously a conditioned approval of the deal. ACA says the Media Bureau should not be making that decision, that it should be made by a vote of the commissioners rather than the bureau, and that if it is made by a bureau it can't be the Media Bureau, which it says does not have the delegated authority to waive the spectrum auction rules. That would be the Wireless Bureau, says ACA. Finally, whoever is reviewing it should deny the waiver, says ACA, because the broadcasters "have not met their burden to show why the extraordinary relief contemplated by the waiver is justified."

There was some buzz late on Nov 29 that Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission could get an 11th hour confirmation vote after all. Without that Senate vote, she would have to leave the commission at the beginning of January. Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said they were close to a deal for Commissioner Rosenworcel's vote. Incoming Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was also said to be interested in the outcome. Apparently, they had been told that if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could get some Democratic help with his pick for a seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has also been held up, Commissioner Rosenworcel might be able to get a vote. Apparently, Sen John Thune (R-SD) had signaled that FCC chairman Tom Wheeler's failure to commit to leaving the FCC—he has signaled he is likely not staying but has not made it official—was one hold-up in getting a Senate floor vote on Rosenworcel's confirmation, though it is McConnell that controls the calendar. Reid had reportedly said a deal was in the works.

The Federal Communications Commission says it expects to start stage three of the forward auction on Dec 5. That is not official, but in announcing that stage three of the reverse auction will end Dec 1—barring computer issues or other outside factors—the FCC said it anticipated starting the forward auction Dec 5, adding: "Forward auction bidders should be prepared for bidding to begin that day."

The reverse auction is where TV stations set the price at which they will give up spectrum—with the FCC lowering the price in each round, while the forward is where bidders compete for the rights to that spectrum, presumably for wireless broadband. So far forward auction bidders have not come close to meeting the broadcasters' asking price, and the FCC has had to reduce the amount of spectrum twice as the auction seeks the intersection of supply and demand—at the right price—that will allow the FCC to close the auction. That is when both the forward auction bids cover the asking price and at a baseline price for the top markets so the rights to the public spectrum are not sold too cheaply.

The Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill hailed as striking a blow for online free speech.The Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 (HR 5111) now heads to President Barack Obama's desk.

The bill effectively disallows so-called "anti-disparagement clauses" that are meant to prevent negative online reviews by making them punishable by fines or promising lawsuits as part of those lengthy terms of service agreements that most people likely do not pore over before using an online service. The bill does not immunize online reviewers from civil actions for defamation, slander or libel or prevent any party's right to remove anything that is "false or misleading, harassing, abusive, obscene, vulgar, sexually explicit, inappropriate with respect to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, or other intrinsic characteristic," so it is not a flat prohibition and could contain some wiggle room in terms like "misleading" or "abusive."

The Federal Communications Commission signaled that, barring the unforeseen, stage three of the reverse portion of the broadcast incentive auction will close Dec 1. That had been the expectation, but the FCC put an exclamation point on it by announcing it would hold up to five rounds that day, rather than the planned three rounds, to insure it wraps up, with the first two rounds an hour apiece and the last three lightning rounds at a half-hour apiece in case some last-minute decisions need to be accommodated.

That means on Dec 1, the FCC will announce the latest value broadcasters have put on the spectrum they are volunteering to give up entirely or move off of, which is the total that forward auction bidders will have to meet—plus auction and broadcaster moving expenses—in order for the auction to close successfully. Stage three of the forward auction will likely begin within a matter of days. So far, forward auction bidders—primarily wireless companies or would-be wireless companies looking to use it for broadband—have failed to come near broadcasters first two asking prices, which was about $86 billion for 126 MHz and then about $55 billion for 114 MHz.