A draft NPRM on relaxing foreign ownership rules (see 1510010042) is expected to be approved at Thursday’s FCC meeting, and it could be a unanimous vote, agency and industry officials told us Monday. The NPRM seeks comment on rule changes that would apply largely to situations involving foreign ownership of broadcasters, but some that also apply to common carriers, an agency official said. Relaxation of rules making it difficult for foreign investment in broadcasting was spoken of favorably in blog posts from Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and Chairman Tom Wheeler (here and here) in recent months, and previous efforts to relax the rules met no opposition, broadcast attorneys said. The proposals in the NPRM are widely supported by broadcasters, industry attorneys said.
Incentive auction-eligible broadcasters now know the highest bid their stations will receive, and that they have to decide whether to participate by Dec. 18, after the agency released a pair of public notices on application procedures and opening bids Thursday and Friday. “We’ve fired the starting gun,” Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement. The FCC also indicated that the window for carriers and other forward auction bidders to submit their short-form applications is Jan. 14-28.
The FCC’s quadrennial review of its ownership rules is seen as being on the back burner and not likely to be a focus for the current FCC, numerous communications attorneys told us in interviews. That’s despite an NAB petition (see 1510130061) to hold the Charter/ Time Warner Cable/ Bright House deal in abeyance filed Sunday asking the FCC to take up the matter. Though Chairman Tom Wheeler has said the commission will address the 2014 ownership review in time for the June statutory deadline, the FCC is known for not completing ownership rule reviews on time. The politically charged atmosphere around the ownership rules, the upcoming TV incentive auction, and the ongoing litigation with NAB and Prometheus Radio Project over the 2010 quadrennial review are all reasons the FCC is unlikely to tackle a review of media ownership anytime soon, attorneys told us.
An NAB petition to deny asking the FCC to freeze its review of Charter Communications' planned buys of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable until the agency completes the 2010 and 2014 quadrennial ownership reviews is intended to gain attention rather than a sincere attempt to block or slow the deals, industry critics said in interviews Tuesday. Approving huge pay-TV deals while not reviewing or eliminating the rules that prevent broadcasters from matching their scale is anticompetitive, NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan said. NAB and others have challenged the FCC’s lack of action on the quadrennial review in an ongoing proceeding in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Though numerous industry officials agreed that the FCC has been ignoring the quadrennial review, NAB’s gambit is expected to get little to no notice from the agency, they said.
MVPDs clashed with TiVo, Public Knowledge and Google in comments filed in FCC docket 15-64 this week on the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee's final report. The latter entities and other members of the Consumer Video Choice Coalition (CVCC) said Congress meant for the FCC to take action when it mandated the formation of the DSTAC in the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Reauthorization Act. Meanwhile, Comcast, NCTA, AT&T and others said there's no indication in the DSTAC report that the FCC should take action. A “fair reading of the report” suggests that dictating downloadable security or set-top box policy to multichannel video programming distributors “would overtax the agency’s administrative capabilities and cause harm to the development of technologies and business models,” the Free State Foundation (FSF) said in its comments. By emphasizing a competitive set-top box (STB) market the FCC “can foster the competition and consumer benefits seen in other, vibrantly competitive consumer electronics markets,” the CVCC said.
The FCC AM revitalization draft order has received three commissioner votes, triggering a soft deadline in a few weeks by which all commissioners must vote yea or nay on it, said Media Bureau Associate Chief Holly Sauer Thursday on a panel at a National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters’ conference. The NABOB conference also featured Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, Incentive Auction Task Force (IATF) Chairman Gary Epstein and Enforcement Bureau Deputy Chief Bill Davenport. Sauer wouldn’t comment on which commissioners have voted or how, but O’Rielly and Commissioner Ajit Pai have indicated they don’t support the current draft order, while Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has said she does, and it's also seen as supported by Chairman Tom Wheeler.
Broadcasters face “trying times” at the FCC, said Commissioner Ajit Pai Wednesday in remarks prepared for delivery to the National Religious Broadcasters' President's Council Wednesday. “Is this all a test by the FCC to see if broadcasters have the patience of Job?” he asked. Pai opposes proposals to prioritize unlicensed white space devices over TV stations in the TV band, he said. “When it comes to broadcast television spectrum, broadcasters should have priority. But sadly, the Commission no longer appears to believe this.” Though the incentive auction means some low-power TV broadcasters will be displaced, the FCC shouldn’t exacerbate the problem, Pai said. “If low-power stations are not allowed to continue operating in the UHF band, they will go out of business. That’s just not the case for unlicensed devices.” The FCC should open up spectrum in the 5 GHz band, Pai said. He also spoke about the AM radio revitalization draft order (see 1510070065)
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai changed his request to amend the AM Revitalization draft order to include an AM-only translator application window in 2017, he said in a speech to the National Religious Broadcasters' President's Council Wednesday. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said last week that she supports the current draft order -- which doesn’t contain an AM-only translator window -- but endorsed the idea of opening a window after the TV incentive auction. By changing his stance to align with hers, Pai is trying get Clyburn to vote with him over Chairman Tom Wheeler, who's seen as being against the translator window, broadcast attorneys told us.
Guidance released by the FCC on how broadcasters and their lawyers can comply with the communication prohibitions in the incentive auction anti-collusion rules provide some flexibility to broadcasters in their daily operations but could make things difficult for smaller law firms, attorneys said in interviews Wednesday. The rules prohibit auction-eligible broadcasters from communicating information about their bidding strategies or specific plans in the reverse auction to other auction-eligible broadcasters. The clarification came in the form of a Tuesday evening public notice (see 1510060058).
The draft AM revitalization order doesn’t currently include an AM-only FM translator application window and that isn't expected to change, broadcast attorneys and FCC officials told us Monday. Though an FCC official told us two commissioners -- Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai -- have now requested to change the draft order to include a translator window, it takes a majority to force such a change. In the wake of Commissioner Mignon Clyburn’s statement Thursday (see 1510020047) announcing her support for the current draft order’s proposal for a waiver that will allow broadcasters to relocate translators from up to 250 miles away and prioritizes smaller stations, Chairman Tom Wheeler is seen as having locked down the Democratic support, several broadcast industry officials told us.