The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $13,000 forfeiture for an Entravision Class A TV station that constructed and began operating its post-repacking facilities without filing a timely license to cover the application and with an expired construction permit, said an order and notice of apparent liability in Thursday’s Daily Digest. The application wasn’t filed due to “an administrative oversight,” said the NAL. KTFV-CD McAllen, Texas, has operated without authorization on its post-auction channel since March 2020, the NAL said. “While the Licensee did notify the Commission upon recognizing its error, we believe the base forfeiture amount is reasonable given the lengthy period of time the Station engaged in unauthorized operation and the fact that Entravision, as the licensee of over 100 television and radio stations, should be well versed in the Commission’s rules,” the NAL said.

Broadcasters shouldn’t be able to use multicast channels or low-power TV stations as a "loophole" to get around limits on top-four duopolies in markets with four, five or six commercial stations, the American Television Alliance said in meetings with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Nathan Simington, Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 18-349 Thursday. The draft 2018 quadrennial review order would limit such combinations (see 2312060065). ATVA said it doesn’t oppose the practice in small markets, but broadcasters seek “to apply this exception to much larger markets, perhaps even including Boston,” the filings said. For large markets where multicasting or LPTV is truly needed to provide viewers with access to top-four programming, the FCC “already has a case-by-case process to address such situations,” ATVA said. “The real-world evidence seems to show no correlation between use of the loopholes and commitment to local news,” the filing said.

The FCC should make any approval of geo-targeted radio contingent on real-world interference testing, said NPR in a call with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Friday, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 20-401 Tuesday. NPR has previously raised interference concerns about the geo-targeted radio technology (see 2206070049), which would use numerous FM boosters to broadcast targeted content --such as ads -- in small areas within a market. Whether the agency permits the technology through a rule change or a waiver process, the FCC needs evidence that the technology “is not likely to cause noticeable interference in multiple commercially viable scenarios,” NPR said.

NAB has produced a working draft of best practices for broadcasters making text crawls and other visual information accessible in emergencies, the trade group said in a quarterly status report submitted to the FCC Media Bureau Friday in docket 12-107. Broadcast industry professionals are reviewing the draft, as will accessibility advocates, said NAB. The association “remains confident that, in most cases, emergency information conveyed by visual images is accessible because stations run accompanying text crawls that provide the same information, if not more, and can be converted to speech,” the filing said.

Nine Boston-area property owners were warned they could face hefty fines for pirate FM radio broadcast stations supposedly operating from their properties. The FCC on Friday posted a series of letters, dated Dec. 1, sent to property owners in Brockton, Dorchester, Elmwood, Mattapan and Randolph, Massachusetts. They warn of fines of $2.3 million and say property owners have 10 days to prove they're no longer permitting pirate radio broadcasting.

DOJ and the FCC have repeatedly found that the common ownership of two top-four stations in a market gives the owner anti-competitive leverage in retransmission consent negotiations, NCTA representatives told the offices of Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington, it said Friday in docket 18-349. NCTA urged that the commission keep the top-four prohibition as part of the 2018 quadrennial review. It also urged extending the op-four prohibition to low-power stations and multicast streams -- a way broadcasters today circumvent the prohibition, it said.

Representatives of the ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates associations continued lobbying the FCC 10th floor for the ability of broadcasters in small markets to air more than one network-affiliated program schedule via a low-power TV station or multicast stream, according to a docket 18-349 filing Thursday, recapping a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Previously, the broadcast representatives made similar arguments with the offices of Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks (see 2311270041).

The FCC Tuesday approved a request by NAB and low-power FM entity REC for a 90-day extension (see 2311150068), until March 11, the deadline for a change to broadcaster emergency alerting operations. The extension applies only to companies working with Sage Alerting Systems, which caused problems cited in the waiver request, an order from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said. The deadline for other broadcasters remains Dec. 12. NAB and REC complained Sage won't be able to release a required firmware update “necessary to make the Commission’s promulgated changes until shortly before the December compliance deadline,” the bureau said: “We are persuaded that Sage’s delay in delivering the necessary update is beyond the control of EAS Participants and will impede its customers’ ability to meet” the deadline. “We deny, however, the Extension Request to the extent it requests a waiver on behalf of all EAS Participants,” the bureau said.

Constraining broadcasters in small markets from airing more than one network-affiliated program schedule via a low-power TV station or multicast stream would chill investment and hamper growth, representatives of the ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates associations told aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, said docket 18-349 filings Monday. Using a multicast stream or LPTV station to deliver a second Big Four network in a small market isn't exploitation of a duopoly rule loophole "but instead reflects broadcast businesses that have been structured in keeping with the Commission’s current ownership rules in a way that best serves their local communities," the broadcasters said.

The FCC should move forward with authorizing power increases for most digital FM stations even though concerns remain about outlets on 107.9 MHz interfering with aircraft navigation, NAB and Xperi said in an ex parte letter (see 2309220071) posted in docket 22-405 Monday. “The FCC should move forward with regard to those digital FM stations operating on 99 of the 100 designated FM broadcast channels and table the matter only for digital radio stations that operate on 107.9 MHz,” said the filing. NAB and Xperi said testing of possible interference with aviation equipment could continue after the rule change allowing increased power. “This testing could take several months. It would not serve the public interest to delay the benefits of the Commission’s proposal for the vast majority of broadcasters,” the filing said. Digital FM stations operating on 107.9 MHz could be required to request experimental authorization from the FCC when seeking to increase power, the filing said. This “well-established process” would provide a mechanism for aviation stakeholders to get advance notice of a specific station’s proposed power increase and to address any concerns, the filing said.