Scoring based on pre-auction assessments could distort pricing at the “critical end-stages of the” incentive auction, said an anonymous group of auction-eligible broadcasters in an FCC ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/1q9LvpU). The group met with staff from the Incentive Auction Task Force, the Media Bureau and the Wireless Bureau last week. The FCC should release detailed information about any scoring mechanisms, as well as general information about likely auction pricing, the filing said. The broadcasters presented an option for estimating the possible funds available for broadcasters, using a “conservative estimate of forward auction revenue.” Their estimate projected $113 million in revenue per broadcaster, but the filing said the opening prices offered to broadcasters “should be much higher, allowing market forces to establish the actual market clearing prices, which could significantly exceed these values if forward auction revenue exceeds the estimated amount."

The FCC Media Bureau canceled a $3,000 proposed forfeiture to Eternal Family Network. The bureau proposed the fine against EFN for allegedly failing to timely file kids’ TV programming reports for Class A station KEFN St. Louis, the bureau said in an order (http://bit.ly/1kOv0tT). EFN stated that it couldn’t locate the original reports when the renewal application was filed, “but could now provide evidence, in the form of originally filed reports and/or confirmation submissions, that the reports were timely filed,” the bureau said. It also canceled a proposed $13,000 forfeiture against Withers Broadcasting for allegedly failing to electronically file the quarterly TV issues and program lists for WVFX-TV Clarksburg, West Virginia, said a separate order (http://bit.ly/1jzmAXx). W. Russell Withers, the sole manager and full equity owner of the company, died in January, it said. “Based on the representative’s showing, we hereby cancel the forfeiture."

The FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force should release the 100 simulated repacking scenarios it used to create a recently released staff analysis (CD June 4 p17) of potential aggregate interference to TV stations after the auction, said NAB in an ex parte filing posted online Monday (http://bit.ly/1uywlKI). The data gathered from the simulations “identifies certain stations to relinquish their licenses and assigns channels to the remaining stations,” the filing said. NAB wants the scenarios to “ensure that NAB’s analysis can comport with the FCC results,” the association said.

The FCC should consider updating its rules for disclosing information about contests to allow broadcasters to direct viewers and listeners to websites with the relevant information, said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a blog post Monday (http://fcc.us/1kHwXrU). Are fast-talking speed readers rattling off the required disclosures and “tiny, on-air print the most effective means to communicate this information in the Internet age?” asked O'Rielly. “Posting such material online would allow viewers the opportunity to actually read and digest the contest rules (i.e., available 24 hours a day) and determine how best to participate,” he said. It would also let broadcasters update the information as needed, and could reduce FCC enforcement actions, O'Rielly said in the post. The commission could adjust the rule by taking up a 2012 Entercom Communications petition for rulemaking (CD Dec 6/12 p6) that received 17 approving comments and no opposition, O'Rielly said. However, any such changes should be limited in scope and shouldn’t force broadcasters to change from their current practice, he said.

The FCC should issue an erratum correcting the 2014 quadrennial review rulemaking notice to include 23 proposals to increase ownership diversity that weren’t included in the notice, said the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council in a petition filed Friday. The FCC is required to consider those proposals in the quadrennial review proceeding under the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Prometheus decision, MMTC said. “The Commission’s refusal to consider these proposals has to be an honest mistake,” MMTC said. “We cannot believe that the agency would deliberately defy a court order.” The proposals involved, collectively called “The Diversity Docket,” include creating an easier path to waivers or fee reductions for minority owners and promoting minority ownership in all FCC ownership proceedings, said the petition. “The Commission appears to have swept away, for no reason, 23 proposals, many of which have been pending before the Commission for years."

Nexstar completed a $33.5 million buy of five TV stations from Gray Television, said the acquirer in a Friday news release (http://bit.ly/1qIen8l). It said the deal includes a sharing arrangement for Nexstar to provide “sales and other services” to Parker Broadcasting’s KQFX Grand Junction, Colorado. The five stations are WMBB Panama City, Florida, and Colorado stations KREX-TV Grand Junction, KREG-TV Glenwood Springs, KREY-TV Montrose and KGJT-CD Grand Junction.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should consolidate all petitions for review against the FCC’s recent crackdown on sharing arrangements, said a joint motion by several nonprofits Thursday. The separate challenges by NAB, Prometheus Radio Project and others against the Media Bureau public notice announcing increased scrutiny for sharing deals and the new rules regulating joint sales agreements “present similar and related factual and legal issues,” said the motion from groups including the Communications Workers of America, Free Press and Prometheus. “Assigning the cases to different panels would create a substantial risk of inconsistent findings and would frustrate the Commission’s goals.” The groups said Prometheus will soon file a motion asking that the cases be moved to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, as expected (CD June 5 p16). In a separate filing, NAB responded to an FCC motion to dismiss its challenge of the processing guidelines announcing extra scrutiny for sharing deals (CD May 13 p3). FCC arguments that the guidelines aren’t a final commission decision and therefore are ineligible for judicial review are an “administrative law shell game,” NAB said. Though the bureau notice announcing the guidelines characterizes them as guidance rather than a new rule, “it was plainly designed to operate as a set of binding legal norms for the agency and affected broadcasters, and it was impliedly approved by the Commission,” NAB said.

The FCC repacking plan could limit the amount of spectrum for translators and make it harder for rural viewers to receive broadcast TV, said NAB in a blog post Thursday (http://bit.ly/1ldHGKA). Rural viewers should urge their congressional representatives to “carefully monitor the FCC’s actions” to make sure they don’t lose access to TV, NAB said. “If you're a rural resident concerned about losing TV service because of the FCC’s spectrum auction, speak up."

The FCC released a public notice announcing Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audits Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1oYf7F0). Responses from the approximately 180 radio stations being audited are due July 25, the notice said. The FCC audits 5 percent of all stations and cable systems each year to monitor compliance with rules requiring them to widely publicize job opportunities, said the notice. Though the FCC reduced the amount of paperwork required to fulfill the audit last year, EEO audits still require “substantial work” for stations, said Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1s9aptJ).

The NFL reiterated at the FCC that the sports blackout rule maximizes the in-stadium experience and engages its fans through media outlets. The number of blackouts has dropped dramatically, and attendance and viewership have increased over the past few decades, said the league in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-3 (http://bit.ly/1kN9CcW). The NFL “sees the blackout rule as a contributing factor to that success,” it said, referring to the rule that prevents multichannel video programming distributors from carrying games blacked out by sports leagues on TV stations in markets where games haven’t sold out. Although gate receipts as a percentage of NFL revenue decreased since the rule was adopted, it counts for about 25 percent of revenue and “remains important to clubs and players alike,” it said. The NFL has “no privity of contract with local affiliates, so it has no ability to control whether an affiliate allows importation of its signal,” the NFL said. The league said it has agreements with MVPDs for carriage of NFL Network, but there is hardly any leverage. The filing recounts a meeting with FCC staff from the Media Bureau and the Office of Strategic Planning. The FCC launched a rulemaking to eliminate the rule last year (CD Dec 19 p8). The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) urged the FCC to maintain the rule. The NFL’s stadium policies and the FCC’s current broadcast rules work cooperatively “to serve the interests of states as well as the public by promoting economic activity, civic pride and the broadcast of professional football on free, over-the-air television,” NCSL said in a letter to Chairman Tom Wheeler (http://bit.ly/1kPbpya). The league policies not only result in sold-out games, “but also generate economic activity in and surrounding stadiums and beyond,” it said. Ending the rule puts the local broadcast model at risk and may cause sports leagues “to move sports programming from” over-the-air to pay-TV, it said.