Rulemaking notices seeking comment on preserving white space channels and on the mechanics of the incentive auction are next “in the immediate pipeline” in the FCC’s march toward the auction, auction Task Force Chairman Gary Epstein said at an FCBA brown-bag lunch Thursday. Though Epstein and Incentive Auction Vice Chair Howard Symons said no specific dates are available for when the items would be issued, Epstein suggested the items would be out “this fall” and affirmed that they were still working toward holding the auction in 2015. The task force heads also discussed their upcoming “road show” outreach effort to induce broadcasters to participate in the auction, which is also expected to begin soon. “We won’t have an auction unless broadcasters come to participate,” Epstein said.
Monty Tayloe
Monty Tayloe, Associate Editor, covers broadcasting and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2013, after spending 10 years covering crime and local politics for Virginia regional newspapers and a turn in television as a communications assistant for the PBS NewsHour. He’s a Virginia native who graduated Fork Union Military Academy and the College of William and Mary. You can follow Tayloe on Twitter: @MontyTayloe .
Aereo is likely to face some form of preliminary injunction against its streaming TV service, after oral argument on the matter in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Wednesday, said attorneys and attendees at the roughly hourlong hearing in interviews. U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan didn’t issue a decision on the nationwide preliminary injunction against Aereo requested by broadcasters, but said she would rule on the matter soon, noted officials connected with the case. Aereo some broadcaster plaintiffs declined to comment on the oral argument, which wasn't webcast.
Though the FCC’s announcement Friday of two actions to ease the effects of the incentive auction on LPTV is encouraging, the commission didn’t go far enough and may have raised more questions than it answered, said LPTV attorneys and advocacy groups in interviews Tuesday. As the LPTV industry requested 1409050029, the FCC suspended construction permit deadlines for new digital LPTV stations, and issued an NPRM seeking comment on what the incentive auction will do to LPTV. However, LPTV advocates said FCC proposals in the NPRM on LPTV channel sharing aren’t viable, criticized the deadline suspension for punting the issue down the road, and said the NPRM avoids the critical issue of LPTV participation in the auction. “They could have sought comment on protecting LPTV in the repacking process,” said LPTV attorney Aaron Shainis of Shainis & Peltzman.
The FCC largely clearing out pending Enforcement Bureau complaints that were holding up almost 700 license renewals bodes well for broadcasters trying to get deals done, said broadcast attorneys in interviews Friday. The cleared pending complaints, announced in a blog post on fcc.gov Thursday (CD Oct 10 p14), were likely nearly all invalid indecency complaints, said broadcast attorneys with clients among those receiving the 700 renewed licenses sent out last week. With the licenses renewed, the application process to have deals approved should become more streamlined for many stations, broadcast attorneys said. The application delays caused by such complaints “were far worse than any fine the FCC might levy,” said Pillsbury Winthrop broadcast attorney Scott Flick in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1rlHkVa) Thursday. The FCC didn’t comment on the nature of the cleared pending complaints.
Access to broadband Internet is critical to “full and fair participation” in society and the economy, and not having access to it is comparable to not having access to broadcast TV in the 1960s, said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in the United Church of Christ’s 32nd Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1twSQyM). The lecture is named for the UCC Office of Communication founder, who successfully battled with the FCC to increase access to the broadcasting industry for African Americans.
FCC stoppage of the 180-day shot clock on Comcast’s planned buy of Time Warner Cable (CD Oct 6 p7) isn’t a negative sign for the deal and stems from the large amounts of information and filings involved, as well as an ongoing commission proceeding on how confidential programmer documents should be handled (CD Oct 2 p10), said both deal supporters and opponents in interviews Monday. “It is routine for the FCC to pause the review of significant transactions as it works to create a full record,” emailed a Comcast spokeswoman. Though the FCC tied the clock stoppage to Comcast/TWC’s providing complete answers to the agency’s large information requests, it’s not seen as a goad to get the companies to respond, said attorneys connected with transaction and opponents of the deal. The stoppage gives the FCC and others “the time they need to adequately go through the data,” said Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer.
The FCC’s new Licensing and Management System is planned to completely replace the commission’s Consolidated Database System by late 2015 or early 2016, said a Media Bureau official in an interview Friday. The first phase of that replacement took affect Thursday, with LMS coming online and replacing CDBS as the only way for full-power TV stations to electronically file for construction permits and licenses to cover them (CD Oct 1 p17).
New FCC draft relocation reimbursement forms (CD Sept 29 p14) for expenses incurred by broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors affected by the incentive auction are seen as complicated and not incorporating broadcaster feedback, broadcast attorneys, a broadcast executive and a broadcast engineer told us. The forms (http://bit.ly/1pwKpRS), necessary for broadcasters and MVPDs looking to receive compensation from the $1.75 billion relocation reimbursement fund, require a multistage filing process and ask broadcasters that choose to replace antennas and transmitters rather than modify existing equipment after being assigned a new channel to justify the purchase.
Pricing estimates by market for the reverse portion of the incentive auction contained in information packages released by the FCC Wednesday are a major step toward getting broadcasters to participate and are likely to encourage those who hadn’t before considered selling their spectrum, said broadcast officials in interviews. The information packages, assembled by the FCC with the help of investment firm Greenhill & Co., were sent out in hard copy and electronic form Wednesday. The information is at www.FCC.gov/LEARN.
Independent programmers, mid-sized pay-TV companies and Public Knowledge disagreed with larger programmers and broadcasters on Mediacom’s requests for the FCC to restrict programmers and broadcasters in content negotiations, in comments posted online in docket RM-11728 Tuesday. The proceeding is about a petition submitted by Mediacom in July (CD July 25 p13) asking for new FCC rules that would restrict bundling, volume discounts and programmers’ ability to halt online access to their content to provide leverage during negotiations.