The FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai violated administrative procedure requirements when it used the same record as evidence for a 2017 reconsideration order loosening ownership rules that the prior commission had used to justify keeping them, said the public interest group respondents in a brief filed Wednesday in the broadcasters' and FCC's Supreme Court appeal of Prometheus IV (see 2011170057). The FCC “first concluded that largely retaining local rules was necessary for the public interest,” said groups including Prometheus Radio Project, Common Cause and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters. “One year later, upon reconsideration of the same record after a change in Commissioners, the Commission reversed course.” The brief countered broadcaster and FCC arguments that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ retention of jurisdiction has stalled broadcast deregulation for years. “Any purported ‘freezing’ of ownership rules is the Commission’s doing, not the Third Circuit’s,” the document said. "The Commission itself re-adopted most of its rules in 2008 and 2016. The Commission (until now) declined to repeal the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule entirely, and the Commission took nearly ten years between this 'quadrennial' review and the last one." The respondents’ argument “isn’t so much about diversity as about the basic tenets of administrative law,” said University of Minnesota assistant professor-media law Christopher Terry. He said it’s hard to tell how the justices, some of whom seem focused on the question of judicial deference to federal agencies, will react. "The appellate court reviewed the FCC's work and found it failed the bare minimum for a federal agency,” said United Church of Christ Office of Communication attorney Cheryl Leanza on the office's website: “The lower court should clearly be upheld." The 3rd Circuit “rejected bad FCC media ownership rule changes four times because each time the agency ignored the Court’s demand for evidence and a reasoned explanation,” said former Commissioner Michael Copps, now special adviser to Common Cause, in a release. The FCC didn’t comment. Oral argument is Jan. 19.

The FCC Media Bureau Audio Division fined Imani Communications $3,000 for a late renewal application for WBFZ-FM Selma, Alabama, said a forfeiture order Tuesday. WBFZ’s license renewal should have been filed by October 2019 but wasn’t until March 2020, the order said. Imani “provided no explanation for its untimely filing of the application” and hasn’t responded to the previously issued notice of apparent liability on the matter, the order said. Imani didn’t comment.

Dish Network and Cox Media Group's multiyear carriage agreement lets local channels return to Dish, the MVPD said Sunday. This ends a five-month blackout (see 2007220077).

Microsoft, ACT|The App Association and business group Voices for Innovation want the FCC to shelve ATSC 3.0-connected rule changes to allow distributed transmission systems (DTS), but public TV and NAB say the rule changes would help finalize transition plans and serve viewers (see 2011100067). “Allowing the extension of the DTS signal beyond a station’s protected contour would adversely and unnecessarily impact the availability of television white spaces spectrum,” said Microsoft in a call last week with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, according to a filing in docket 20-74. “The proposed rule changes will provide unneeded service area expansions to broadcasters that will substantially reduce available spectrum for TV white spaces,” said Voices for Innovation in an ex parte filing posted Friday. The FCC's “laudable work” on TVWS “is already being placed in jeopardy” by the DTS proposal, said ACT. “Contrary to some claims, amendment of these rules would not change the interference protections to which broadcasters are entitled and would not change the size of ‘white spaces’ exclusion zones,” said NAB and America’s Public Television Stations in a call with Rosenworcel aides. “We urge the Commission to move forward with these technical changes.”

The next NAB Show planned as a physical event is attracting “strong early exhibit sales,” with more than 540 companies from 31 countries contracting for 330,000 square feet of space in the Las Vegas Convention Center, said the association Thursday. COVID-19 forced the show’s rescheduling to Oct. 9-13 from its customary April dates. NAB is “on a path to building a critical event that will reunite the industry and create a much-needed forum for building momentum going into 2022,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president-conventions and business operations. Despite COVID-19's uncertainty, “the initial demand has exceeded our expectations,” said Eric Trabb, senior vice president-business development.

Five TV stations in the Detroit area will turn on ATSC 3.0, plus a program to test automotive applications for the new standard, said a news release Thursday. The stations involved are owned by Graham Media, E.W. Scripps, CBS and Fox. The broadcasters are also using a portion of their spectrum for “the Motown 3.0 Open Test Track” to provide research and development for the automotive industry to “road test proof-of-concepts and connected car solutions” using the IP capabilities of 3.0. Those tests involve using the spectrum to send data files to cars, the release said. Initial participants include LG Electronics, Amazon Web Services and LTN Global, the release said.

DTS integrated Entercom’s Radio.com into its DTS Connected Radio platform, said the technology company Wednesday. The portfolios of Radio.com’s radio station partners will be “accurately and consistently represented” in the DTS Connected Radio ecosystem with artwork, artist and album information, songs and playlists, while enhancing discovery and personalization of broadcasters’ content, DTS said. DTS Connected Radio also enables continued station listening from local Entercom broadcast stations via streams provided by Radio.com when a vehicle drives out of broadcast range, it said. DTS Connected Radio supports operations in 48 countries with over 48,000 radio stations.

The FCC has repeatedly ruled that Fox’s common ownership of WWOR Secaucus, New Jersey, and the New York Post is in the public interest, and “there is no evidence that that conclusion is any less true today,” said Fox in a reply filing in docket 20-378 posted Wednesday (see 2012020058). Free Press submitted 9,779 signatures urging the FCC to deny Fox’s request. “Murdoch’s media empire is a cancer on American democracy and this lame-duck administration must not be allowed to grant favors for their patrons,” wrote signatory Ken Stewart, of Purcellville, Virginia. “Free Press’s attempt to delay consideration of Fox’s waiver request should be rejected,” said Fox. The request doesn’t depend on the Prometheus IV challenge before the Supreme Court or the quadrennial review, so it doesn’t need to be delayed to account for them, Fox said. The FCC ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership is “an outmoded relic” that “has no place in today’s competitive media marketplace,” said the News Media Alliance.

Antitrust authorities signed off on Searchlight Capital buying Univision (see 2009140055), said an FTC early termination notice dated Monday and released Tuesday. The proposed transaction's Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period is over.

Gray Television launched its first ATSC 3.0 station, said a news release Monday. WNXG-LD Tallahassee is a low-power station that simulcasts CBS, Me/My, Circle, Ion and Justice. “WNXG’s ability to broadcast four HD program streams and one standard definition stream with a very robust signal, and with ample spectrum remaining for additional program streams or other data services, significantly exceeds the current technical capabilities of the ATSC 1.0 transmission standard,” Gray said: This helps prepare the company for 2021 transitions to 3.0.