The FCC shouldn’t unpause the merger shot clock for Sinclair buying Tribune and should hold an additional comment period on Sinclair’s recent amendments to its applications (see 1803070050), said the Communications Industry Association and Sports Fan Coalition in a meeting Tuesday with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, recounted a filing in docket 17-179. The groups also asked the FCC to reject the proposed deal because it let Sinclair obstruct the repacking and slow the rollout of 5G and harm localism. Sinclair didn't comment.

Long-form applications for FM translators from the January translator window are due April 18-May 9, the FCC Media Bureau said in a public notice. The window is for applications that won’t cause interference to other translator applicants. The announcement indicates more than 600 FM translators will start service “soon,” blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford Friday. “If processing in the last window for Class C and D AM stations is any indication, we should see a number of grants of new translators before summer officially starts.”

A proposal to create a new C4 class of FM stations could hurt existing stations, iHeartRadio told an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai in a meeting Wednesday, said an ex parte filing posted Friday in RM-11727. IHeart made similar points in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (see 1803140052).

The FCC released rules for its auction of 15-year-old mutually exclusive FM translator construction permits, according to a public notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The permits in the June 21 auction are those with interference conflicts that couldn’t be resolved after a 2003 filing window and have been stalled ever since (see 1801170031). The auction will be open only to certain entities involved in the 2003 proceeding, it said.

The FCC erred in the order eliminating the main studio rule, a mistake that would have to be addressed to grant a partial reconsideration petition from De La Hunt Broadcasting (see 1803130043), the Media Alliance commented in docket 17-106, posted Wednesday. The order eliminating the main studio rule ignores a statutory requirement for stations to serve as a community “transmission service” for “local interests, ideas, and talents” and programs of special interest to a particular community, the alliance said. Though NAB and the FCC said the transmission service requirement hasn’t been valid for decades, the alliance said both entities have acknowledged its continuing validity elsewhere. “The record shows it is sufficiently imbibed by both the FCC and NAB well into the digital era,” the alliance wrote. The FCC needs to deal with the error to address the reconsideration request, and may need to take action even if the recon petition isn't acted on, the group said. “Even if the Reconsideration is denied, there are compelling public interest reasons presented here that may conclude U.S. Code of Laws not being adhered to.”

U.S. broadband households using antennas reached 20 percent at the end of 2017, up from 16 percent in early 2015, Parks Associates reported. There's “steady decline” in pay-TV subscriptions and a rise of over-the-top video subscriptions, said Parks Thursday. “Digital antennas are experiencing a resurgence as consumers consider over-the-air TV and OTT video services as alternatives to pay-TV,” said analyst Brett Sappington. The portion of “never subscriber” households holds steady, while household cord-cutting grew between 2015 and 2017, presenting an opportunity for antennas as an affordable means to broadcasts, Sappington said. High cost and low price/value perception spurred service cancellation and bundle shaving, said the analyst, with more than half of households that have switched, shaved or cut the cord saying service is “not worth the cost,” he said. MVPDs should address the value perception and “re-establish their role as the consumers’ source for interesting content,” Sappington said. Forty-six percent of pay-TV subscribers are aware they can access VOD from their operator, including free programming, he said: “Many indicate that they want to purchase online video services through their pay-TV provider and to access the service through their channel guide.”

No. 1 U.S. radio station owner iHeartMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, said court filings and a news release Wednesday. Two companies affiliated with media investor John Malone want to participate in the case. Industry officials expected a restructuring, and it was believed imminent after iHeart didn’t make an interest payment last month (see 1802050049). The “comprehensive balance sheet restructuring” is intended to reduce debt by more than $10 billion, said iHeart’s release. The company is more than $20 billion in debt, CEO Bob Pittman said. IHeart filed for the restructuring after reaching an agreement with debtholders, it said: The company “will continue operating the business in the ordinary course,” during the restructuring. It ”believes that its cash on hand, together with cash generated from ongoing operations, will be sufficient to fund and support the business during the Chapter 11 proceedings,” the broadcaster said. Filings for the bankruptcy case show attorneys representing SiriusXM and Liberty Media filed motions to appear in the case on behalf of those entities as interested parties. Liberty expressed interest in investing in iHeart's restructuring (see 1803010060).

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology released an updated version of the TVStudy repacking software Tuesday, a public notice said. V 2.2.5 corrects an issue that was erroneously excluding channel sharing host station records from analyses, the PN said. It adds a feature that allows studies to be grouped for “better organization,” the PN said.

T-Mobile agreed to help accelerate the repacking of KXAS-TV (NBC) Fort Worth to more quickly have access to 600 MHz spectrum bought in the incentive auction, the carrier said Wednesday. KXAS will move to its new frequency in late May, more than a year earlier than its FCC repacking deadline of June 21, 2019, it said. “This agreement also enables T-Mobile to enhance LTE coverage and capacity in the area more quickly.” The deal will let T-Mobile accelerate improved wireless service to the Texas cities of Paris, Sulphur Springs, Tyler, Waco and Wichita Falls, plus Durant, Oklahoma, the company said.

Creation of a C4 FM class could hurt radio stations with facilities that are “under-maximum” power, said officials from iHeartCommunications in a call Monday with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a filing posted Wednesday recounted. The FCC “should evaluate whether the creation of a new C4 FM station class in fact would have the potential to assist a meaningful number of stations,” iHeart said (see 1802140060). The existence of a C4 class could make it harder for current radio stations to relocate, iHeart said. Proposals to add Class C4 stations “would necessarily reduce the spectrum available for [low-power] FM, FM translators and improvements by existing FM radio stations,” the radio-station owner said.