An FCC Media Bureau decision Wednesday dismissing petitions of reconsideration against FM translator applications affirms the practice of rebroadcasting HD channels on such translators, blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford the next day. “The common practice of rebroadcasting HD signals on FM translators has been blessed once again -- at least for now.” The bureau dismissed petitions from Triangle Access Broadcasting against a number of translators near Raleigh, North Carolina, the order said. Though Triangle argued translator owners Eastern Airwaves and Curtis Licensees needed to make a showing of technical need to rebroadcast HD channels coming from the same station over the translators, the Audio Division said no showing is necessary as long as the channels contain different content. The order says the decision is based on precedent, but uses the phrase “pending further Commission action on this matter,” and could indicate the FCC might in the future limit the use of translators to rebroadcast HD subchannels, Oxenford wrote. “We have no reason to believe that any change in policy is imminent, but thought that we should pass along this warning that the rules on this practice have never been set in stone.”

A company owned by four Italian investors wants the FCC to approve its buy of Florida radio broadcaster Zoo Communications, said a petition for declaratory ruling posted Wednesday. One of the owners of buyer Anco Media Group, Marco Mazzoli, already manages Zoo but doesn’t own an interest, the petition said. “Given the friendly, non-threatening relationship between the United States and Italy over the past 60 years,” the deal wouldn’t raise homeland security concerns, the petition said. Approval has the public interest benefit of encouraging foreign investment, it said. “The public interest is clearly advanced by granting this petition.”

Sound recording royalty rates paid to SoundExchange will increase next year, said the Copyright Royalty Board in Monday's Federal Register. “Last year, the Board determined that the CPI had not increased enough to merit an increase in the royalties,” blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford Tuesday of the consumer price index. “This year, based on the calculations set out in the Federal Register, there will in fact be an increase.” Nonsubscription webcasters will pay a per-performance royalty of .0018 cent instead of the .0017 cent from 2017. Subscription webcasters will pay .0023, up from .0022. The increase includes simulcasts of broadcasters' over the air programming, Oxenford said. These rates apply through 2020, and a new proceeding to create rates for 2021-25 will start in 2019, he said.

Comments on an FCC proposal to change rules for reporting of income from ancillary services and requiring public notice of transactions (see 1710240062) are due Dec. 29, replies Jan. 16, under an NPRM to be published in Wednesday's Federal Register.

With Entercom recently completing its takeover of CBS Radio (see 1711170061) to form the No. 2 U.S. radio broadcaster, the company has "significant growth opportunities" that may include further purchases, an analyst said Monday. But the "near term fundamental outlook appears a little choppy" as the company missed cash flow expectations amid costs associated with the deal, wrote Noble Capital Markets' Michael Kupinski in a note.

“Enhanced” public safety benefits will abound with ATSC 3.0, top America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) officials told FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in Monday meetings, said an ex parte letter posted Wednesday in docket 16-142. The public safety services that APTS stations provide now to first responders, and in alert and warning, “will increase and expand” with 3.0, said the officials, including CEO Patrick Butler and Chief Operating Officer Lonna Thompson. “ATSC 3.0 will allow the ability to ‘wake up’ receiver devices when emergency alerts are transmitted overnight and will improve accessibility measures” for hearing- and visually-impaired viewers, they said. The FCC voted Nov. 16 to authorize the voluntary deployment of 3.0 over the dissents of Rosenworcel and her fellow Democrat Mignon Clyburn (see 1711160060). There’s “a lot to be excited” about with 3.0, including Ultra HD picture quality, immersive audio, advanced emergency alerts and “innovative interactive services,” said Rosenworcel in her Nov. 16 dissenting statement. “But what we do today is rush this standard to market with an ugly disregard for the consumer consequences.” The Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance hopes by 2019 to have in place a “beta solution” for 3.0-capable emergency alerts, said alliance Executive Director John Lawson (see 1711200023). APTS and the AWARN Alliance were petitioners with CTA and NAB in April 2016 to ask the FCC to launch the 3.0 rulemaking (see 1604130065).

The Enforcement Bureau rescinded a pirate radio warning it had issued against a Bridgeport, Connecticut, woman, according to a notice released Wednesday. Shaneka Abdul-Lateef was sent the notice in error, the bureau said. It also issued nine warnings to alleged pirate operators in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $15,000 fine for an alleged Van Nuys, California, pirate radio operator, in a notice of apparent liability issued Tuesday. Juan Carlos Uribe was warned multiple times to cease unlicensed broadcasting in 2016, and switched frequencies after the initial contact with bureau agents, the bureau said. “Mr. Uribe apparently disregarded the warning and continued to broadcast on an unauthorized station.” The bureau also issued nine warnings Monday for unlicensed operation in Florida.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology released an updated version of the TVStudy repacking software Tuesday, a public notice said. Version 2.2.4 includes a feature that allows users to "customize records or limit the records to be evaluated in a TV Interference Check study," the PN said. It corrects minor issues, including "one that occasionally caused larger studies to receive a 'leaf count too high' error," the PN said.

A consortium of large TV broadcasters made up of Sinclair, Nexstar, Tegna and Tribune launched an industry work group to develop standard interfaces to accelerate electronic and automated advertising purchases on TV, said the Television Bureau of Advertising in a news release. Called the TV Interface Practices, or TIP, Initiative, the project is intended to help TV ad buying automation systems work together better to facilitate ad sales, the release said. “The goal of the TIP initiative is to accelerate local TV interoperability by creating a coalition of system providers to work with buyers and sellers to develop and implement streamlined transaction workflows using standards-based open APIs [application programming interfaces],” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook in the release. The group proposed a set of APIs “to support the electronic transfer of ‘buy’ transactional data,” the release said. TVB, headed by Sook, will “provide a repository for the TIP Initiative’s work and open access for industry partners,” the release said. The consortium produced a white paper on best practices, called "Interface Automation Guidelines for Local TV Transactions." Advertising and content “monetization options” will expand with the spread of ATSC 3.0, said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley in the release. “For our industry to quickly and effectively optimize this opportunity, while ensuring transparency, it is important for us to collaborate on this effort ahead of the adoption of ATSC 3.0.”