PBS is “focused on how we can encourage civic discourse and help Americans engage in thoughtful conversations about the future of our country” in the runup to elections, said PBS CEO Paula Kerger Monday in a presentation to the TV Critics Association in Los Angeles. “Working together with our member stations, we’re going to provide a forum for political conversations that spans local grassroots perspectives and national level context.” Kerger said the 2016 coverage will include a mix of new and returning series and specials highlighting all the major political events “and go beyond the headlines to provide in-depth analysis of important issues and trends.” The election coverage will also include multiple platforms and a working partnership with NPR, Kerger said, announcing “a new strategic partnership with NPR to leverage the work of journalists in more than 200 public radio newsrooms and PBS stations across the country.” The partnership will mean sharing content across platforms and create a “digital election hub with local and regional coverage of national issues.” Kerger was asked about the possibility of some PBS stations selling out in the spectrum auction, but said “because we’ve entered the quiet period ... we’re not allowed, no one is allowed to talk about any individual situation. To be clear, a station needs to have broadcast spectrum and be broadcasting over the air to continue as a PBS station, so there is not a scenario where a station would just be a cable-only entity.”

Joint sales agreements that were in effect as of March 31, 2014, don't have to come into compliance with FCC JSA attribution rules until Sept. 30, 2025, the Media Bureau said in a public notice Thursday. The change was mandated by Congress as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (see 1512210050) and the PN was expected.

“Subjective tests” using human viewers to verify the compression efficiency of Ultra HD’s H.265 codec that previously had been estimated using only “objective metrics” have found better than expected bit-rate savings compared with the older H.264 codec. So said BBC R&D Engineer Rajitha Weerakkody and BBC Video Coding Project Leader Marta Mrak in a Thursday blog post that summarized the findings in a just-published IEEE research paper they both helped author. The overall average bit-rate saving achieved with H.265 compared with H.264 “for the same subjective quality” was found to be 59 percent, versus the 44 percent efficiency gain shown with objective quality metrics, Weerakkody and Mrak said. The tests also found the bit rate savings for larger picture sizes were higher than for smaller picture sizes, “which is a very encouraging sign for future UHD deployments,” they said. In the subjective tests, they said, viewers were shown “a carefully selected set of coded video sequences” in four different formats -- Ultra HD (3840x2160 and 4096x2048), 1080p (1920x1080), 720p (1280x720) and 480p (832x480), at frame rates varying between 30 and 60 Hz. Many of the tests were conducted at the BBC R&D labs “under controlled viewing environments,” in conformity with ITU recommendations on “visual quality assessment,” they said.

Public TV stations have taken additional voluntary steps to monitor and test the Warning, Alert and Response Network, and shouldn't be burdened by additional wireless emergency alert testing requirements, said the Association of Public Television Stations, CPB and PBS in comments posted Thursday in FCC docket 15-91. “Imposing any additional WEA testing obligations on noncommercial educational and public broadcast television stations remains just as infeasible, costly, and ineffective as it was eight years ago when the Commission last considered this same issue." Commercial broadcasters also have had concerns about expanding WEA requirements to include allowing pass-through of URLs (see 1601140047).

Mako Communications agreed to an $18,000 settlement with the FCC for failing to file required children’s TV reports and Class A certifications, said a consent decree issued Wednesday. The violations involved KNBX-CD Las Vegas.

Nexstar “reiterated its commitment” to buying Media General in a news release Monday in response to Meredith's newest offer to join with Media General in a “merger of equals” (see 1601070043). It "is clear that Media General favors a transaction with Nexstar and shares our commitment to seeing it to fruition,” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook. Meredith’s proposed deal is “not competitive” with Nexstar's offer, he said. Though Meredith argued it could take months after the incentive auction for a Nexstar/Media General deal to be approved, Sook said the transaction could be approved right after the auction results are announced. “That Meredith sought to change its transaction terms is a clear admission that our proposal is superior,” he said. “We intend to take any steps that may be necessary to allow us to consummate our agreed transaction with Media General.” Meredith and Media General didn't comment.

The New York office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau warned three Bronx residents about pirate radio activity, in three letters sent out Dec. 28 and posted online Monday. Earl Armoogan and Everton Ladrick were warned about an unlicensed signal on 92.5 MHz emanating from the same address, while Joseph Rodney was warned about an unlicensed signal on 105.7 MHz. “You are hereby warned that operation of radio transmitting equipment without a valid radio station authorization constitutes a violation,” all three letters said. The recipients have 10 days to respond with evidence that they're operating with an FCC license.

Emmis Communications, which developed NextRadio (see 1408050056), sees 2016 as a “breakthrough year” for the FM-reception smartphone app, said CEO Jeff Smulyan on an earnings call. Having scored big NextRadio wins in 2015 with wireless carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular, “discussions with others both on the handset business and carriers are ongoing and very encouraging,” Smulyan said. Emmis also is having NextRadio talks in Australia, Canada, “all over” Latin America and Germany, and thinks NextRadio is an idea whose “time has come,” he said. Emmis thinks about 100 million smartphones globally will have “the ability to get NextRadio” by mid-2017, Smulyan said Thursday. “Remember with NextRadio, we have to do this one phone at a time,” he said. “We have to reach an agreement with the carrier,” then with the handset maker, to activate the FM chip that’s built into virtually all new smartphones, he said. “So it’s not as simple as just saying, OK, it is there, and 300 million phones get it.” But the “incredible support” NextRadio is getting “gives us hope against the background of an industry that’s frankly been challenged for the last number of years with flat to down growth,” he said of the radio business. At CES, NextRadio had “a pretty significant presence,” including staging an event with Blu, the largest supplier of unlocked phones for sale, through Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart, he said. Emmis also demonstrated at CES a NextRadio automotive app with Ford, developed at the automaker’s “request,” and “we are really very excited about that,” he said. Verizon on the carrier side and Apple on the handset side remain the hardest nuts for NextRadio to crack (see 1504120004), he said, but “we are very encouraged by the conversations we are having.”

CES was the start of "an important new phase” for ATSC 3.0, as manufacturers and broadcasters began demonstrating products and services based on the “core” ATSC 3.0 candidate standards adopted last year, said ATSC President Mark Richer in a Friday statement. Those demonstrations will be repeated and enhanced at April's NAB Show, ATSC has said (see 1601040057). “The lion’s share of the standard has been completed and remaining items, like audio and interactivity, will be done in the months ahead.” ATSC is “on target to finalize the entire suite of ATSC 3.0 standards” this year, he said. CES featured the first live demonstrations of Ultra HD over-the-air broadcasts with high dynamic range using the ATSC 3.0's physical transmission layer adopted as a candidate standard in late September (see 1509290029).

The FCC will consider a report and order on expanding online public file requirements to cable, satellite and radio at its Jan. 28 meeting, said a tentative agenda released Thursday. Industry officials have told us the item is expected to apply only to top markets and include a phase-in period for smaller entities. The commission will also consider an NPRM on improving the Emergency Alert System by promoting state and local participation, supporting more testing of the system, and improving the security of the system, the tentative agenda said.