The FCC should expeditiously act on the 2018 and 2022 quadrennial reviews of broadcast ownership said several public interest groups in a virtual meeting Wednesday with staff from the Media Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 18-349. Free Press, Common Cause and the United Church of Christ Justice Ministry said the agency should begin analyzing ownership data to understand the current state of media diversity and to affirmatively declare in a 2018 QR order that the Communications Act's public interest standard includes race and gender ownership diversity. The agency should also clamp down on broadcast ownership loopholes such as shared service agreements, the filing said. “There is no reasonable justification” to conclude the 2018 QR “without closing these operating agreement loopholes, which have abetted the broadcast industry’s reliance on shell companies,” the filing said. The Future of Music Coalition and musicFIRST said the agency shouldn’t loosen local radio ownership caps, and the agency should “conduct studies analyzing the extent to which past consolidation events have led to a reduction of viewpoints." Other groups on the call included the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Communications Workers of America.

FCC email notices sent to stations that didn’t timely file biennial ownership reports are likely a last warning before fines, blogged Wilkinson Barker's David Oxenford Friday. “The FCC warned back in November that ‘enforcement action’ would follow if stations did not file.” Sent last week, the notices gave stations until March 1. The filings were due Dec. 1.

The full FCC ordered landowners to dismantle a 114-meter broadcast tower in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, after being unable to determine the specific owner, said an order Friday. The structure has been unlit since 2005, and was declared “a menace to aviation” by FAA, the order said. The tower was constructed in 1990 on an easement, and changed hands among multiple now-defunct broadcasters, including SeArk Radio and MRS Ventures, the order said. One of the landowners, Lora Gaither, told the FCC she's interested in having the tower dismantled but her efforts “have been stymied by her inability to obtain local counsel,” who, "are wary of representing her because of their unfamiliarity with the Commission’s regulatory requirements.” Because of the aviation hazard, the FCC can’t wait for the landowners to dissolve the easement and take possession, the order said. “The Land Owners presently possess the Structure,” the order said. “Any person having a remaining interest in the Structure is subject to this Order.” The landowners got 90 days to dismantle it. We couldn't reach Gaither.

A March 8 status conference is scheduled on the license of a broadcaster convicted of attempting to have a woman raped (see 2112100056), said an FCC order Thursday. The previous conference, set for Jan 13, was canceled after broadcaster Roger Wahl abruptly informed the office of Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin that he was undergoing a medical procedure (see 2201120063).

The FCC Media Bureau approved Gray Television’s request to switch the channel of WYMT-TV Hazard, Kentucky, from 12 to 20, said an order in docket 21-125 Thursday. The bureau seeks comment on a request from E.W. Scripps to change KTVQ Billings, Montana, from Channel 10 to 20. Comments will be due 30 days after Federal Register publication and replies 15 days later, in docket 22-39.

The FCC Media Bureau’s grant of KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting’s request to switch KPTV Portland, Oregon, from Channel 12 to Channel 21 took effect Tuesday, said an item in that day’s Federal Register.

The FCC Media Bureau dismissed Gray Television’s application for review of the agency’s rejection of Gray’s market modification application for WYMT-TV Hazard, Kentucky, at Gray’s request (see 2112150054), said an order in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. The agency rejected Gray’s original application in part because the satellite MVPDs in the area were carrying another Gray station with a duplicate network affiliation.

Filings submitted to the FCC Media Bureau via email after the shutdown of the consolidated database system (see 2201120056) must include a certification that the applicant hasn’t been denied federal benefits due to drug offenses, said a public notice clarifying the new filing procedures Tuesday. The requirement stems from the 1988 Drug Abuse Act, the PN said. Added to the list of filings that should be emailed to the bureau, the PN said, are consummation notifications, consummation extension requests, and notifications of non-consummation. Commercial applicants should pay application fees for emailed filings using the commission registration system (CORES), the PN said.

The FCC unanimously approved changes to political advertising rules, an item that had been on Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting agenda, said an order Tuesday in docket 21-293 (see 2201190072). The draft order was considered noncontroversial and administrative, and the final version appeared to have no substantive changes. The order changes the language of FCC rules to conform to the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, requiring information on political issue ads to be included in station online public files. The Media Bureau has required the filings since 2002, but until now the text of the rules didn’t reflect the BCRA. The order also incorporates campaign websites and social media activity into the list of factors broadcasters consider when judging if a write-in candidate is “bona-fide” and therefore eligible for lowest unit ad rates and other benefits. The changes “not only conform our rules with statutory requirements, they also reflect modern campaign practices and increase transparency,” the order said.

FCC foreign-sponsored content identification rules build incrementally on existing sponsorship ID rules and are designed to be minimally burdensome, the agency told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a response brief posted Friday in docket 21-1171. The rules require “a simple name search” of entities seeking to lease air time and a narrower rule would either be ineffective or raise First Amendment issues, the agency said: A rule that required broadcasters to verify a lessor’s status only when they had reason to be suspicious or based on content would be “open to discriminatory application.” A “standard relying on broadcaster’s subjective belief regarding the risk of foreign governmental sponsorship would be ineffectual and unenforceable.” The rules respond to incidents where foreign governments were leasing large chunks of airtime, the filing said: The requirements aren't “fruitless make-work” but “a reasonably targeted means” for making the public aware of when a foreign government is behind a broadcast.