Several broadcaster groups want changes to the draft order on requiring disclosures from broadcasters for content sponsored by foreign governments, said ex parte filings last week in docket 20-299, at the close of the filing window before the agency’s Thursday meeting (see 2104010056). The draft’s proposal to require broadcasters to use “reasonable diligence” to identify content sponsored by foreign governments “appears to sweep in thousands of leasing agreements, forcing broadcasters who never have and never will contract to air foreign government-sponsored content to expend a great deal of time, energy and expense,” NAB told the Media Bureau and an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The broadcast trade group said the issue could be addressed with “minor” changes, such as a threshold for when the reasonable diligence standard could be applied. As written, the draft would require broadcasters involved in any leasing arrangement to do “extensive and costly due diligence” when such deals are executed and every six months afterward, said the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters. NPR said it approves of the draft item but seeks a language change to acknowledge rules against noncommercial educational stations receiving compensation. The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council also asked for changes (see 2104150063).

Alpha Media's former CEO and minority shareholder Lawrence Wilson accused board members Noel Strauss, Saif Mansour and current Alpha CEO Bob Proffitt of making false certifications to the FCC, unauthorized transfers of control and “blatant, unlawful self-dealing,” in a petition to deny foreign-ownership filings for the radio broadcaster’s bankruptcy restructuring. The Wednesday filing asks the FCC to deny the petitions or designate the matter for hearing. The petition is “based on inaccurate information and baseless claims,” said an Alpha spokesperson Friday. “We continue to achieve significant progress in our financial restructuring process, which has been confirmed by the Court and best positions Alpha Media with strong financial partners to navigate current market conditions.” Wilson said the restructuring is “a prepackaged bankruptcy plan” that would “erase the obligations owed to secured and unsecured creditors and minority stockholders” and swap out minority shareholders "in favor of proposed foreign-owned lenders and stockholders.” By failing to comply with its corporate governing documents, Alpha bypassed its board on decisions such as station divestitures, and concentrated power within the company to two members of a special committee, Wilson said. That amounts to an unauthorized transfer of control, the petition said. “There is no doubt” that Proffitt “falsely certified to the FCC that he was ‘authorized’ to sign multiple assignment applications selling certain of Alpha’s stations to third parties,” Wilson said. A broadcast attorney told us the FCC historically doesn’t involve itself in licensees' internal disputes, but the filing argues that FCC oversight has “heightened importance” here because Alpha isn’t publicly traded and therefore doesn’t fall under the SEC. Alpha has “fundamental character defects” that “call into question the applicant’s qualifications as a broadcast licensee,” the filing said. The FCC didn't comment.

The foreign-sponsored broadcast content draft order on the FCC's April 22 agenda (see 2103310050) takes an overly broad approach when a "miniscule" number of stations air the type of foreign propaganda that prompted the proceeding, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council in a docket 20-299 filing to be posted. MMTC said the result is costly due diligence requirements that will be especially burdensome on small broadcasters. Instead, the commission should tailor its diligence requirements to instances where the broadcaster has reason to believe a foreign government is the source of particular programming, MMTC said.

The FCC Media Bureau granted KRCG Licensee’s request to substitute channel 29 for 12 for KRCG Jefferson City, Missouri, said an order in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. The bureau also seeks comment in docket 21-151 on Sinclair Eugene’s petition to swap KVAL-TV Eugene, Oregon, from channel 13 to 28, and in docket 21-152 on Gray’s petition to allot channel 9 to Freeport, Illinois, as the region’s first local TV service.

Grupo Televisa will sell its content assets to Univision for $4.8 billion, Televisa said in a news release Tuesday. The new company will be called Televisa-Univision and will be led by Univision CEO Wade Davis, the release said. “The transaction is expected to close in 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals in the United States and Mexico, and Televisa shareholder approval,” it said. The combined company will be “the largest Spanish-language media company in the world,” the release said. The assets also include “four free-to-air channels, 27 pay-TV networks channels and stations, its Videocine movie studio and Blim TV subscription video on demand (SVOD) service; and the Televisa trademark,” the release said. Japanese holding company SoftBank International is investing $1 billion in the deal. Its involvement will likely require specific FCC approval due to foreign-ownership rules, a broadcast attorney said. After the deal, SoftBank International CEO Marcelo Claure will become vice chairman of the new company's board.

Fraunhofer and Sinclair will partner to bring the Digital Radio Mondiale “framework” to the ATSC 3.0 suite of TV standards, said the companies Tuesday. The collaboration aims to bring DRM listeners “a seamless and full-featured digital radio experience across all broadcast platforms” on fixed home receivers and mobile and automotive reception devices, they said. Fraunhofer owns the trademark to DRM’s xHE-AAC next-generation audio codec and is a licensor in the xHE-AAC patent pool that Dolby-affiliated Via Licensing created in 2016. Dolby AC-4 and MPEG-H are the designated 3.0 audio codecs for TV services in North America and South Korea, respectively. ATSC signed an agreement last month with the Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India on deploying 3.0 broadcast services to mobile devices in India (see 2103290016). Sinclair has made no secret of its ambitions to bring 3.0 reception to mobile devices and is sourcing receiver chips from India's Saankhya Labs (see 1908070024)

The FCC should repurpose TV Channel 6 spectrum for FM services where it isn’t used for TV, said NPR in a call Monday with Media Bureau Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 03-185. The agency shouldn’t allow low-power TV stations to “squat” on the spectrum broadcasting analog audio, NPR said. “Analog operations on TV Channel 6 spectrum must cease as of the digital transition deadline, July 13, 2021,” NPR said. “Opening unused and underused TV Channel 6 spectrum for FM broadcast use would vastly increase the diversity of voices and programming available to the public.”

The FCC Media Bureau’s approval of KOMU-TV Columbia, Missouri, changing from channel 8 to 27 takes effect Monday, says that day's Federal Register. Comments are due May 12, replies May 27, in docket 21-54 on Four Seasons Peoria’s request to change the community of license for WAOE Peoria, Illinois, to Oswego, Illinois, the FR says.

Comments are due May 10, replies May 24, in docket 21-141 on iHeartMedia’s petition for a declaratory ruling on the company’s level of foreign ownership (see 2103290057), said a public notice Friday. The petition concerns a Bahamian company that bought enough iHeart stock to exceed a foreign-ownership threshold established in a previous bureau ruling.

Final close-out submission deadlines for entities that received reimbursement in post-incentive auction repacking are coming up in six months, said the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau in a reminder public notice Thursday. Since 953 repacked stations are on their final facilities, but only 28 repacked stations and 86 low-power TV or translator stations have begun the close-out process, “we are concerned that many entities may be unnecessarily delaying making final submissions to the program,” the PN said. Final invoices are due Oct. 8 for full-power and Class A TV stations that transitioned in phases 1-5; March 22 for those that transitioned in phases 6-10; and Sept. 5, 2022, for LPTV stations, translators, FM stations and MVPDs, the PN said. “Entities are strongly encouraged to submit all remaining invoices and initiate close-out procedures as early as possible and are not required to wait for their assigned final invoice filing deadline to initiate close-out procedures.” The PN said 957 repacked full-power and Class A TV stations, 873 LPTV/translator stations, 90 FM stations and 181 MVPDs participated in the reimbursement process. As of April 6, over 96% of the repacked full-power and Class A TV stations are operating on their final facilities, the PN said.