Two Cox Radio stations and other similarly situated FCC licensees got staff leeway to not post in their online public files some documents from past license renewal cycles when there was no opposition to the renewals. Those broadcasters can make their quarterly issues/program lists and annual equal employment opportunity reports from previous renewals that remain pending available to the public at their main studio instead of uploading them. Documents from the current license renewal term aren't exempt, and the past renewals must be deferred for reasons not related to the obligations to air content responsive to the community, comply with EEO rules or keep documents relating to those two areas. Cox Radio said (see 1612150071) "uploading thousands of pages of quarterly issues/programs lists and annual EEO reports covering up to a twenty-year period will be burdensome to the Stations and will not provide any benefit to the public," said a Media Bureau order published in Friday's Daily Digest, and docket 14-127. "Commission action on the renewal applications has been delayed, according to Cox Radio, due to the Commission’s continued examination of its newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule."

The FCC should grant a waiver to Cox Radio that would allow two Georgia radio stations to omit from their online public file issues/program lists and equal employment opportunity reports from prior license renewal terms, said a Dec. 9 letter posted this Wednesday in docket 14-127. The FMs are WALR Palmetto and WSRV Gainesville, Cox said. Uploading the old reports would be a burden on staff, and their time would be better spent “devoted to the public interest,” the company said. If the waiver is granted, the broadcaster said it will maintain the items from prior terms in a paper file.

The FCC is seeking comment on a petition asking it to revise equal employment opportunity rules to allow broadcasters to use internet recruitment sites “coupled with their on-air advertising” to satisfy job outreach requirements. The petition was filed Monday by Sun Valley Radio and Canyon Media. Comments are due Jan. 30, replies Feb. 14.

The American TV Alliance, AT&T and Dish Network have “either misunderstood or ignored the very clear message” in the broadcast petition asking the FCC to approve the transition to ATSC 3.0, Sinclair told Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake in a meeting Friday, said an FCC ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-142. The petition didn't ask the FCC to require multichannel video programming distributors to carry any ATSC 3.0 signals, said Sinclair. Pay-TV transmission equipment and set-top boxes are incapable of carrying ATSC 3.0 signals, it said. “Broadcasters have no interest in delaying implementation of Next Generation TV until MVPDs are technically capable of carrying it,” said Sinclair. “Therefore, broadcasters are prepared to deliver their program streams to MVPDs in the current standard (ATSC 1.0), so as to maintain the operational status quo.” Because FCC approval wouldn't change what MVPDs are carrying, “there should be no change to the underlying carriage arrangement, be it must carry or retransmission consent,” the company said. It isn't in broadcasters' interest to demand carriage of programming streams that MVPDs can't carry, the broadcaster said. “In light of this, we can only conclude that ATVA, AT&T and DISH persist in their ruse to delay implementation of Next Generation TV because they see it as a competitive threat to their service offerings.” The FCC should not “broaden this very narrow, technical rulemaking into a comprehensive inquiry on competitive industry business relationships,” Sinclair said. “Rather, the FCC should limit the NPRM to questions about Next Generation TV technology and its broadcast implementation plan.” ATVA and AT&T didn't comment Wednesday. AT&T and Dish "appear to be seeking to further their own interests by asking the Commission to dictate terms and conditions of future retransmission consent agreements" in the guise of airing their concerns about ATSC 3.0, NAB said in a separate letter. "AT&T is a company with a market capitalization of more than $250 billion. The notion that any local broadcaster could force AT&T to do anything is comical." The pay-TV concern over ATSC 3.0 is "nothing more than an effort to accomplish in this proceeding what they could not accomplish in the Commission’s good faith negotiation proceeding earlier this year," NAB said. "They are asking the Commission to intervene in retransmission consent negotiations for their narrow, self-interested benefit."

NAB for the first time in recent memory published advice on how members can best navigate CES. The Las Vegas show "has a well-deserved reputation as the place to see new technology and engage with those creating that technology,” said a Tuesday blog post from NAB Pilot, the former NAB Labs. Broadcasters’ content is “reaching our audience on an increasing number and variety of devices,” it said. “It is ever more important to witness for ourselves the changes occurring in the consumer technology marketplace.” For “newcomers” to the show, “CES can be completely overwhelming, but advance planning can moderate the madness,” it said. “The best bet is to do some research in advance of the show.” The blog advised against “just diving in and wandering” the show floor, “unless you have vast amounts of time to match the vast amount of floor space covered by the exhibits, as well as the stamina and shoes appropriate for walking on concrete for long distances.” CTA is “excited to welcome NAB executives and their members to CES and appreciate that they have long attended and participated in our show, as we have in the NAB show,” Karen Chupka, senior vice president-CES and corporate business strategy, emailed us Wednesday. “Broadcast and consumer technology executives hold numerous meetings at both shows, and no doubt ATSC 3.0 will be one of the hot topics.” CTA and NAB “have partnered in many areas, celebrating the symbiotic relationship between televised content and receiving devices, jointly promoting digital television, HD radio and more, as well as collaborating to develop key industry standards,” she said. “A number of former CTA employees are now at NAB, and we employ former NAB staff. We’ve enjoyed a close relationship with NAB for a long time, and certainly look forward to continuing this successful partnership.”

An initial copyright revamp plan from the leaders of the House Judiciary Committee is "modest," blogged a broadcast lawyer Sunday. Wilkinson Barker's David Oxenford said other issues may arise in the process, which got a boost Thursday when Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., released their long-anticipated initial legislative proposal that included modernizing the Copyright Office and its processes, while leaving it part of the Library of Congress (see 1612080061). "Because of the broad range of issues involved, and the complexity of those issues with various parties sometimes having dramatically different positions, this is unlikely to be a process that moves quickly," wrote the expert. "But it will, no doubt, be one that provokes much discussion in the coming year."

The American Television Alliance isn’t trying to stop ATSC 3.0, the pay-TV group said in a blog post Monday responding to recent criticisms from NAB (see 1612090031). “We have to take the Ronald Reagan approach in this case: ‘Trust but verify.’” ATVA “is working with the FCC to weigh all of the significant factors, because that’s exactly what Americans deserve,” ATVA said. The new standard could lead to fees for consumers for buying new equipment, and “ATSC 3.0 carriage could be leveraged by broadcasters to extract yet even more retrans fees that could be passed on to consumers,” the post said. “Those concerns and the others impacting access and consumer cost burdens should all give us pause,” ATVA said. “We welcome a conversation with the NAB and federal regulators to address the concerns for consumers.”

A reconsideration petition filed by Ion against FCC elimination of the UHF discount could give the upcoming Republican-controlled agency its first crack at media ownership rules, said Wilkinson Barker broadcast lawyer David Oxenford in a blog post Monday. Ion's petition was published in Monday's Federal Register, which makes comments due Dec. 27, replies Jan. 6. Though NAB filed a recon petition of media ownership rules, Ion's will complete its comment cycle sooner. Other companies have challenged the UHF discount rule change in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 1611220074). Courts likely will defer to the FCC decision on recon first, Oxenford said. “These petitions for reconsideration will give a new post-inauguration Republican-led FCC the opportunity to revisit the ownership decisions made in the Democratic administration,” he said. “It is quite possible that changes in these decisions will be made without having to rely on courts to overturn or otherwise question the FCC’s decisions."

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a penalty of $25,000 apiece regarding California alleged radio pirates. The actions targeted Iglesia el Remanente Fraternidad Elim/Belarmino Lara for operating an unlicensed radio station in Arleta and Nelson Quintanilla in Panorama City, said notices of apparent liability (and here). “The Station Operators’ deliberate disregard of the Commission’s warning warrants a significant penalty," the NALs said. FCC officials repeatedly warned Lara and Quintanilla that the operations were unlicensed, the bureau said.

The expected nomination of Andrew Puzder to be labor secretary (see 1612080067) got more opposition from the communications field. The CEO of CKE Restaurants likely to be nominated by incoming President Donald Trump "is the same man who moved a family-oriented restaurant into hyper-sexualized marketing. He publicly and vehemently defended his explicit marketing as harmless fun and as what young guys want. This is a troubling move from a new Administration that has said it wants to ‘drain the swamp,’” said Parents Television Council President Tim Winter in a release Thursday. “For someone who is charged with overseeing the interests and concerns of our labor force, it’s disconcerting that we’d rely on someone so seemingly eager to hyper-sexualize women for his own corporate gain."