Some broadcasters are seeing signs the downturn in advertising caused by the pandemic is slowly improving. Others remain uncertain, based on earnings releases and quarterly investor calls this week. Sinclair stock closed down 10% Wednesday at $19.32. Fox fell 7.3% to $24.73.

Policing political content curation by platforms like Facebook and Twitter isn’t within FTC jurisdiction, Chairman Joe Simons said Wednesday at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., asked the commission about President Donald Trump’s social media executive order (see 2008040059).

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will continue to do oral arguments via phone or video communication through Dec. 31 due to the pandemic, said Chief Judge Diane Sykes of Milwaukee Monday. The court "should continue to minimize in-person on-site staffing and make use of telework to the maximum extent possible," she said.

Dolby fiscal Q3 revenue fell 18% from the 2019 quarter and 30% sequentially, with TVs, PCs and mobile products outperforming set-top boxes, said Chief Financial Officer Lewis Chew on a Monday call. The quarter ended June 26. Lower unit shipments, products and services sales and Dolby Cinema revenue were due to COVID-19, he said. Theaters are reopening more slowly than Dolby expected. Revenue guidance for Q4 is $225 million-$255 million compared with $299 million in Q4 last year. Most of the potential decline can be blamed on the “economic ripple effect of the pandemic,” plus lower royalty recoveries, Chew said. CEO Kevin Yeaman said there’s “still a lot of uncertainty,” and “in addition to lower consumer spending, the pandemic has resulted in some shifts in the timing of new customer wins and revenues.” Licensees remain “deeply engaged” with adding Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos functionality, Yeaman said. Dolby Vision was installed on about 10% of 4K TV shipments in fiscal 2019, he said. The company expects to “materially increase that adoption rate” for fiscal 2020 “with a significant growth opportunity still ahead,” he said. Yeaman sees Dolby adoption accelerating on PCs and mobile devices and on gaming and music content. Colliers' Steven Frankel said Dolby has “navigated through the worst of the supply chain interruptions.” The analyst sees the potential for Dolby.IO, the company's developer platform effort, to move technologies from devices to applications, he wrote investors Tuesday.

The coronavirus pandemic is both helping and hindering Cirrus Logic. Sales increased 2% in fiscal Q1 ended June 27, mainly from “higher content and volumes” in tablets, “as people worldwide continue to work from home due to COVID-19,” said a shareholder letter Monday. “Large chunks of the Android space have suffered the turbulence in the COVID-19 environment,” said President John Forsyth on a Monday investor call. “That's a reflection of just the kind of progressive lockdown around different markets.” Some Android vendors rely heavily on “distribution channels that they don't control,” making them a "bit more susceptible” to downturns during the crisis, he said. Android companies have taken “a fair amount of buffeting” during the pandemic, said Forsyth. Cirrus hopes much of that “stuff” will be “behind us as we go into the next few quarters,” he said. The company is emphasizing tablets and laptops more than historically, but the strategy predates the novel coronavirus and the “transition of large parts of humanity to working from home,” said Forsyth: “There's certainly renewed interest in those segments.” Google, maker of the Android operating system, didn't comment Tuesday. The company's stock closed down 8.1% at $68.43 Tuesday.

Emerald canceled 60 events through Q3 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some beyond this year, with $197 million in 2019 revenue, said interim CEO Brian Field on a Q2 call Monday. The company postponed 14 events to second-half 2020 that had $8 million in 2019 revenue. Its shows include CEDIA Expo, canceled as a physical show next month in Denver and rescheduled as a virtual show Sept. 15-17 (see 2007090070). Emerald plans to reinstate the Expo as a physical show in September 2021 in Indianapolis. Its $7 million in Q2 revenue compared with $103 million in the 2019 quarter, the result of 20 cancellations, said Chief Financial Officer David Doft. Insurers paid $48.2 million. The show producer owed $45 million in refunds June 30, said Doft. On upcoming conferences, Field noted varying approaches cities and states are taking toward reopening. It’s looking over the next few months to see “where there's still a viable show that can take place safely and working with the local venue management.” Webinars and virtual events “have many of the same features” of live events, including keynotes, awards and virtual booths, said Field, “allowing our exhibitors to load their products and host virtual meetings with buyers.” Customers say this won’t replace the value of in-person shows, he noted: Emerald believes in an emerging hybrid model where virtual components will complement live events “once the medium is safe."

Two more radio broadcasters reached settlements with the FCC Media Bureau over self-disclosed political file violations, said consent decrees posted in Monday’s Daily Digest. Sumter Broadcasting and WHOC told the agency their stations hadn’t fully complied with the political file rules, the decrees said. Similar to a host of recent cases (see 2007300054), the bureau cited the pandemic and the broadcasters’ self-reporting in their license renewal applications as reasons for the settlements, which don’t include monetary penalties. The broadcasters will have to follow a compliance plan to prevent future violations, and their renewal applications will be processed.

Groups urged the FCC to reject requests for a waiver of the June 30 deadline to offer real-time text instead of traditional text technology filed by the Competitive Carriers Association, U.S. Cellular and East Kentucky Network (see 2007010045). Comments were due Friday in docket 16-145. Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, National Association of the Deaf, Hearing Loss Association of America and others filed joint comments, posted Monday. “When the Commission issued the RTT Order in 2016, it may have anticipated some deviation from the estimated transition timeline, and we acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced additional complexity,” they said: “But the Commission did not condone, and should not now permit, a poorly executed transition that risks Americans losing access to 9-1-1 services for an indefinite period of time.” As carriers retire TTY “without RTT access to 9-1-1, people will die,” they said. The groups filed the only comment.

Accuracy in Media launched a campaign urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., not to allow media entities to be eligible for the Small Business Adminstration-administered Paycheck Protection Program as part of the next COVID-19 aid bill. Lawmakers and media groups have been pushing for broadcasters and other outlets to be made eligible for PPP (see 2007290041). The House passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HR-6800) in May with such a provision (see 2005180056). If “radical Left newspapers fail, it’s entirely possible that better alternatives can take their place,” AIM said Monday. “Unfortunately, the media have intimidated bipartisan coalitions in both houses of Congress into supporting a bailout. The only person who stands between the media and our tax dollars is” McConnell. Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist wants federal agencies to spend their ad budgets for existing programs on local media outlets, citing the drop in local overall revenue. “Making sure that local stations are able to continue to operate throughout the pandemic to provide vital updates and information is critical, and government is in a unique position to support local television and radio broadcasters through this crisis without going to the taxpayer well,” Norquist said in a letter to OMB Director Russ Vought that NAB released Monday. “Considering the vital role that local news plays in keeping communities informed and connected, especially during emergency situations, advertising on local mediums can help disseminate critical government messages during this crisis and recovery.”

Trends forged during the atypical 2020 season for back-to-school (BTS) shopping could have staying power, said Forrester analyst Brendan Witcher on a Monday RetailMeNot webinar. It might seem “a smart thing” to get as many customers into the store as possible, he said, “but that’s actually the wrong move.” Consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic “don’t want to walk into a crowded store,” said the analyst. Employees don’t want to work in a crowded store, either, he noted. Witcher encouraged retailers to publicize their stores’ safety protocols in their marketing messaging. Shoppers are preparing for the BTS season amid overall uncertainty about the virus and school policies, many faced with physical challenges of where to shop and whether they should pick up items in store or have them shipped. Witcher has been recommending that his retail clients put together BTS bundles that make sense for home schooling, “so that no matter where this pandemic takes us, you’re prepared to offer the right kinds of products to your consumers.” A May RetailMeNot survey said BTS spending would be up this year to $532 from an average $507 in 2019. Witcher said families trying to share computers are learning “what it costs to support a child in school who might have to do home or distance learning.” Flash drives, mice and tablets could push tech spending higher, he said. Having multiple alternative shopping options will be especially important this year, said the analyst, noting curbside pickup was the top investment retailers made during the COVID-19 lockdown period. He cited one large retailer that said its pre-pandemic buy online, pickup in store business was 60% of orders. Last week, the retailer reported its BOPIS business is four times that of ship-to-home. Part of that, Witcher said, could be “fear of returning” to a store if a product isn’t what the customer is seeking. Those trends are expected to continue into the holiday season.