Nexstar Media and Sinclair agreed to create a consortium designed to let broadcasters compete with wireless companies using both ATSC 3.0 and current broadcast advertising, said a news release from the TV station owners and broadcast executives in interviews. The consortium, which “will promote spectrum aggregation, innovation and monetization,” will be jointly owned and controlled by Sinclair and Nexstar, the firms said. It's “non-exclusive” and the consortium “is intent on exploring the inclusion of other television broadcasting entities,” they said.
Broadcasters are becoming increasingly concerned about how the post-incentive auction repacking of TV stations will affect FM stations, engineers and attorneys told us. They said engineers have been discussing the matter for some time, and the matter recently became the subject of a push by NAB (see 1703140066). The association visited the FCC on the issue twice this month so far, according to ex parte filings. Unlike full-power and Class A TV stations, FM stations that have to change their facilities or go dark because of the repacking won’t be reimbursed, and they can’t use pay-TV carriage to reach viewers if the repacking affects signal strength, said Womble Carlyle radio lawyer John Garziglia. The FCC didn't comment.
A long list of deadlines and filing windows awaits broadcasters after the incentive auction, according to a workshop on the post-incentive auction transition at the FCC Monday. Incentive Auction Task Force staff described numerous opportunities for broadcasters to get extensions on requirements such as filing construction permits, but repeatedly said waivers that would allow a broadcaster to remain on their original channel beyond the 39-month transition period won’t be granted. Such waivers won’t be granted “in any event,” Media Bureau attorney adviser Shaun Maher said. Along with deadlines, the workshop discussed channel sharing, the public information requirements for broadcasters and rules for stations going dark.
While the FCC has just three commissioners, their monthly meetings are the only method Chairman Ajit Pai has to force a vote, former and current officials told us. The regulator has a “must-vote” rule to keep commissioners from stalling an item by refusing to vote on it. It's triggered by having three commissioners vote for an item, and thus won’t apply to a three-member commission, FCC officials said. Some said the practical effects of this are likely to be small, but others aren't so sure.
A draft item on new channel sharing rules could present some new opportunities for TV broadcasters, but may be limited in its practical application, numerous attorneys representing both full-power and low-power broadcasters told us. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai distributed the draft item last week (see 1703020076), and it's scheduled for a vote at the March 23 commissioners’ meeting. The draft would allow limited sharing for LPTV and translators with each other and with full powers, and sharing outside the context of the incentive auction. It's good for the FCC to be giving broadcasters these options, but opportunities for them to be applied are likely to be “rare,” said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Peter Tannenwald. “There are several restrictions that could reduce the viability of channel sharing under the draft order,” said Wiley Rein broadcast attorney Ari Meltzer in a blog post.
The FCC is expected to reinstate the UHF discount at its April meeting but the rollback of other ownership rules could take longer, broadcast attorneys said in interviews Tuesday (see 1703010074). Though broadcasters are looking at the deal opportunities that could be opened up by relaxing media ownership rules, “Clearly some stars have to align” for large deals such as a Sinclair Broadcasting/Tribune, said Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker in an email to investors. There is a pending reconsideration proceeding on the 2014 quadrennial ownership rule review, but the FCC could issue an NPRM on changes to the ownership rules before or in addition to a reconsideration order, a broadcast attorney said, which could lead to a longer process. Raising the national ownership cap, which would be needed for the Sinclair/Tribune deal, could require congressional action, and there’s still an outstanding court proceeding on the quadrennial review, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Dan Kirkpatrick. “It could take some time," he said.
President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai met Monday, the first known dialogue since they assumed their positions -- a contact between a president and a head of an independent agency that is seen as infrequent. They met in January during the transition period, ahead of Pai’s appointment as head of the agency (see 1701170025). Monday's meeting was at 3 p.m. in the Oval Office, according to Trump’s schedule. Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler came under fire during the last Congress amid accusations that he took direction from the White House on the open internet order, a charge he denied.
An order that would increase flexibility of channel sharing rules for broadcasters was circulated Thursday and will be on the agenda for the FCC’s March 23 commissioners' meeting, said a blog post by Chairman Ajit Pai. Under his transparency pilot program, the full text and an accompanying fact sheet were released. “The draft item would give low power TV and TV translator stations more options to stay in business and continue broadcasting essential news and information to the public,” Pai blogged.
The UHF discount is unlikely to make it onto the agenda for March’s FCC commissioners' meeting, an official told us Wednesday, though numerous industry sources expected it to be there. Even if the item isn’t ready in time for the meeting, the commission is widely expected to re-establish the discount soon, said broadcast executives. Though the exact nature of the item remains in flux, broadcast allies still expect (see 1701110067) Chairman Ajit Pai’s office to circulate a draft item that would reinstate the discount and also to make some gesture toward possible changes to the national ownership cap. The latter could range from a simple statement of support for such changes to an effort to create a record on the matter, broadcast executives and attorneys said.
Looser regulation of industry is one of the keys to the Republican plan to get the country out of "stagnation," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told the NAB State Leadership Conference Tuesday. Getting rid of "the regulatory monster" is a key goal, McConnell said in a speech that included praise for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "We hope he'll soon be followed up by a majority" that will take the FCC in a "less heavy-handed and regulatory direction," McConnell said of Pai. NAB President Gordon Smith and Sen Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also spoke at the event about the importance of broadcast journalism.