Monty Tayloe

High inflation would exacerbate public TV funding woes, but 2022 was also a record year of investment in the service, said America’s Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler in his opening address at the 2022 virtual Public Media Summit Monday. Many “consequential elections” in 2022 may “significantly alter the political environment” in which PBS funding is decided, Butler said. “We lost $100 million in purchasing power in a decade of flat funding,” he said.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel charged the Communications Equity and Diversity Council with drafting model policies for localities to adopt to prevent discrimination in the implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, she announced at the group’s second meeting Wednesday. The IIJA directs the agency to draft such policies, and the council will work “as an independent partner” with the FCC to do so, Rosenworcel said. The chairwoman's “urgent request” means the group will have to issue recommendations by July, said Dominique Harrison, chair of the CEDC’s Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group. “We can’t afford to wait for the end of our charter to do this work,” said CEDC Chair Heather Gate.

A financing arrangement between Standard General and Cox Media Group-owner Apollo Global Capital could lead to FCC scrutiny of Standard’s proposed $8.6 billion purchase of Tegna, said media brokers and industry analysts Tuesday. The deal would leave Apollo with a nonvoting interest in Standard. If regulators view Apollo’s interest as attributable, they could treat the transaction as a combination of Cox’s, Standard’s and Tegna’s stations, which would likely violate FCC ownership rules. “It’s not clear how that’s going to be accounted for at the FCC and the DOJ,” said S&P Kagan analyst Justin Nielson.

A U.S. Forest Service proposal to charge communications facilities on National Forest System (NFS) lands an annual administrative fee could be an existential threat to smaller broadcasters but is seen by wireless groups as a route to faster approvals, according to interviews. The deadline for comments is Tuesday, but docket 2021-27681 already listed 591 submissions Friday. “I get that they have to cover the administrative costs of what they do, but some of these stations have been there for 30 years,” said National Translator Association President Jack Mills.

A draft order on updating technical rules for radio set for the FCC’s Feb. 18 meeting is considered uncontroversial and is expected to be unanimously approved, said broadcast industry and FCC officials in interviews (see 2201280065).

NAB President Curtis LeGeyt thinks FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel should prioritize paving the way for ATSC 3.0, and is “100% confident” the 2022 NAB Show in late April will be in person as planned, he said at the Media Institute’s virtual Communications Forum luncheon Tuesday. He also targeted tech companies and performance royalties for radio stations, and said the most difficult part of his new job heading NAB is the lack of in-person contact with members due to COVID-19 restrictions. “We don’t have that intimate relationship with our membership,” LeGeyt said. “The way we really succeed is when we can get back to in-person.”

MVPD groups and broadcasters disagree whether proposed rule changes designed to ease the ATSC 3.0 transition should come with additional restrictions on the standard, said comments filed by Friday’s deadline on a November further NPRM in docket 16-142 (see 2111050049).

Physical attacks on journalists aren’t now as common or in the news as they were in 2020, but there’s still more concern about journalist safety than just a few years ago, said broadcasters and journalism advocacy groups in interviews. Legislation from July intended to protect reporters from physical attacks -- the Journalist Protection Act (HR-4857) -- hasn’t had recent movement, according to trade group News Media Alliance. “I will be pushing the House Judiciary Committee, on which I sit, to consider and advance this bill,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Thursday of the bill, of which he’s a sponsor. There's “a heightened sense of awareness” in newsrooms about reporter safety, said Kathy Reynolds, content director at Tegna’s WUSA Washington, D.C.

Some broadcasters could be open to expected FCC proposals to require that political advertising data in online public files be machine-readable if it leads to more clarity on the rules for political ad filings, industry lawyers and officials told us. Others expect NAB and others to unequivocally oppose such a move.

Nearly every legislator who spoke at Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the American Music Fairness Act (HR-4130) appeared sympathetic to compensating performers for radio play of their songs, though many also emphasized protections for broadcasters. Many gave credence to both sides. The most aggressive questions went to NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “The government has the responsibility to protect the property rights of its citizens,” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., told LeGeyt, noting broadcasters require compensation when their own content is used by others.