The FCC should listen to Philadelphians rather than the “politically motivated” out-of-state Media and Democracy Project on the license renewal of Fox’s WTXF Philadelphia (see 2401310059), said Pennsylvania State Sen. Anthony Williams (D) in a letter to the FCC posted in docket 23-293 Thursday. “Here in the city, and the boroughs and suburbs that my colleagues represent, Fox 29 serves as a resource for all local leaders to relay information to constituents and audiences that otherwise would be more difficult to reach,” said Williams. The station is “a critical part of not just the Philadelphia media ecosystem, but a useful tool for state-level representatives to communicate policy to constituents," said Williams.

The FCC should reinstate the FM portion of the radio nonduplication rule, said REC Networks, the Future of Music Coalition and musicFIRST Coalition in an ex parte meeting last week with an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington, according to a filing in docket 19-310. The FCC in 2020 eliminated the rule barring AM and FM stations serving the same area from offering duplicate content, under then-Chairman Ajit Pai. At the time, current Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was critical of the rule change, (see 2008060072) calling it “another decision that rushes ahead without doing the due diligence needed to consider the impact on localism, competition and diversity.” An order on reconsideration of the FM dupe rule was circulated to the 10th floor, according to the agency’s online circulation list. The rule change harms “intramodal competition” for FM stations and waivers were readily available before the change, the groups said. “This rule change was also entirely unnecessary,” the filing said.

The 2018 quadrennial review’s extension of the top-four prohibition to include low-power TV stations and multicast channels takes effect March 18, the FCC said in a public notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The order was published in the Federal Register Thursday, which means the 60-day clock for entities to challenge the rule in the courts has begun. It is widely expected that NAB will bring a challenge before the deadline (see 2401020042).

The full FCC proposed a $40,000 forfeiture for an alleged pirate radio broadcaster in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, said a notice of apparent liability released Wednesday. Brigido Danerys Gonzalez, using the DJ name “Super Dany,” allegedly broadcast an unauthorized station named La Bakana since at least May 2022, the NAL said. Enforcement Bureau agents found Gonzalez by tracing the station's signal to two buildings in Hazleton and interviewing a grocery store owner who paid Gonzalez to advertise on the station. Gonzalez didn’t comment.

The full FCC unanimously denied an appeal from the Albuquerque Board of Education seeking the reversal of a 2023 Media Bureau decision denying the reinstatement of a canceled AM station and FM translator in Los Alamos, New Mexico, said an order Tuesday. Filings from the board were procedurally defective and the board lacks standing in the matter, the Media Bureau ruled, and the commissioners agreed. The licenses for the stations were voluntarily surrendered to the FCC by owner Gillian Sutton and canceled in May 2023, leaving the area with no local AM service. The board asked the agency to reinstate the licenses and assign them to the board on a temporary basis, but it did so in a petition filed two months late. The agency previously ruled third parties without attributable interest in a surrendered station lack standing to seek reinstatement. The item was set for Thursday's commissioners' open meeting, and a deletion notice was released Tuesday.

A draft order on collecting broadcaster and cable workforce diversity data using form 395-B is off the FCC’s circulation list. Removing an item is usually an indication that it was voted on and will be released soon. The item was circulated at the end of December and quickly received three votes -- likely from the agency’s Democrats -- but then was held up under the agency’s must-vote procedures, waiting for the remaining two votes. FCC Republicans Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr were expected to oppose the item. The draft order would reinstate form 395-B and require broadcasters to upload diversity data forms to online public files. It's accompanied by a Further NPRM that seeks comment on expanding the same rules to cable, FCC and industry officials told us (see 2401260075). The FCC declined to comment.

A coming joint venture streaming service from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that includes the live signals of local ABC and Fox affiliates “could be a significant opportunity,” said Gray Television in a news release Wednesday (see 2402070006). "Local affiliated stations not only carry nationally televised sports but also provide local sports coverage, local news and weather, local jobs and extensive community service,” said Gray. “We believe that including ABC and Fox stations in a new virtual multichannel video programming service could offer benefits to viewers, their local communities, and local broadcasters.” In addition, local station affiliates could benefit if the joint venture “provides additional resources and scale” and expands “sports programming available on the ABC and Fox broadcast networks and the affiliates of those networks.” It continued, “Gray welcomes any venture that expands the reach of local broadcasting stations, which in turn supports the ability of local stations to maintain trusted local news operations that benefit everyone.”

FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin is considering broadening the scope of a hearing involving the fake sale of broadcast stations. The hearing now may include an examination of other companies, said an order Monday (see 2308110063). The initial hearing concerned Antonio Cesar Guel's sale of low-power radio and TV stations to his niece Jennifer Juarez. Guel admitted in filings that he remained in control of the stations and made false statements to the FCC, including hiding that he isn’t a U.S. citizen. He has called for summary judgment against himself in the case. In Monday’s order, Halprin denied that motion because Guel hasn’t properly responded to all the Enforcement Bureau’s allegations against him. Now she is ordering Guel to respond to an EB motion enlarging the case due to “troubling incongruities” and contradictory filings from Antonio Cesar Guel and his daughter Maria Guel before the FCC and the SEC. Other FCC licensees -- Mekaddesh Group Corporation and the Hispanic Family Christian Network -- operate from the same address as Antonio Guel’s Hispanic Christian Community Network. Members of his family run the companies, the EB said. In addition, SEC filings and other documents show a 2023 sale of Mekaddesh to a company called JPX Global that Antonio Guel partially owns and lists him as a part owner of Mekaddesh, the ALJ order said. Attorneys for Antonio Guel have told the FCC that the JPX transaction isn't completed, and that JPX will not control Mekaddesh, but JPX has listed Maria Guel as its CEO, and she has certified to the FCC that she has full control over Mekaddesh. “Mr. Guel has submitted an ownership report into the record of this proceeding as proof that Maria Guel is in control of Mekaddesh, yet that document makes no mention of JPX Global despite being filed with the Commission as recently as December 26, 2023,” wrote Halprin. Enlarging the case would likely delay it, Halprin acknowledged, but “the potential lack of candor demonstrated by Mr. Guel, Maria Guel, and others before the Presiding Judge” is “ripe for immediate consideration,” the order said. The Guels have until Feb. 13 to provide “a full and honest account of the history and status of the acquisition of Mekaddesh by JPX Global,” a description of Antonio Guel’s role in the companies, and explanations for the discrepancies in filings with the FCC and SEC, Monday’s order said. The Enforcement Bureau will get to respond by Feb. 20, and then Halprin will decide whether to enlarge the case, the order said.

Gray Television will sell two TV stations in Wyoming and Nebraska to Marquee Broadcasting in exchange for Marquee’s FCC-issued construction permit to build a station in the Salt Lake City market, said a Gray news release Thursday. “Neither party will pay additional cash or consideration to fulfill the terms of this swap,” the release said. The Gray stations are in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff and Casper designated market areas, the release said. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 “following receipt of regulatory and other approvals,” the release said.

A Maryland AM station that airs programming from Russia-sponsored news channel Radio Sputnik is violating FCC political file rules because the channel’s content is effectively paid political advertising, said a complaint Thursday from the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. The complaint, which calls for a forfeiture of at least $10 million, is the UCCA’s latest salvo against WZHF Capitol Heights and owners Arthur and Yvonne Liu of Way Broadcasting -- the group has filed two petitions against the station’s license that have yet to draw an FCC response (see 2203230054). “There are well established FCC rules that require that Arthur and Yvonne Liu disclose in their political file all incidents of paid discussion of matters of national importance,” said Thursday’s complaint. “This they have not done in willful violation of the Communications Act and the FCC’s rules and policies.” WZHF leases all of its airtime to RM Broadcasting, which has the deal to air Radio Sputnik content. Documentation filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act shows that Way Broadcasting receives $35,000 a month under that arrangement, and WZHF’s content routinely concerns President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, U.S. policy in Ukraine and Israel, and the 2024 Republican presidential primary, UCCA said. “The Enforcement Bureau should order Arthur and Yvonne Liu to provide at least two years of data on what exactly their station is broadcasting,” said the complaint. The Communications Act “requires that each incident of political advertising be disclosed and properly filed in WZHF’s public inspection file.” Way Broadcasting didn’t comment.