Public television organizations urged the FCC to avoid character word count restrictions in free-text fields, to use prior cost estimates to auto-populate values for revised estimates and actual costs, and to take other steps when designing the TV broadcaster relocation fund reimbursement form. Web-based forms can run the risk of unintentionally impeding accurate reporting, “creating unnecessary redundancies, and imposing significant burdens on station staff,” said the Association of Public Television Stations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS in comments filed Wednesday in docket 12-268. “Explanations for cost estimate calculations and other responses may require lengthy descriptions.” Limiting responses in free-text fields to a certain word count “could unintentionally prevent stations from providing complete and accurate responses,” they said. By using prior cost estimates to auto-populate values for revised estimates, stations wouldn’t need to re-enter information on the form that hasn’t changed and could simply supplement prior estimates with any addition documentation, they said. The organizations also asked the FCC to clarify reporting responsibilities for jointly owned equipment, they said.

Representatives of Pandora Radio and the company that owns the South Dakota radio station that Pandora has been seeking to buy (see 1410030046) met with Maria Kirby, aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Monday, said an ex parte filing posted in docket 14-109 Wednesday. Pandora and KXMZ (FM) Box Elder owner Connoisseur Media urged "expedition" in deciding on Pandora's request for a waiver of the commission's foreign broadcast ownership rules. The commission should move quickly to decide the matter since it has been pending a year and a half, Connoisseur and Pandora said.

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $6,000 fine against Prime Time Christian Broadcasting for the failure by its KRPV-TV Roswell, New Mexico, to file children’s TV and quarterly program lists on time, said a notice of apparent liability issued Tuesday.

Tom King, president at Kintronic Labs, is continuing to press proposals to help fix the AM band at the FCC. He offered proposals last month in a letter to the commission, and also met with FCC staff, he emailed Monday night. "Our emphasis on more regulatory action regarding noise sources in the AM band, minimum technical standards for AM receivers and AM station synchronization have been well received by all of the FCC Commissioners and staff to whom we have made our presentation." King plans to take the proposals to Congress, he said. Some engineers opposed King's proposal for mandated AM receiver standards (see 1411240058).

The FCC Media Bureau used inaccurate information outside the record in its denial of Voice for New Jersey’s petition to deny a license renewal application (see 1408110046) to the Fox-owned WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, the group told aides to commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn in a meeting last week, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 07-260 Monday. The bureau compared WWOR’s coverage of local news to other stations despite that comparison not being in the record, VNJ said. Doing so “denied VNJ due process” by introducing evidence without letting VNJ respond, said the group. The comparison also incorrectly reported that WWOR covered as many “New Jersey-centric” news stories as other local stations, VNJ said. "The numerous issues of concern to the 3.5 million residents of northern NJ could not begin to be covered by WWOR’s inadequate coverage,” VNJ said. The full commission should reverse the bureau's decision to grant WWOR’s renewal, said VNJ.

The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council urged the FCC to continue finding new ways to advance diversity by considering the race-neutral proposals before the commission. The FCC should “make diversity, diverse ownership, and diverse participation a policy priority in every aspect of its decision making process,” MMTC said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 14-50 on the 2014 quadrennial review. The FCC should encourage more diverse participation in every communications platform, “as we cannot predict where future opportunities will necessarily arise,” it said. The filing pertains to a meeting this month with Media Bureau staff. The National Hispanic Media Coalition urged the FCC to retain or tighten existing media ownership rules as a race-neutral way “to preserve or create ownership opportunities for new entrants, including women and people of color,” NHMC said in an ex parte filing in the same docket. It urged the commission to continue seeking and analyzing data about broadcast ownership by women and people of color and the impacts of such ownership.

Dish Network and Turner Broadcasting agreed to extend a carriage agreement restoring Turner channels to Dish's lineup. Dish subscribers lost the channels last month, including Boomerang, Cartoon Network and CNN, due to a carriage negotiation agreement (see 1410210064). The companies had no further comment, Turner said in a news release Friday.

The FCC voted unanimously Friday to issue a rulemaking notice seeking comment on allowing broadcast stations to inform viewers about the substantive terms of contests over the Internet rather than over the air. “The proposed change would allow broadcast stations to meet their disclosure obligation by providing contest information over the air, as they do today, or by posting that information on an Internet website,” said an FCC release on the NPRM. The item proposes rules that would require broadcasters to announce the website address where the contest information is located each time they mention a contest over the air, and would allow stations to use any public website to provide the information if the station itself or its licensee doesn't have a website. The item would “ease the burden” on broadcasters, Commissioner Ajit Pai said. The proposed change was suggested in a blog post by Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 1411060048).

Changes to the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor to include over-the-top video services should include rule changes to promote localism, NAB said in an ex parte filing posted in FCC docket 12-83 Wednesday. OTT services should “limit the geographic scope of their offerings” consistent with the scope of the retransmission consent rights they negotiate and FCC exclusivity rules, NAB said. The FCC should also take “swift action” on proposals to revitalize AM radio, NAB said. “Modifying the Commission’s rules to effectuate technical and policy changes will enhance AM signal quality and promote the continued viability of AM radio broadcasting."

LG is playing a big role in the kickoff event this Sunday in Washington of the "Broadcast TV Liberation Tour" to trumpet consumer awareness of over-the-air DTV reception through an antenna, the company said in a Tuesday announcement with co-sponsors TVFreedom.org and antenna and accessories merchandiser AntennasDirect.com. The kickoff event runs 1-5 p.m. at Washington’s Eastern Market, the promoters said. "All the way back to our Zenith days, LG has been a big believer in terrestrial broadcasting around the world," John Taylor, LG vice president-public affairs, told us Wednesday when we asked what’s in it for LG to take part in the event. "We view this as part of our efforts to support broadcasting and to help educate consumers that there’s lots of ways to get digital signals today, and one of the best is free, over the air." LG will contribute a 42-inch LCD TV as a contest giveaway at the event, but its "larger role" will be to provide the dozen large-screen Ultra HD and 1080p TVs "around the room," Taylor said. "Each of them will have an antenna attached to it. So that’s 12 different channels so attendees can really understand how much diverse programming and the excellent picture quality you can get over the air. It’s for consumer education more than anything else."