The FCC Media Bureau agreed to a $500 settlement over late filings by Montana State University-Northern’s student-run KNMC(FM) Havre, said a consent decree Wednesday. The license renewal application was due Dec. 1 and filed March 31. The station must implement a plan to ensure future compliance with online public file rules and renewal deadlines.
The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $3,000 forfeiture for Carlos Lopez over late-filed renewal applications for Texas FM translator K240FC Conroe, Texas, and another translator listed as K287BP, said a notice of apparent liability Tuesday: K287BP doesn't appear to be a station listed in the FCC's consolidated database system. The Media Bureau declined to comment on the call letters, but the NAL said K287BP is in South Padre Island, Texas. The applications were due April 1 but weren’t filed until May 20. “The licensee does not provide an explanation for its failure to timely file the applications,” the NAL said.
The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $9,000 fine for Nexstar’s WDHN Dothan, Alabama, for apparent violations of FCC public file requirements, said a notice of apparent liability Tuesday. WDHN uploaded TV issues/programs lists late and “did not provide any explanation for its failure,” the NAL said. The station “uploaded 5 lists more than one year late, 4 lists between one month and one year late, and 5 lists between one day and one month late,” the NAL said. The violations came to light during the station’s license renewal process, and the NAL said the renewal will be granted when the forfeiture proceeding is complete.
The FCC Media Bureau proposed $3,000 forfeitures for two stations that violated public file rules, said notices of apparent liability Monday. WBEC-TV Boca Raton, Florida -- owned by the Broward County School Board -- and Nexstar’s WYCW Asheville, North Carolina, apparently failed to timely file their quarterly issues/program lists. WBEC uploaded one list “more than one year late, 6 lists between one month and one year late, and 2 lists between one day and one month late,” its NAL said. WYCW uploaded “four lists more than one year late and three lists between one month and one year late,” its NAL said. Both stations said they will prevent future late filings, and the NALs said their renewal applications will be granted after the enforcement proceedings.
Most political advertising rules apply to state and local races, Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford blogged Monday. “Most broadcast stations don’t think much about the FCC’s political broadcasting rules in odd-numbered years,” but nonfederal races “trigger most of the same FCC obligations,” Oxenford said. The only difference is federal elections come with a requirement that stations sell candidates “a reasonable amount of advertising during the various classes of advertising time,” Oxenford said.
The FCC should leave radio local ownership caps as they are rather than “favor the chosen few dozen Corporate owners” by relaxing them, said Redrock Broadcasting owner Craig Hanson in a letter posted Friday in docket 18-349. “Removing current ownership caps will allow large, well-financed, Wall Street companies to gobble up most of the desirable radio stations in every market,” wrote Hanson, who owns four FM stations in Utah.
E.W. Scripps is investing $10 million into esports company Misfits Gaming Group, allowing the broadcaster to distribute MGG’s content over-the-air and over-the-top, they said Thursday. MGG has two esports teams based in Florida -- the Florida Mayhem and the Florida Mutineers -- where Scripps owns many stations. The investment lets Scripps appoint a designee to MGG’s board, the release said.
The FCC “missed” by not defining streaming services as MVPDs and should correct that, said Hearst TV President Jordan Wertlieb at TV2025 on a virtual panel Thursday with Fox TV Stations CEO Jack Abernethy and Gray Television President Pat LaPlatney. “If we want to be intellectually honest, anyone distributing our signal is an MVPD,” Wertlieb said. The executives discussed their own streaming offerings but said broadcasting still delivers a larger audience than the alternatives. The “biggest indication” of broadcasting’s primacy is the NFL’s commitment to be on Fox into the 2030s, said Abernethy. Skyrocketing political advertising dollars demonstrate the same thing, he said. ATSC 3.0 will eventually allow stations to take full advantage of digital ads, Wertlieb said. Targetable ads will allow broadcasters to charge more, LaPlatney said. Abernethy and Wertlieb believe the most successful streaming operations will be those that focus on a niche, such as Fox’s upcoming weather channel. Hearst’s offering focuses on hyperlocal content for each station’s specific city, Wertlieb said. E.W. Scripps announced a foray into exports Thursday (see 2109230077). Asked about the future of retrans and declining cable subscribership, Wertlieb said the definition of retrans needs to be broadened, and LaPlatney said current rates don’t accurately reflect the audience broadcasters deliver. There might be ways stations could work with MVPDs to address or slow their subscribership declines, said Abernethy. “I do see those two ecosystems working together down the road,” said Wertlieb, saying broadcasters are working closely with MVPDs on ATSC 3.0. The execs expect auto ads to rebound sometime in 2022. Gambling ads are on rising but depend on jurisdiction, said Wertlieb. Betting is “a great category” for stations because it can’t be nationally advertised, Abernethy said.
The FCC Media Bureau will seek comment on two Gray Television channel substitution requests, said NPRMs Wednesday in docket 21-125 and 21-126. Gray wants to switch KNOE-TV Monroe, Louisiana, from Channel 8 to 24, and WYMT-TV Hazard, Kentucky, from 12 to 20. Comment due dates will be determined by Federal Register publication.
Bidding in FCC Auction 111 of 17 construction permits for low-power TV and TV translator stations begins Feb. 23, said an Office of Economics and Analytics and Media Bureau public notice Tuesday. The auction is closed, open only to specific applicants that submitted mutually exclusive proposals during a brief 2009 window or during a 2018 displacement window, the PN said. The short-form application window opens Nov.1; upfront payments are due Jan. 25.