Broadcasting&Cable

Apparently, Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has been tapped to head the House Communications Subcommittee. Rep Blackburn has been active on the subcommittee, opposing the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules, broadband privacy framework and set-top box revamp. She has been vice chair of the full committee. She is also on President-elect Donald Trump's transition team executive committee.

Even as congressional cable bill line item critics were targeting retransmission and sports net fees, the outgoing administration was taking aim at some cable bill line items as well. In a report on hidden fees in various sectors—event ticketing, resorts, airlines—the White House's National Economic Council devoted a section to cable and phone fees, their own and third-party fees, that increase the price of service above the advertised price. "Hence, the subscriber to a $39.99 monthly plan might pay a real price of $46.99 thanks to the addition of an industry-imposed $4 'regulatory cost recovery fee' [the FCC charges cable operators a regulatory fee] and a $3 'administrative fee,' which are all paid to the telephone company, and therefore represent the real price of the service," the report said.

It called the complexity of fees on telecommunication bills a cause for independent concern. The report slammed carriers for "sometimes" adding third-party fees without notice to the consumer. "While carriers may argue that the fees are optional in the sense that they can be removed, given that customers do not affirmatively opt-into paying these fees, they are effectively hidden." The White House suggests that market forces, alone, will not and have not been effective in discouraging hidden fees but gives consumer groups credit for helping moderate them.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) has signaled he would be open to confirming Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel to another term on the Federal Communications Commission but also says the new President should get to nominate who he wants to serve on that commission. President Barack Obama this week resubmitted Rosenworcel's renomination to the new Senate after the old one failed to hold a floor vote on her reconfirmation and she was forced to exit by Jan. 3, when the new Congress was seated. In an emailed statement, Chairman Thune, whose committee holds the confirmation hearing for FCC nominees, said: "I am open to the idea of confirming her later this year, as long as we preserve the new Republican majority on the commission in the process.”

[Commentary] As the largest US minority broadcast owner, I believe JSAs (joint services agreements) and SSAs (sales service agreements) are critically important to providing a pathway for minorities to enter into broadcast ownership. Minority broadcasters are having a tough time surviving and meeting their financial obligations under the current FCC rules and guidelines. The Obama administration and his FCC removed rules of policy that were in place since 1991, and the current policies would have killed minority broadcasting if Congress did not step into the fray and grandfather all JSA/LMA rules for 10 years.

Of the more than 2,000 TV stations in the country, only 12 are owned by minorities and I happen to own 7 out of the 12, which is an indication that we must do more to open the doors of opportunity for others. Building the right relationships and using them to help others has been key for me and my survival and undoubtedly will be key to those advocating for more diversity in broadcast ownership.

[Armstrong Williams is manager and sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and executive editor of American CurrentSee, an online magazine. ]

Public broadcasters are looking to the new Republican Federal Communications Commission for help after the FCC's Media Bureau this week rejected their petition to reconsider boosting their ownership reporting requirements in a way they argue is pointless and in no one's best interest. America's Public Television Stations (APTS) president Patrick Butler signaled that his members—noncommercial TV stations nationwide—would be taking up the suggestion of the Republican commissioners, Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly, that they ask the FCC, under new management, to revisit the question.

"America's Public Television Stations are most grateful to Commissioners Pai and O'Rielly for their statement in opposition to the Media Bureau order requiring non-commercial educational television stations to provide 'ownership' information to the Commission," said Butler. "We intend to request a review and a reversal of this order by the full Commission, and we are encouraged by the commitment of Commissioners Pai and O'Rielly to pursue this course." A phalanx of noncommercial broadcasting entities asked the FCC to reconsider and reverse the January 2016 order that was billed as improving the data collected from broadcasters to help the commission analyze ownership and diversity issues. The bottom line, said the FCC back in January, was that the moves would improve the reliability and comprehensiveness of its media ownership data, including on diversity and noncommercial station reporting to more closely square with commercial.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) does not share President-elect Donald Trump's skepticism about the intelligence concerning Russia's interference in the recent election. In a press conference on new cybersecurity recommendations from a Center for Strategic and International Studies’ task force he co-chairs, Chairman McCaul said he had made it clear to the Obama Administration and the incoming Trump Administration that—from the intel he had seen, both classified and non-classified—Russia interfered with the election and there should be consequences.

Chairman McCaul said the intelligence community is not always right, citing the Iraq weapons of mass destruction intel, but in this case he appeared confident that Russia had tried to interfere with the election, and, if not favor one candidate, perhaps disfavor another. Chairman McCaul said his highest cybersecurity priority would be push for a single, strong cybersecurity agency under the Department of Homeland security. He also said the government needs to do more to help networks protect themselves and share threat information. He said the criminals, hactivists and nation states are winning the cyber war, undermining "the very foundations of our Republic."

Rate-regulated cable services can boost their non-external cost base for basic rates by 1.42%. That is the latest inflation adjustment announced by the Federal Communications Commission for those filing their rate forms, based on changes from July 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 2016. The increase for April-June was 2.3%.

Local franchise authorities can, but are not required to, regulate basic rates where there is a lack of effective competition. The price (of the non-external cost portion of rates) is adjusted quarterly based on changes in the GNP price index published by the State Department's Bureau of Economic analysis. Pay-TV providers are allowed to pass though external costs, like program price increases, but those can be reviewed by the local franchise authority (LFA), which is the one doing the rate regulating rather than the FCC. It will be the 85th such quarterly adjustment since the FCC started releasing them.

The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has published the initial results from its Sept. 28 nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS)—particularly a new online delivery component—and it boiled down to: shows improvement from the 2011 test but needs improvement.

The test was christened a success per the standard that the vast majority of participants successfully received (94%) and transmitted (82%) the warning code and, in comparison to the 2011 test, there was "significant improvement." That included the 21,000-plus participants—TV and radio stations, cable and satellite providers, and others, which was a 26% increase from 2011. The 94% reception success rate was also a 12% improvement over 2011. In the room for improvement department, there were problems with poor audio and with disability access. The bureau had some recommendations for improvement, including requiring EAS participants to check for the internet feed warning when they get broadcast alert and transmit the "crystal clear" audio from the former's digital file.

The Federal Communications Commission is again increasing the pace of bidding in the reverse portion of the incentive spectrum auction, with a target end date of Friday, Jan 13. So far, broadcasters have not had much luck getting wireless providers and other forward auction bidders, which includes Comcast, to collectively pay their clearing price. The reverse portion is now in its fourth round, with wireless companies not coming close to the first three price points.

Currently, there are three rounds of bidding per day, an hour per round. Starting Jan 10, the FCC will increase that to four one-hour rounds per day. At that rate, the FCC's base clock will have reached zero on Jan. 13, round 52. It could take an additional two rounds depending on whether the final bidding status of any VHF station was not settled by then. If so, the FCC will add a couple more rounds on that day to make sure it wraps up Jan. 13.

The Federal Communications Commission has moved the January meeting from Jan 26 to Jan 31. In either event, it will come after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has left the building and the new Trump Administration has taken over. It is not clear yet which of the Republican commissioners will preside as acting chair, though it is likely senior Republican Ajit Pai. The FCC will now circulate a tentative agenda for the meeting on Jan 10 (three weeks beforehand, per custom).

The move of the meeting was to provide more time for planning following the change in administration and more time with the agenda, apparently, given that one of those Republican commissioners will almost certainly be presiding and in control of that agenda for the meeting.