Broadcasting&Cable

Chairman Pai Pulls Set-Top Proposal

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal to revamp set-tops is no longer on the FCC's list of items on circulation to be voted by the other commissioners. Top Republican Reps had asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to close the book on the proposal, which he and they had opposed. Neither Chairman Pai nor fellow Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly were likely to vote on it anyway, but the move makes it official that it is no longer in front of any of the commissioners for a decision.

Computer & Communications Industry Association Slams Immigration Order

Major computer companies are concerned with President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning refugees and immigrants from a handful of countries, even those with valid US visas. "We appreciate the checks and balances of our judicial system," said Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) President Ed Black, "but the disregard for legal norms and due process shown by the Administration in issuing this order is alarming." The reference to checks and balances was because a judge over the weekend stayed the returning of some immigrants being held at US airports, citing the possible threat to their safety if they were returned per the President's executive order. “Many of our industry’s most successful companies were founded by immigrants. Immigrants help our industry to export goods and services around the world while creating jobs here at home," said Black. "Targeting lawful U.S. residents and visa holders for discriminatory treatment based on their national origin or faith is not in our national interest. It is not in our economic interest. It is not who we are."

FCC Outlines Post-Incentive Auction Transition

The Federal Communications Commission has released its procedures public notice for repacking TV stations after the broadcast incentive auction, which is currently wrapping up. According to the FCC's Media Bureau, the notice provides "detailed information, instructions, and projected deadlines for filing applications related to the post-incentive auction broadcast transition." That includes about filing for new construction permits for post-auction channels and procedures for winning bidders relinquishing their rights to spectrum—an FCC official said that fall is the soonest that winning stations that are exiting the business would be going dark. It also establishes the process by which eligible stations and pay-TV providers can seek reimbursement for transition costs.

The FCC will release a separate notice on how winning auction bidders can file for their payments. The notice is only targeted to full-power and Class A stations that were eligible for the auction. The item notes: "LPTV, TV translator, and digital replacement translator stations were not eligible to participate in the incentive auction, are not protected in the repacking process, are not eligible for reimbursement, and are not included in the phased transition schedule."

FCC Adopts Phased TV Station Repack Plan

As the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction winds down, the Media Bureau was busy with what comes next—establishing the outlines of the phased TV station relocation transition and in the process denying some broadcaster requests for changes and granting others. Apparently, one of the goals was to provide more flexibility for broadcasters.

The Media Bureau adopted a methodology for establishing construction deadlines for TV stations transitioning to new channels within its phased transition plan. Stations will transition in 10 phases. The plan was issued in September. An FCC official said beyond the tweaks, it essentially adopted the item as proposed last fall. The goal is to allow TV stations, manufacturers and vendors to coordinate the "daisy chain" of TV station moves, hundreds if not a thousand, following the end of the auction, which is currently wrapping up. The FCC decided not to adopt the suggestion of the National Association of Broadcasters not to assign stations to a phase until they had completed structural or engineering studies or to treat them as preliminary phase assignments to be evaluated later. "We find that NAB’s suggested approach could negatively affect the incentive for broadcasters to begin preparing for the transition in earnest," the bureau said.

FCC Republicans Vote to Extend Transparency Waiver

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has circulated an order waiving the FCC's Open Internet order's enhanced transparency requirements for smaller Internet service providers for five years and upping the trigger for that waiver to 250,000 subscribers or fewer. Not only that, but he already has two votes for the item in a three-person commission, which means it has effectively been approved pending casting of the third vote. That squares with legislation that passed in the House recently, as well as what then-Commissioner Pai reportedly pushed for when then FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had circulated an item extending the waiver but leaving the trigger at 100,000 subs for fewer. The waiver expired in December, when the enhanced transparency requirement kicked in for all ISPs.

ACA, Independents to FCC: Tackle Bundling First

Small and mid-sized cable operators have banded together with independent programmers to tell the Federal Communications Commission that reining in most favored nation (MFN) clauses and alternative distribution method (ADM) clauses is all well and good, but that it should tackle program bundling first in its effort to promote access to independent and diverse content.

That came in a filing on the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking stemming from its program diversity inquiry. A politically divided FCC back in September voted to propose prohibiting unconditional MFNs clauses and "unreasonable" ADMs. Joining with ACA in the filing were independent programmers MAVTV Motorsports Network, One America News Network and AWE, and RIDE TV. They said that while they were generally supportive of the MFN and ADM restrictions, focusing on those rather than channel bundling was like trying to put out a four-alarm fire with a cup of water.

FCC's Pai Talks Rural Broadband

American Cable Association president Matt Polka and top ACA policy staffer Ross Lieberman were among a group representing rural broadband who met with new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai Jan 26, his second meeting with outside groups since being named chairman this week. It was a continuation of Chairman Pai's pledge to focus on closing the digital divide. Also at the meeting were Mike Romano of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, Alex Phillips and Stephen Coran from the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, Steve Berry and Rebecca Murphy Thompson of the Competitive Carriers Association, and Martha Duggan of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

According to an FCC official, "participants raised several ideas for closing the digital divide and expressed strong support for proposals he made as part of his Digital Empowerment Agenda." For his part, Chairman Pai at the meeting "pledged to continue working closely with these organizations to bring digital opportunity to all Americans."

Virginia Governor Threatens to Veto Broadband Bill

The Republican sponsor of a bill to put conditions on municipal broadband buildouts in Virginia has recrafted the bill after Gov Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) said he would veto it, according to a group opposing the bill. The bill allows for municipal buildouts but only targeting unserved areas, which it defines as an average speed of less than 10 Mbps download speed, 1 Mbps upload. It also requires an independent study to identify unserved areas before any buildouts and puts conditions on overbuilding of any existing service at any speed. The municipality must also provide access to rights of way on a first-come, first-serve basis to commercial providers and can't cross-subsidize its broadband with regulated utility money.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which backs municipal broadband buildouts, says the bill still does nothing to help connect rural Virginia. It says that while the bill allows for buildouts, it is a way for "big cable companies" to limit broadband competition in Virginia.

FCC Chairman Pai Meets With Diverse Stakeholders on Digital Divide

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai had his first official meeting with outside parties as chairman with a diverse group of stakeholders in closing that digital divide, apparently. The meeting was held with Kim Keenan of the Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council, Rosa Mendoza of the Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership, Carlos Gutierrez of the LGBT Technology Partnership, and Debra Berlyn of the Project to Get Older Adults OnLine (GOAL).

The chairman was said to have solicited ideas for getting broadband to all Americans. He also asked for input on proposals in his Digital Empowerment Agenda. Among other things, Chairman Pai wants Congress to create Gigabit Opportunity Zones to "provide financial incentives for internet service providers to deploy gigabit broadband services in low-income neighborhoods, incentivize local governments to make it easy for ISPs to deploy these networks, and offer tax incentives for startups of all kinds in order to take advantage of these networks and create jobs in these areas."

An ‘Open-Internet’ Letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

[Commentary] Because you will be the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, we want to initiate a dialogue with you—and the public. At the core of that dialogue: How the FCC can foster competition in the communications market yet at the same time protect the American public from media concentration and oligarchic control of television, radio and the internet.

The Writers Guild of America, East, represents thousands of writers working in film, television, news and digital media. Our members are directly affected by the decisions made by the FCC. They have made it clear that they want their work to be accessible to as many people as possible through an open internet and a competitive marketplace. If the FCC were to overturn net neutrality and allow companies like AT&T and Time Warner to merge, the real losers will be hardworking Americans who will see their bills increase and their access to content restricted. As you assume the chairmanship of the FCC, please contemplate all the possible consequences of your actions and take these vital concerns to heart.

[Michael Winship is the President of the Writers Guild of America, East. Lowell Peterson is the Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, East.]

Senate Democrats Want Public Interest Statement on AT&T-Time Warner

Democratic Sens are asking AT&T and Time Warner to prove that their proposed merger is in the public interest, given that they plan to structure the deal so that it does not need Federal Communications Commission review. While the Justice Department looks at deals for antitrust issues, the FCC goes beyond that to also look at the public interest benefits, or negative impacts, of media mergers.

Sen Al Franken (D-MN), a member of the Antitrust Subcommittee, led a baker's dozen of Democrats in a letter to the companies saying that the public deserves to know what is in the deal for them, FCC review or no. "To achieve greater transparency for regulators, lawmakers, and American consumers, we ask that you provide us with a public interest statement detailing how you plan to ensure that the transaction benefits consumers, promotes competition, remedies all potential harms, and further serves the public interest through the broader policy goals of the Communications Act,” the Sens said. They say they would like the statement by Feb 17.

Republican Commerce Leaders Ask FCC Chairman Pai to Close Set-Top Docket

New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is a long and strong opponent of former Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal to revamp the set-top box marketplace to boost online video competition and would be unlikely to exhume that push, but the Republican leadership of the House Commerce Committee want him to put a nail in the coffin.

In a letter to Chairman Pai, House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Communications Subcommittee Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), and every Republican member of the Communications Subcommittee asked him to officially close the docket on the proceeding. "The regulatory overhang of the set-top box regulation has cast a shadow over investment and innovation in traditional video programming delivery," they said. "[W]e urge you to close the proceeding and permit the industry to innovate and serve consumers free from the restrictions of a government-chosen platform." They said it would generally be a good idea to close all inactive dockets and that in this particular case it should be closed as an "unnecessary regulatory threat to content creation and distribution industries" and to signal to video program distributors "that they can bring technological advances to set-top boxes and video delivery without fear that the Commission overturn them by regulation."

Democratic Lawmakers Propose $20 Billion Broadband Spend

Looking to trump President Donald Trump's trillion-dollar infrastructure spending plans, Democratic lawmakers unveiled their own plan that calls for spending big bucks to expand "high speed and affordable broadband" in both unserved and "underserved" areas, including funding for both middle-mile (backbone) and last-mile wired and wireless deployment. The Democratic plan calls for a $20 billion investment, which the Democrats say will result in 260,000 new jobs.

Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) was a key co-sponsor of the spending plan. "To close the rural-urban divide, and to push toward ubiquitous access to high-speed broadband, we will invest $20 billion to fund the build out of high-speed broadband in unserved and underserved areas. This funding will be available to projects currently eligible under programs at both the Department of Commerce and the US Department of Agriculture. We also propose expanding the programs to enable grant recipients to use grant funds to deploy various types of infrastructure capable of offering, middle-mile, last-mile wired and wireless broadband access, and adding evaluation criteria in the awards process to ensure that the funding goes to the most effective and efficient uses. Finally, we propose ensuring additional funding is available to help upgrade our nation’s aging 9-1-1 system and other critical infrastructure technology."

Copyright Alliance Presses Trump on Protections

The Copyright Alliance, which represents content creators, has asked President Donald Trump to stand up for copyright protections here and abroad, pointing out he has a personal interest in that protection.

In a letter to the President, the group pointed to Trump's own IP. "Throughout the long history of our country, few, if any, Presidents have had a more sizable and diverse copyright portfolio than you," they said. "[The Apprentice, for example]. Your experiences as a businessman have afforded you insights into the value and importance of copyright and how copyright protections help drive the US economy and create millions of well-paying jobs and small businesses." It said that it was important the copyright owners get free market value for their work, free of undue government regulations, and in the limited cases where the government does deem it necessary to set royalties, that fair market value still applies.

FTC's Ohlhausen: Agency Should Focus on Real Harms

Republican Federal Trade Commission member Maureen Ohlhausen, who is reportedly President Donald Trump's choice as interim FTC chair, said she has not met with the President but says the FTC should focus its energies on real harms, rather than speculative harms. She also says she has taken a page out of Trump's Art of the Deal for how to proceed. She was speaking at the State of the Net annual conference, though she did not confirm her status as acting chair. Current FTC chair Edith Ramirez is leaving Feb 10, which will leave only two commissioners, Ohlausen and Democrat Terrell McSweeny. Ohlhausen said that part of focusing on real harms is through case selection, as well as not sending the wrong signals to the market about companies that did not get it "quite right" while trying to innovate. If you make a privacy promise, keep it, and take "reasonable steps" to protect privacy, she said.

FCC General Counsel Symons Exiting

Federal Communications Commission general counsel Howard Symons is exited the FCC Jan 20 after three years, most of it as vice chair of the incentive auction task force. Symons was named general counsel back in July after general counsel John Sallet left to join the Justice Department as deputy general counsel for litigation in the antitrust division. The general counsel is the top legal advisor to the commission. Its attorneys represent the FCC before appeals courts, recommend decisions in adjudications, and helps provide the legal underpinnings for decisions like reclassifying ISPs under Title II. Before joining the FCC, Symons chaired the communications practice at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo and was senior counsel to the house Telecommunication (now Communications) Subcommittee. The exit comes as the spectrum auction Symons helped shepherd met its benchmarks for closing after the current stage of the forward auction.

Chairman Wheeler: Spectrum Auction Was Congress' Directive

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler says that the spectrum auction will clear the second most spectrum of any FCC auction, but that it was not the FCC's role but the marketplace's to determine that price or how much spectrum should be given up.

He was asked about the supposed demand for wireless beachfront spectrum given the demand that the auction revealed—broadcasters have been questioning that demand after the total broadcasters were willing to give up was reduced repeatedly after wireless companies declined to bid for the higher spectrum targets. Chairman Wheeler said it was Congress (in auction legislation) "that told us to create an auction that gave broadcasters an opportunity to sell their spectrum to us, and us to re-band it and turn around and sell it to wireless carriers." But it was Congress implementing an element of the National Broadband Plan offered up by the FCC and Chairman Wheeler's predecessor, Julius Genachowski. Chairman Wheeler said the FCC's job was to create the marketplace, "not so say 'this is how much spectrum has to clear, this is how much it has to generate.'" He said marketplaces "are frequently unpredictable."

OTA Broadcasting Settles FCC Political File Investigation

OTA Broadcasting has agreed to pay $32,000 to settle an Federal Communications Commission investigation into its political file practices. The FCC's Media Bureau released an order outlining the settlement. The FCC said its investigation was into whether KAXT-CD San Francisco's political file omitted information on paid ads for some California State Assembly candidates. The FCC said it did. To settle the investigation, OTA agreed to ensure that all its stations complied with political file disclosure obligations, as well as to pay the civil penalty. The FCC has closed the investigation.

FCC Freezes LPTV Companion Channel Applications

The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau says that, effective immediately and on its own authority, it is freezing applications for the digital companion channels for low power TV stations and translators. Those are the second channels that LPTVs and translators will need when they are required to make their own digital transition.

That comes as the FCC is about to close its broadcast incentive auction and starts repacking broadcasters in smaller spectrum space. LPTVs and translators are not protected in the repack. The FCC says that because LPTVs and translators displaced in the repack will be filing displacement applications (for new spectrum homes) in a special window following the end of the auction and to make sure that the limited number of channels available go first to those displaced stations, it says it was appropriate to freeze new companion channel applications, particularly given that the FCC has postponed the LPTV DTV transition deadline until 12 months after the completion of the 39-month repack.

Former FCC Chairman Genachowski: Spectrum Auction Is Success From Various Vantages

Reaction began pouring in after the Federal Communications Commission's incentive auction met its two benchmarks Jan 18, meaning it will close after bidding dries up in stage four. Former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, under whose watch the spectrum auction was drawn up, agreed with current Chairman Tom Wheeler that the auction had been a success, and despite some naysaying at the outset.

"Today it's clear the auction will be a success," he said. "Of course when we originally proposed the idea many said it was crazy and would never happen. The auction will recover an unprecedented amount of spectrum for the mobile ecosystem, both licensed and unlicensed spectrum, and it gave broadcasters an opportunity for a market-based monetization that wouldn't have otherwise been available. It's the first wireless auction of its kind in the world, and important that it happened in the United States. The challenge now for the FCC and new administration is how to keep pushing the envelope on spectrum policy and ensure the US maintains its global leadership."

FCC's Incentive Auction to End After Stage 4

The Federal Communications Commission will be able to close the spectrum auction and at an 84 MHz spectrum total some had suggested was the last clearing target for a successful auction. The second round of stage four of the forward portion of the FCC incentive auction ended Jan 18 with bidders raising their ante to $18 billion but more importantly $1.2570 per POP.

The spectrum auction isn't over until it's over, but the final stage rule has now been met, with forward auction bidders having bid enough to both cover the broadcasters' ask (the second component necessary to close the auction) and the $1.25 per MHz POP price. The auction will continue until there is no more bidding in any market. Now that the final stage rule has been met, the FCC's spectrum reserves kick in, where up to 30 MHz has been reserved in each market for auction-eligible bidders--small businesses, women, minority-owned. The FCC set aside some spectrum so the larger players could not simply buy it all up.

RTDNA, Others Seek Transparency Commitments From Trump Administration

The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) has joined with five dozen other journalism associations and outlets to ask President-elect Donald Trump to make commitments to transparency and not punishing reporters, commitments they say were not forthcoming from the Obama Administration. Trump has already cut off access to reporters and outlets whose stories he did not like, so he could be a tough audience. But the outlets were looking for commitments from the new administration to do better than his predecessor in that and other regards.

The groups said their priorities for re-opening the discussion about transparency and access are: "The ability of reporters to directly interact with government employees who are subject matter experts, rather than interacting with Public Information Officers (or having all conversations monitored by PIOs); access to the activities of the President; and ensuring that the Federal Freedom of Information Act remains as strong as possible."

Chairman Blackburn Takes Aim at FCC Noncom Disclosure Decision

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has introduced a bill that would require the Federal Communications Commission to roll-back a decision requiring board members of noncommercial broadcast outlets to provide ownership information to the commission, party of a larger decision on broadcast ownership disclosures. The bill has yet to get a name or bill number, but it has the outgoing Democratic FCC's number. It would require the FCC to revoke parts, but not all of an FCC decision, a targeted approach Congressional Republicans could use to tailor already-passed FCC regulations.

The FCC Media Bureau recently denied a request by noncommercial broadcast groups to revisit its decision. 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.

President-elect Trump Meets With FCC Commissioner Pai

President-elect Donald Trump met Jan 16 with Federal Communications Commission senior Republican commissioner Ajit Pai, according to transition and future White House spokesman Sean Spicer, who said it was the President-elect's last meeting of the day. Commissioner Pai is widely expected to be tapped as interim FCC chair when President-elect Trump becomes President Trump on Jan 20 and could be named permanent chair as well, though his fellow Republican commissioner Michael O'Rielly is also in the conversation. Trump also met with former Federal Trade Commission Republican member Joshua Wright.