Washington Beat

'Light-touch' FCC regulation is spelled out by the FCC Chairman in a speech delivered Wednesday morning at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. His plans could play a big role in how radio and TV can reach audiences via digital and social media.

A TEGNA Media TV station in Atlanta and a Graham Media Group VHFer in Detroit have been honored with two top honors by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF). Cox Media Group's WEDR "99 Jamz" in Miami is also getting a NABEF Service to America Award -- and is the lone commercially licensed FM getting such an honor.

Jamie Gillespie, a longtime NAB government affairs leader, has accepted a new role on Capitol Hill for one of the nation's biggest media and entertainment companies.

There's a lot of negative press about the President of the United States. In the view of Roslyn Layton, a Visiting Fellow at AEI's Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy, many tech media conform to this trend. Why? In her view, recent news stories on the FCC have been characterized by a focus on drama over analysis.

On Saturday, June 10, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stopped by a Wyoming Broadcasters meeting and said, in part, “Last month, the FCC launched a comprehensive review of our media regulations. Our goal is clear: We want to figure out how to update our rules to match the realities of today’s media marketplace." In the view of Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner, this isn't the first time such FCC efforts have been attempted, only to be destroyed with the well-funded lobbying of Members of Congress.

The owner of a Class A radio station in rural Seward, Alaska has been issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $66,000 for what the FCC says are "numerous apparent violations" of its rules — including actions that undermine the effectiveness of the Emergency Alert System.

It didn't take long for the newest FCC Commissioner to saddle up and staff up. On Monday morning, he announced the appointment of four key individuals that will serve in his newly minted office in acting capacities. Later in the day, Chairman Pai announced the FCC's new Acting General Counsel.

When it comes to modernization, some may think of the coolest new digital gadgetry coming from Silicon Valley. Or, they may consider a shopping spree in Adams Morgan at Hudson & Crane. For the FCC and its Chairman, Ajit Pai, modernization means regulatory weight loss, and trimming the fat. 

A Democratic Member of the U.S. Senate this morning spoke out against changes to the FCC's rules regarding Net Neutrality, noting that as long as Chairman Ajit Pai continues to support the end of Title II classification for broadband, she can't support his vote for staying on as the agency's leader. Immediately following the anti-Pai rally call came details of a GOP tax reform proposal that the NAB says helps broadcasters.

"Ol' Dad" Ken Benner, a featured RBR+TVBR Media Information Bureau columnist based in Tucson, remains determined to find ways to keep your radio station's balance sheet free of payments to the U.S. Treasury, or to the FCC in response to a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture. In his latest offering, Benner takes his magnifying glass and focuses on the Commission's instructions for license renewal form 303-S. You may wish to do the same, considering what he's uncovered.

Doug Ferber of DEFcom Advisors LLC and Erwin Krasnow of Garvey Schubert Barer have created a special podcast series exclusively for RBR+TVBR members based on a series of articles centered on the topic “Broadcast Deal Myths Debunked.” In this ninth podcast installment, Ferber and Krasnow discuss the myth that one should avoid deal intermediaries.

There's a new Policy Advisor for media issues in the office of one Republican FCC Commissioner. At the same time, a Democratic FCC Commissioner has named a new Policy Analyst and Special Assistant in her office.

"PN1362" arrived Monday at the Senate Commerce Committee, sent by the White House. The action would reappoint Republican Brendan Carr to a five-year term as a Commissioner, starting July 1, 2018. It marks the Trump Administration's second attempt at keeping Carr at the FCC through June 2023.

A deadline for Comments, and a date Reply Comments are due, are now affirmed for those who wish to have their say in the FCC's competitive bidding procedures for "Auction 99." Bidding in this auction of cross-service FM translator construction permits begins May 15 and resolves 12 groups of pending mutually exclusive applications.

The American Television Alliance (ATVA) has filed a Petition with the FCC that seeks reconsideration of three aspects of an order authorizing the permissive use of the next generation broadcast TV standard known as ATSC 3.0. It seeks separate negotiations, no flash-cut transitions for LPTVs, and full disclosure should a station "degrade their signals without warning viewers and MVPDs beforehand." We've got an RBR+TVBR Observation on the matter, so fasten your seat belts, MVPDs.