Monty Tayloe

NBC didn’t contact the FCC after President Donald Trump’s tweeted questioning whether the network's “license” could be pulled, said NBC Broadcasting and Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus during panels (see 1710180023) at the NAB Show New York Wednesday. Lazarus declined to comment on Chairman Ajit Pai’s remarks that the FCC wouldn’t unilaterally take a station’s license. Asked about the president’s tweets, he said NBC News valued editorial independence and he's confident in NBC’s reporting: “We have great confidence that the FCC will stand by our First Amendment rights and support us and we have every confidence our licenses will be renewed.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai faces heat for not addressing more squarely the tweets. Some Democrats won't get a Senate Commerce Committee FCC oversight hearing on the matter.

An ATSC 3.0 draft order that requires that broadcasters offer “substantially similar” 1.0 and 3.0 simulcasts and doesn’t prevent the new standard from coming up in retransmission consent negotiations is widely expected to be ready for the FCC’s Nov. 16 commissioners' meeting, said industry officials. The Media Bureau is believed to be nearly finished preparing the order, with the aim of circulating it by Oct. 26, in time for the November agenda, industry officials said in interviews. Meantime, MVPDs and broadcasters are stepping up their lobbying on the 3.0 transition.

Apple should “step up to the plate” and activate FM chips in iPhones to promote public safety, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday. Broadcasters have long sought activation. “Apple is the one major phone manufacturer that has resisted doing so,” Pai said, and he hopes "the company will reconsider its position, given the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.”

Sinclair’s proposed buy of Tribune didn’t get special FCC treatment, said Chairman Ajit Pai in a letter released Tuesday responding to correspondence from House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee ranking member Diana DeGette, D-Colo. (see 1708140058). “My actions have been motivated by my belief that a strong over the air broadcast service advances the public interest," Pai said. “They have not been fueled by a desire to help any particular company.”

The FCC Media Bureau request for more information on Sinclair buying Tribune isn’t a sign of increased scrutiny or hostility toward the deal at the agency (see 1709150041), industry analysts and even opponents of the transaction said in interviews Monday. The information request asked for specifics about many issues that have been raised by opposition group Coalition to Save Local Media (see 1708300053) but is seen to be motivated by procedural concerns rather than FCC agreement with critics of the deal, industry officials said.

Comcast and Dish Network losing subscribers is good for streaming services like CBS All Access, CBS CEO Les Moonves told investors Thursday. Cord-cutters end up migrating to streaming offerings like All Access, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker emailed investors earlier in the day. MVPD consolidation hasn’t “impacted” retransmission consent fees, Moonves told a Goldman Sachs conference. He believes Sinclair's buy of Tribune will be approved, and CBS will look at expansion opportunities in American Football Conference markets such as Houston and Cleveland. Moonves believes CBS’ TV business is “strong,” a spokesperson confirmed. CBS will renew its NFL rights in 2022, and Moonves expects Amazon and Google to bid on the digital rights, Ryvicker wrote.

The health of radio, with its lack of deal-making, advertising slowdown and debt-burdened industry leaders, is expected to be the main topic of the 2017 Radio Show, which kicks off in Austin Tuesday, industry experts said. “Cumulus and iHeart and their need to restructure are continuously overhanging the industry” (see 1708090069), said MVP Capital founder and broker Elliot Evers. Media ownership rules such as AM/FM subcaps (see 1704100065) and FM translators will likely also be on the menu, but the financial state of the industry was foremost in the minds of the broadcast executives, attorneys and brokers interviewed.

A combined Sinclair/Tribune will use its increased leverage over the repacking to force wireless carriers to incorporate ATSC 3.0 technology into handsets, said T-Mobile and the Competitive Carriers Association in replies posted in FCC docket 17-179 Wednesday. “If Sinclair is allowed to proceed with its acquisition of Tribune, Sinclair’s attempt to force inefficient, costly behavior from wireless carriers and their customers is likely to succeed,” CCA said.

By combining companies and associations with more expected merger opponents like Public Knowledge, the new Coalition to Save Local Media may succeed in blocking the Sinclair/Tribune deal at an FCC widely seen as likely to approve Sinclair's Tribune buy, public interest and broadcast industry attorneys told us Tuesday.

The LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition is pushing a plan to solve the “vacant channel war” by partnering with a tech company, buying up low-power TV stations and seeking service waivers from the FCC to allow LPTV spectrum to provide a home for unlicensed use. Some low-power industry officials are skeptical, according to interviews. “Waivers are a heavy lift,” said attorney Michael Couzens, who represents low powers and translators. “We take the energy being directed at having this war, and are redirecting it to a solution in which everyone wins,” said coalition Director Mike Gravino. The coalition pitched the plan as a “truce” (see 1708020041), without support from other entities.