Monty Tayloe

No one has ever applied to participate in the FCC’s broadcast incubator program, according to an FCC spokesperson. Created in 2018, then tied up in the Prometheus court proceedings (see 2104010067) for years afterward, the program aimed at providing more access to capital for minority and female radio station owners was reinstated in 2021 but a year later is seen by some as dead. The agency hasn't received any applications and doesn't track informal inquiries, an FCC spokesperson told us. “I think those interested in promoting diversity in the industry have pretty much given up on this program,” said former FCC Commissioner Henry Rivera, a longtime participant in FCC diversity efforts. “NAB has been supportive of this program since its creation and encourages the FCC to promote this important initiative as it actively encourages greater diversity in broadcast ownership,” an NAB spokesperson emailed. “It is an incomplete success,” said David Honig, of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council.

The prospects for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act are uncertain after a Senate Judiciary markup hearing Thursday in which co-sponsor Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., supported an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that led JCPA sponsor Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to withdraw the legislation. The result was “a surprise,” said Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in an interview. “Sen. Klobuchar thought she had an agreement with Sen. Kennedy, but he switched his position.” The JCPA (S-673) would create a limited antitrust exemption to allow news publishers to collectively bargain with tech platforms for the use of their content.

If the FCC doesn’t allow the substantially similar requirement for ATSC 3.0 broadcasters to sunset in June, an extension should be short and include a predictable endpoint, said NAB and Pearl TV in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 16-422.

The FCC won’t include funds for indirect full-time equivalents connected with aspects of the USF in calculating broadcaster regulatory fees but rejected many other broadcast proposals for reduced fees, said the FY2022 regulatory fees order and notice of inquiry released Friday. Radio stations that faced a 13% reg fee increase from 2021 will instead have an increase of 7% or 8%, broadcast industry officials said. Commissioners adopted the order unanimously Thursday. “Regulatory fees are not based on a precise allocation of specific employees with certain work assignments each year and instead are based on a higher-level approach,” said the order. Regulatory fees must be collected before the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year.

The FCC should be on the lookout for alternative sources of market data aside from Nielsen, said NAB in comments posted Tuesday in docket 22-239. Though the proceeding narrowly concerns changing references in FCC rules from the now-defunct Station Index Directory to the company’s Local TV Report, NAB and Nielsen filings also responded to questions about the FCC’s dependence on Nielsen raised by Commissioner Nathan Simington in July (see 2207140055). Both MVPD and broadcast commenters agreed with FCC proposals to update references in the rules to Nielsen’s Local TV Report.

Action on a proposal to revive FCC collection of equal employment opportunity workforce diversity data using Form 395-B isn’t expected soon despite recent calls from public interest and diversity groups for swift action, industry and FCC officials told us. The National Urban League, Common Cause, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and others said in recent joint supplementary comments in docket 98-204 that the agency needs to act within six months to produce useful reports by mid-2024, but industry and FCC officials said they don’t anticipate action on the matter while the FCC is without a Democratic majority.

A draft order on regulatory fees circulated to FCC commissioners’ offices last week would create a 13% FY2022 regulatory fee increase for broadcasters and doesn’t include proposed shifts in the way full-time equivalents (FTEs) are allocated to bureaus, industry and FCC officials told us.

Consumers and advertisers are increasingly gravitating toward free ad-supported streaming television (FAST), from linear and on demand viewing, said panelists Tuesday at the Stream TV virtual advertising summit. FAST channels such as Amazon’s Freevee and Paramount’s Pluto are free, easy to access because many don’t require logins, and are increasingly offering a wider variety of high-quality content, said panelists from Tivo, Roku and Crackle. Combined with ad-supported video on demand, FAST offerings are starting to supplant MVPD video subscriptions, said Scott Maddux, TiVo vice president-global content strategy & business.

Nexstar bought a controlling interest in the CW network, the broadcaster announced Monday. Other broadcasters have purchased content networks in the past, but the largest U.S. station owner buying a national network just beneath the scope of the big four is a new sign of broadcast groups’ increasing drive to own programming, analysts and industry officials said. The deal is intended to give Nexstar “a seat at the table regarding future changes in the network affiliate ecosystem,” and increased exposure in the national ad market, said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook on a press call about the transaction Monday.

Broadcasters want the FCC to allow the ATSC 3.0 substantially similar requirement to sunset and remove other limits on 3.0 broadcasts, but MVPD groups and Public Knowledge say those restrictions must remain to avoid pressure on consumers, according to comments posted Tuesday in docket 16-142.