FCC Would Expand Kidvid Multicasting, Hours Allowed; MTE, Carriage Drafts Also Issued

The kidvid draft is “intended to strike a balance” between reflecting the growth in such content on other platforms and “the reality that some children in minority and low-income households still rely on live, over-the-air broadcast television,” says the order. It includes an further NPRM seeking comment on the creation of a framework to allow broadcasters to satisfy children’s programming obligations with "special efforts to produce or support Core Programming aired on other stations in their markets," said the draft.

The draft item expands the start of the hours in which kidvid-required content can be aired to start at 6 a.m., rather than 7 a.m. currently. It opens up scheduling restrictions on when such content can be aired per quarter. Broadcasters can still satisfy the rules by airing three hours per week of regularly scheduled kidvid content, but other options would let them fulfill part of the requirement with non-regularly scheduled content or shorter form programs under a half hour in length. The change is intended to allow broadcasters more flexibility, but the agency stopped short of eliminating such requirements altogether. “The public interest will be served by continuing to require broadcasters to air the majority of their Core Programming on a regularly scheduled weekly basis,” the draft order said.

The draft order will allow broadcasters to air up to 13 hours per quarter of their regularly scheduled weekly programming on a multicast stream, which adds up to one third of their required kidvid content. Broadcasters had wanted the FCC to allow all kidvid content requirements to be satisfied over multicast streams, but content companies such as Litton Media had argued that such a shift would destroy the market for children's content. “Given that we are permitting broadcast stations to move only 13 hours per quarter of their regularly scheduled weekly programming to multicast streams, we find that this concern is vastly overstated,” the draft said. A broadcast industry official called the version “a nice compromise.”

Additional timing flexibility is expected to reduce how often stations need to preempt children's content, but the draft order also expands the options for when preempted content can be rescheduled. Stations will now be able to re-air preempted content at any time during the allowed hours within seven days of the preemption.

Reaction Tweets

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly complained that “Twitter ninnies” are miscasting the draft as reducing children's programming. “Item does NOT cancel any KidVid programs. Any content provider saying that didn’t read item,” O'Rielly tweeted Wednesday.

“Under the Trump Admin, the @FCC has proposed new rules that would cancel educational shows like mine,” tweeted Emily Calandrelli, host of Fox show Xploration Outer Space. “These new 'KidVid' rules would hurt the poorest in our country, esp African Americans/Hispanics.” The draft order does say that the elimination of a requirement that stations multicasting children's TV are required to air additional hours will reduce the total kidvid content required. “We acknowledge that elimination of the additional processing guideline will result in a reduction in the overall amount of Core Programming available on free, over-the-air television,” the draft order said.

Sen. Markey, D-Mass., is "pleased that the FCC is not moving forward with its initial proposal to dismantle the children’s television rules that keep enriching television on the air for kids." Allowing one of three hours of such programming "to be moved to sparsely viewed multicast streams is a mistake and is undoubtedly bad for children, particularly those in low-income and minority communities who cannot afford expensive pay-TV options including cable or over-the-top offerings," he said.

Broadcasters would also see reporting requirements relaxed under the draft order. Instead of quarterly, the FCC would require simplified annual ones. Broadcasters would also no longer have eliminating the requirements that to file reports on the educational and informational purpose of kidvid content. Media Bureau Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman said in April that broadcasters were making a mistake by pushing to eliminate such reports because they served as a record of broadcaster educational efforts (see 1904090063).

MTEs

Required sharing of in-use facilities slows deployment of new facilities in MTEs and undermines the quality of communications services, the FCC said in the MTE declaratory ruling. The Multifamily Broadband Council (MBC) has been critical of the entirety of the ordinance (see 1704120030).

Most of it has involved a wire-sharing requirement, the FCC said, saying it's proceeding "incrementally" and could revisit other parts. The declaratory ruling would clarify the agency supports state and local experimentation -- as long as it's consistent with federal policy -- that increases access to MTEs. MBC outside counsel didn't comment.

The item would seek comment on other to take to accelerate network deployments in MTEs, such as increased competitive access to rooftop facilities that often are subject to exclusivity agreements. It would ask about possible restrictions of use of revenue sharing agreements in which building owners get consideration from communications providers in return for provider access to the building and tenants. The draft asks whether ISPs should disclose publicly the existence of revenue sharing arrangements. It solicits comment on state or local regulations or policies that have promoted broadband completion, deployment and access to MTEs.

The Wireless ISP Association said the MTE item will help end use of exclusive service contracts that can lock out competition from stand-alone broadband providers. "Banishing anti-competitive contracts that keep broadband providers out of MTEs will allow our members to compete on a level playing field," said WISPA President Claude Aiken.

E-Notification

Under the broadcaster electronic notification draft order, broadcasters would upload their triennial election notifications to their public files and email MVPDs -- while copying the FCC -- only if they opt for a change from the previous cycle.

Noncommercial educational stations, instead of having to mail triennial carriage requests to direct broadcast satellite operators, would upload a request for carriage to their public files. New requests for carriage by those stations would be emailed to MVPDs. MVPDs would have to verify receipt of carriage emails they get from stations. The order would expand on the NAB/NCTA proposal by applying some aspects of the proposal to NCE stations and direct broadcast satellite providers. That joint proposal addresses many of the concerns raised by broadcasters and MVPDs in the proceeding and it had almost universal support, the agency said.

While DBS had pushed back against the joint election notification proposal (see 1903190044), the FCC said a simpler, uniform election notification process would cut down on the odds a broadcaster -- particularly a small one -- won't qualify for carriage based on technical noncompliance with the rules. It said while DBS had raised concerns about having to manage legions of election notification notices, the proposed rules would have AT&T's DirecTV and Dish Network managing notices only from the small fraction of stations changing their carriage election status in any given cycle. Along with the order is a Further NPRM seeking comment on the possibility of applying those carriage election notification rules to parties that don't maintain online public files such as some low-power TV broadcasters and open video service systems.

A related draft NPRM proposes requiring cable operators email some notices to broadcasters that currently are mailed such as notification of new cable system activation, or about repositioning or deleting of a TV station signal. The NPRM stems from ACA suggestions during the carriage election notification proceeding. The draft seeks comment on whether to require that written DBS notices to broadcasters similarly be delivered electronically. Dish and AT&T didn't comment.