The Supreme Court will decide if the FCC can fine broadcasters for airing a single curse word in a program (CD June 5 p1), the high court’s first test of the commission’s so-called fleeting indecency policy. The Monday decision to grant certiorari to FCC v. Fox surprised some broadcast lawyers. They'd expected the court to shirk the case, since the lower court’s ruling didn’t invoke constitutional matters.
NTIA Acting Administrator Meredith Baker is leaving the agency overseeing the DTV converter box program to pursue other opportunities, she told our affiliated Communications Daily Thursday. “I will stay on to ensure a smooth transition” with the White House nominee, Baker said, noting she had been thinking about leaving for several months. The White House is expected to name Neil Patel, assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, to the job, several Hill and industry sources said. Patel did not return a call for comment.
NTIA Acting Administrator Meredith Baker is leaving the agency overseeing the DTV converter box program to pursue other opportunities, she told Communications Daily Thursday. “I will stay on to ensure a smooth transition” with the White House nominee, Baker said, noting she had been thinking about leaving for several months. The White House is expected to name Neil Patel, assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, to the job, several Hill and industry sources said. Patel did not return a call for comment.
The Federal Register’s publication of the FCC cross- ownership order Thursday paves the way for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to review it, said a lawyer who plans to challenge the order. It lifts a ban, in some cases, on common ownership of a newspaper and radio or TV station in large cities. Commissioners approved it 3-2 (CD Dec 19 p1). Publication means “the order is now officially ‘final’ for purposes of reconsideration and appeal,” said Andrew Schwartzman, the president of the Media Access Project. Petitions for reconsideration of the order are due in 30 days. The 3rd Circuit had remanded a media ownership order back to the FCC, spurring the just-concluded review.
The Supreme Court may decide Feb. 29 whether to hear oral argument in the FCC appeal of a lower court’s remand of an agency policy of finding a program indecent if it contains a single curse. The court may not decide that day whether to take up FCC v. Fox, said Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman. Schwartzman participated in the case before the 2nd U.S. Appeals Court in New York, which found the FCC didn’t adequately explain its so-called fleeting expletive policy before finding broadcasts indecent. At least four justices must vote to hear a case for that to occur, said Schwartzman.
The NTIA will eliminate a backlog of requests for 5.6 million DTV converter box coupons by mailing all those $40 vouchers by the end of April, said Acting Administrator Meredith Baker. It takes time to whittle down the stack of approved requests received since the program began Jan. 1, because NTIA doesn’t want to mail vouchers to people in areas where retailers aren’t selling the boxes, she said in an interview Tuesday. The contractor sending out the coupons will distribute 300,000 of them in the first seven days they're mailed, starting sometime this week, she said.
The NTIA will eliminate a backlog of requests for 5.6 million DTV converter box coupons by mailing all those $40 vouchers by the end of April, said Acting Administrator Meredith Baker.
The FCC decision to require anonymous bidding in the 700 MHz auction forced the agency to impose unprecedented controls on information. Even commissioners and their staff have had to sign nondisclosure forms to gain access to material on who is bidding for which licenses. Wireless industry sources fret about potential leaks that could give one bidder an advantage over other auction participants. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday during a press conference that he couldn’t discuss whether the commission has looked into allegation of collusion before the auction began.
Last week’s order containing the second-largest indecency fine sat on the FCC’s top floor for nearly two years before all commissioners voted for it, said agency sources. In a departure from regular practice, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin didn’t approve the nearly $1.5 million penalty against ABC (CD Jan 28 p1) when circulating the notice of apparent liability on the eighth floor in March 2006, said the sources. Martin likely hoped to defer action on the order until an appeal was resolved in a similar case, said industry lawyers.
Last-minute changes to a controversial FCC media ownership order (CD Dec 19 p1) drew criticism at the agency and on Capitol Hill, with predictions that the agency soon will face appeals of its deregulation of cross-ownership. The FCC’s two Democrats said in interviews that they didn’t have enough time to review important changes made only hours before Tuesday’s meeting. House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., chided the late tweaks. He joined many in Congress criticizing the order clearing the way for radio and TV stations to buy daily papers in big markets.