Broadcast attorneys still await rulings on some tougher indecency cases to help guide them when advising clients, they told us. The full FCC Mon. denied complaints against Will & Grace and Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes that contained sexual material (CD Aug 10 p1), but attorneys said they provide little practical guidance on indecency issues. “Each were clearly garden-variety cases that were properly decided by the FCC,” said former FCC Chmn. Richard Wiley.
FCC Wireless Bureau promoted Scott Delacourt to deputy chief… Christine Crowe, ex-Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, joins Wilkinson Barker Knauer telecom and media practice as partner… John Barry returns to Wiley Rein & Fielding as litigator in communications practice… Mick Buckley promoted to pres.-managing dir., CNBC Europe… Michael Huseby, ex-Charter, becomes Cablevision exec. vp-CFO… Richy Glassberg, ex-Speed Channel, named senior vp-TV Guide TV Group ad sales… Betsy Bernard, ex-AT&T, joins board of URS Corp… Andy Tarrant resigns as regulatory affairs dir., European Competitive Telecom Assn., to return to Oxford U… Jo Major, ex-JDS Uniphase, becomes Avanex CEO… Sci Fi Channel promoted Adam Stotsky to senior vp-mktg. & creative.
WJZD(FM), Long Beach, Miss., said the FCC violated its own ex parte contact rules when it negotiated its $1.75 million indecency settlement with Clear Channel last week. In a letter to the FCC, the station said it had a pending proceeding before the FCC questioning Clear Channel’s “character” and indecent programming. Clear Channel’s settlement absolves the station giant of past indecency sins (CD June 10 p4). WJZD claims it should have been involved in any negotiations with Clear Channel. WJZD called last week’s agreement a “get out of jail almost free card negotiated behind closed doors.” The station also said FCC Comr. Martin should have recused himself from the settlement negotiations because Clear Channel is a client of Martin’s former law firm, Wiley Rein & Fielding.
President Bush nominated Thomas Griffith of Brigham Young U., ex-Senate aide and ex-Wiley, Rein & Fielding, to seat on U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., replacing Patricia Wald, retired… Harris promoted Jeremy Wensinger to pres.-Bcst. Communications Div. and Larry Whitfield to pres.-Harris Technical Services… Elections at ATIS: Bill Smith of BellSouth to chmn. and Paul Lacouture of Verizon to treas… Changes at Broadband Wireless International, citing “alleged serious irregularities": Paul Harris, Benjamin Stanley and John Walsh leave company; New officers include Pres. Ronald Tripp, Secy. Keith McAllister, Treas. Michael Williams… Sean Erickson, ex-Dell, named MSS*Group CEO; board member David Walsh, One Equity Partners, moves up to chmn… Cox promotions: John Bell to dir.-Internet services engineering; Kevin Nichols to dir.-project planning & analysis… FCC attorneys Michael Engel and Jacqueline Spindler move to Enforcement Bureau Dispute Resolution Div… Mike Cleland moves from Midwest Div. vp. to vp-Dallas market, Comcast.
In response to stepped up wireless industry concerns over the “consensus plan” for 800 MHz last week (CD Feb 27 p1), Nextel called claims by Verizon Wireless “specious and unfounded.” Verizon Wireless told the FCC last week it would bid in an “immediate” auction of 1.9 GHz spectrum. This is among the bands that Nextel would receive under the consensus plan in exchange for giving up spectrum elsewhere to mitigate interference to public safety at 800 MHz. The plan is backed by the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), PCIA and others. Verizon Wireless, in a letter to FCC Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta, argued that public safety interference should be addressed by realigning the 800 MHz band without involving 1.9 GHz. CTIA and other wireless carriers have urged the FCC to consider alternatives to the consensus plan, including best practices measures for addressing interference. “For more than 2 years, CTIA, including its Bell-monopoly affiliated wireless members, have indulged in bullying tactics and spent millions of dollars lobbying to derail the consensus plan. They have pursued this agenda while offering no alternative to solve public safety radio interference and steadfastly working to divert attention from their own well-documented contributions to the problems of public safety interference,” Nextel said in a statement. “The failure to address this issue puts lives in danger every single day.” Countering what it said were misrepresentations about the value of the 1.9 GHz spectrum, Nextel disputed estimates that 10 MHz in this band is worth $7.2 billion. It said the highest amount ever bid for 10 MHz in this band was $3.3 billion in 1999, and that was never paid. “The highest amount ever received by the FCC for 10 MHz of spectrum at 1.9 GHz was in fact $1 billion,” it said. Nextel said that under the consensus plan, it would contribute 10.5 MHz of spectrum it had acquired since its founding. “Nextel was not a beneficiary in the FCC’s initial free spectrum allocations to the Regional Bell monopolies,” it said. In a letter to Congress members, the heads of APCO, the National Sheriffs’ Assn., the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police and the International Assn. of Fire Chiefs, said the consensus plan is “public safety’s plan.” Noting that some have characterized the proposal as crafted by Nextel for its own benefit, they said: “Nothing could be further from the truth.” Separately, Verizon Wireless late Thurs. submitted a more-detailed filing at the FCC outlining its concerns. “Removing the 1.9 GHz band from the consensus plan and auctioning it would allow the government (not a private party) to receive the substantial benefits that a nationwide block of clear, contiguous spectrum would bring at auction,” it said. Citing a legal memo prepared by Wiley Rein & Fielding, Verizon Wireless said it demonstrated the FCC had “full legal authority” to realign the 800 MHz band and direct Nextel to pay relocation expenses incurred by public safety licensees. The memo also said Nextel “can be made to pay the causally related ’second step’ relocation costs of the business and industrial users who would be moved as a direct result of Nextel’s relocation of the public safety licensees.”
The law firm Wiley Rein & Fielding gave the FCC a 24- page background report on the many VoIP regulatory activities in Washington, the states and abroad. “VoIP at the Crossroads” isn’t related to particular clients, but is intended as a guide for those following the issues, said WRF attorney and former NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory. The guide was filed ex parte Feb. 25 in WC Doc. 04-28, 03-266 and several others.
3G Americas board promoted Chris Pearson to pres… Steve Clawson, ex-AT&T, named Dittus Communications vp… Heather Vincent, ex-MSNBC, named BET Nightly News exec. producer… Richard Wiley named Republican Lawyer of the Year by Republican National Lawyers Assn.
With President Bush’s signing of a 39% national broadcast ownership cap law, the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, is wondering about its role in the media ownership fight and whether the case it’s considering, or parts of it, are moot. In a letter to the FCC, Media Access Project (MAP) and other parties, the court asked for responses by noon Feb. 2 on how they believed their cases were affected by the new law.
Peter Chrisanthopoulos resigns as Pappas Telecasting pres.-CEO, 3 months after taking job… New partners at Wiley, Rein & Fielding: Helgi Walker, ex-FCC and ex-White House; Jennifer Hindin, specializing in FCC, ITU and satellite issues… Robert Mayer, ex-BearingPoint, named dir., N.Y. office of Telecom… Susan Swenson resigns as pres.-COO, Leap Wireless International… Roger Manka, ex- Commworks, named pres.-worldwide sales, Andrew Corp… Changes at Showtime: Matthew Duda promoted to exec. vp- acquisitions, planning & distribution; Exec. Vp-Programming Peter Keramidas leaves to pursue other opportunities… Cincinnati Bell promoted Brian Ross to CFO… John Abbot, ex- Morgan Stanley, appointed senior vp-CFO, Insight… Joshua Nathan advanced to gen. counsel, Educational Bcstg. Corp., succeeding Eleanor Applewhaite, retired… New CTAM officers: Chmn. Len Fogge, Showtime; Vice Chmn. David Watson, Comcast; Secy. Douglas Holloway, Universal TV; Treas. Joe Rooney, Cox; dirs. Kevin Leddy, Time Warner; David Krone, NCTA; and Kathleen Dore, Rainbow… Andrew Spence, ex-SBC, appointed dir.-business-to-business sales, Cingular Wireless… New partners at Andrew Seybold Group: Robert Chapin, Wireless Marcom; Robert Hirsh, ex-Verizon; James Hobbs, ex-BellSouth.
The Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) asked the FCC to reconsider a decision that MMTC said eviscerated the Commission’s Distress Sale Policy, which was designed to encourage minority ownership. The case involved Family Bcstg., licensee of WSTX(AM) and WSTX(FM) in Christiansted, Virgin Islands. The Audio Div. of the FCC Media Bureau concluded that the company’s conduct was so egregious that it wouldn’t allow Family to sell the licenses under the policy, apparently feeling that the case should go to a hearing, where Family could lose everything and anyone -- potentially not a minority -- could win access to the spectrum. Family has filed an application asking for review by the full Commission and MMTC filed an amicus curiae brief last week in Family’s support, saying the public policy dimensions were more important than the minutiae of the case itself.