The U.S. already faces a “spectrum crunch” and “we should be doing something about it,” Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said Wednesday at a Roll Call forum. Stearns said the next critical step is an inventory, especially of spectrum used by the Department of Defense. Stearns is chairman of the Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The high cost of producing local programming is part of what keeps PBS the main programming supplier for noncommercial TV stations, said President John Boland of San Francisco public radio and TV stations KQED. About 10 percent of KQED-TV’s budget goes to PBS, but the programmer’s shows make up 80 percent of its schedule, he said at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club late Tuesday. PBS President Paula Kerger told the event that federal funding remains vital for public TV stations.

NARUC might not appeal the FCC’s order on Universal Service Fund as a single bloc because states have varying views on the order, telecom industry officials told us. Though it’s uncertain if NARUC will appeal, the decision would depend on how much common ground there is among states, John Burke, chair of NARUC’s telecom committee, told us. Meanwhile, the industry has been lobbying at states to prevent appeals, a state official said. Despite a few states’ different views on preemption, NARUC has been consistent with its opposition to state preemption (CD Aug 26 p5).

Globalstar’s path forward for offering terrestrial service in its mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum appears to have several immediate obstacles, said industry executives. Globalstar maintains that the use of its terrestrial spectrum is relatively straightforward since the agency previously approved Globalstar’s use of ancillary terrestrial spectrum. Globalstar, which had its ATC abilities suspended, hopes to regain ATC compliance to use Big Low Earth Orbit L-band (1610-1617.775 MHz) and the S-band (2483.5-2495 MHz) terrestrially. Globalstar has said it should receive an FCC ATC gating criteria waiver, similar to the one received by LightSquared and being sought by Dish Network, that would allow Globalstar to offer terrestrial-only service.

There was little agreement on a Federal Emergency Management Agency webcast Tuesday about when the government should next test the national emergency alert system. Several problems with the simulation have been identified since a Nov. 9 EAS test (CD Nov 18 p1), which was the first time the EAS was triggered nationwide. When Manny Centeno, FEMA program manager for the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, asked the roundtable participants when the next test should be, dates as early as April 1 and as late as November, were suggested.

Independent cable networks split with multichannel video programming distributors over an FCC proposal to extend a requirement that MVPDs not favor their own content over unaffiliated channels to more types of pay-TV companies. A program carriage notice of proposed rulemaking (http://xrl.us/bk3ueg) said any MVPD that owns content should be barred from discriminating in carrying independent channels on the basis of a programmer’s lack of affiliation with another subscription-video provider (CD Aug 2 p10). The American Cable Association, DirecTV and NCTA were among those that objected to that proposal. In other comments posted Tuesday to docket 11-131 (http://xrl.us/bmjswu), Verizon said the NPRM was right to exclude newer MVPDs. Indies that have filed program carriage complaints said they ought not to face discrimination from any pay-TV provider, even if it doesn’t own content.

The FCC will let AT&T and Deutsche Telekom withdraw their merger application, while at the same time releasing the staff memo that gave failing grades to AT&T’s buy of DT’s T-Mobile, agency officials said Tuesday. Chairman Julius Genachowski and members of his staff had been pondering how to take both steps (CD Nov 29 p1). Public release of the memo opens the door for the document to be entered as part of the record in the government’s lawsuit to block the deal.

The Senate won’t move spectrum legislation this year, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday. That development came the same day that House Commerce Republicans reversed position on the 700 MHz D-block, bringing the House and Senate closer to consensus. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who previously supported a commercial auction of the D-block, released a new draft of his spectrum bill that would give public safety the license to the D-block. However, House Commerce Democrats, who still have reservations about unlicensed spectrum and some other issues, released their own rival draft bill. The House Communications Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up spectrum legislation Thursday.

NAB warned that the test of a TV white spaces database by Spectrum Bridge found numerous problems that still must be addressed. NAB said the overall results of the tests can only be described as “mixed.” The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment earlier this month on the recently completed 45-day public trial of Spectrum Bridge’s prototype white spaces database (CD Nov 15 p 13). Comments were due Tuesday.

Letting cable operators scramble broadcast TV and other basic channels in all-digital systems was largely backed in comments at the FCC. Scrambling is designed to cut down on signal theft and reduce pollution by eliminating the need for technicians to visit households to turn on and off video. Operators large and small, two nonprofits that had concerns with a first-of-its-kind waiver request made two years ago by Cablevision and local regulators each backed at least some of an FCC basic-tier encryption proposal. The regulators sought more conditions than what the commission’s October rulemaking notice proposed (CD Oct 17 p9).