The American Cable Association, Charter Communications, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable made false statements about Gannett in their filings against broadcaster sharing arrangements, Gannett said in an ex parte filing Friday (http://tinyurl.com/kbfgyve). The statements concern retransmission consent negotiations for Belo stations in Phoenix and Tucson and “demonstrate that the [multichannel video program distributors] MVPDs’ assertions in pursuit of their policy objectives should not be taken at face value,” said the Gannett filing. The sharing arrangement in Phoenix “does not provide for any Gannett involvement in retransmission consent negotiations,” Gannett said. Though the agreements for the Tucson stations allow Gannett to act as an “agent” in retrans negotiations, they don’t give Gannett “control” over the proceedings, Gannett said. “The MVPDs’ allegations about Gannett’s purported control over third-party stations and their retransmission consent negotiations in the Phoenix and Tucson markets are utterly false,” Gannett said. “The misstatements betray the MVPDs’ lack of attention to (or intentional mischaracterization of) the facts about which they make claims, which the Commission should take into consideration in evaluating the overall credibility of the MVPDs’ contentions,” Gannett said.

A coalition of independent broadcasters from 170 stations launched Voices for TV Choices, a new advocacy group for “independent ownership in media, rich and diverse programming for viewers, and local content for communities” Thursday, said a news release (http://bit.ly/1cXiJDM). Members include the Ion Network, Trinity Broadcasting, OTA Broadcasting and the National Black Religious Broadcasters, said the group’s website. “Together, these stations offer more than 330 additional multicast channels -- all free to consumers with a digital antenna -- and the broadcast stations are provided at no charge to cable systems,” it said. With Congress considering an extension of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) and a review of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the new group “will provide a strong, united voice in support of policies that preserve competition, choice and localism in programming,” said the group. “As the barrier to entry for cable carriage has become almost insurmountable for small, niche players, independent broadcast stations like ours provide an avenue for programmers to offer and communities to receive targeted, localized programming,” said Bill Tolpegin, CEO of OTA Broadcasting, in the release.

Aereo’s system for streaming broadcast TV is “manipulative technological exploitation,” said The Media Institute in an amicus brief filed Thursday in Aereo’s case at the U.S. Supreme Court (http://xrl.us/bqoacj). Aereo’s system of small individual antennas “violates broadcasters’ rights under copyright law and is merely a blatant attempt to avoid paying licensing fees,” said TMI in a news release. Aereo poses “a massive threat to the settled economic and legal arrangements that undergird the broadcast industry,” and the high court should overturn the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision in Aereo’s favor, TMI said.

Schurz Communications urged the FCC not to change its policies on joint sales agreements (JSAs) and shared services agreements. Cable complaints about joint negotiation of retransmission consent agreements are unjustified, it said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1ht05EI). “The proposal to prohibit only broadcasters from entering into joint sales agreements with another local station would result in asymmetrical regulation,” it said. If the FCC requires such arrangements to be dismantled, “there would be substantial, and perhaps devastating, breakup costs incurred by both parties,” it said. “The station now receiving services would have to create infrastructure and obtain services elsewhere that it needs to operate,” it said. Schurz, Entravision and NAB met this week with staff from the offices of Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai, Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, it said. They also met with Media Bureau staff. Meanwhile, Sinclair urged the FCC to evaluate JSAs within the larger context of the statutorily required 2014 quadrennial review, it said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1hsCyDZ). The commission’s failure to analyze recent increases in competition in both the video and advertising sales markets “makes any piecemeal rulemaking arbitrary and capricious,” it said. Sinclair again said it’s concerned about the consequences of attributing JSAs for ownership cap purposes “without permanent grandfathering for existing JSAs and those currently awaiting FCC approval as part of pending assignment and transfer applications, because there is no evidence that selling a station’s advertising spots influences the programming decision of that station,” it said. Complaints from multichannel video programming distributors claiming that broadcasters enjoy undue leverage in retransmission consent negotiations as part of JSAs also have no basis in fact, it said. Broadcasters remain “at a tremendous disadvantage in compensation negotiations,” it said. Although almost 40 percent of TV viewing is of broadcast signals, broadcasters received only 9.5 percent of basic cable fees in 2013, it said. The filing recounts a meeting with staff from the offices of commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai.

If the FCC attributes Joint Sales Agreements, the commission should grandfather in all existing such agreements, the Nevada Broadcaster’s Association said in an ex parte filing Wednesday. “Forced termination” of JSAs would “substantially” increase costs for affected stations and undercut their ability to compete, “leading to reduced programming and diversity, and potentially to total loss of broadcast service from those stations,” NBA said. Attributing JSAs would “effectively ban them outright in most markets despite their public benefits,” NBA said. The FCC should “utilize a triage approach” to evaluating ways to revitalize AM radio, NBA said. The commission should “act as soon as viable options are identified, rather than delay until all of the numerous options have been assessed in order to release a single Report and Order addressing all proposals,” NBA said.

Sinclair Broadcast Group called Buckeye Cablevision’s complaint against it “frivolous.” A letter from Buckeye supplementing the complaint seeks to “short-circuit the well-established process for resolving retransmission consent disputes, and seeks expedited treatment of its complaint,” Sinclair said in a response (http://bit.ly/1k7p83U). Buckeye alleged that Sinclair failed to negotiate in good faith a retransmission consent agreement with Buckeye (CD Feb 21 p20). The supplement letter asked the FCC to take enforcement action against Sinclair (http://bit.ly/1c5NMPV). The companies haven’t been able to reach agreement, resulting in a blackout of programming from WNWO-TV, Toledo, since last week. The FCC has made clear that multichannel video programming distributors and broadcasters alike “will not be required to engage in an unending procession of extended retransmission consent negotiations,” Sinclair said. “When Buckeye failed to respond, it was not bad faith for SBG to advise the public that the parties are so far apart that negotiations had ended and that the station involved will not be carried for the foreseeable future.”

The Sports Fans Coalition, Public Knowledge and other public interest groups asked the FCC to investigate whether the NFL coerced broadcast networks and/or affiliates into buying unsold tickets to NFL regular season and post-season games in 2013 to avoid sports blackouts. Even though the league “grants itself all kinds of flexibility to move ticket sales deadlines or cover up seats that haven’t been sold … they still allegedly chose to coerce broadcasters into buying unsold tickets,” said David Goodfriend, chairman of the coalition. Goodfriend said the charge came from a senior professional sports executive who wishes to remain anonymous. The NFL had no comment. While the FCC doesn’t regulate the NFL, it regulates the owned-and-operated and affiliated stations of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, Goodfriend said Monday during a conference call with reporters to discuss the sports blackout rule. The FCC can “request that the licensees of those networks submit signed affidavits from C-level executives … on the record that respond to questions,” said Goodfriend, a lobbyist whos clients have included Dish Network. Initial comments in the FCC proceeding to eliminate the sports blackout rule were due Monday. Sports Fans Coalition and PK filed joint comments along with National Consumers League, League of Fans and Fan Freedom. The rule perpetuates a morally and economically corrupt system, Goodfriend said. The NFL and other sports leagues wishing to perpetuate the commission’s sports blackout rules bear the burden of proof that local blackouts are necessary “to maintain financial viability,” the filing said. The FCC should ask the NFL, at a minimum, to produce audited financial statements of the league and its member teams supporting the contention that local blackout policy serves the league’s financial interest, it said. The NFL threatened three of the four first-round playoff games with local blackouts in Green Bay, Indianapolis and Cincinnati, it said. “The degree of fan uncertainty, business disruption and community upheaval that the NFL’s action caused in these cities should eliminate any doubt that the federal regulations upholding the NFL’s local blackout policy do not serve the public interest and therefore, must go,” Goodfriend said. Opponents claimed that an elimination of the rules would hasten the migration of NFL games off of broadcast TV and on to pay-TV, he said. This is unlikely, he said. “As long as major advertisers like General Motors, Pepsi and Budweiser are willing to spend top dollar to reach the most households as possible and as long as the NFL games continue to be the most widely viewed programming on television, we think the league is likely to have a significant economic incentive to keep their games on broadcast.”

Local commercial TV and radio broadcasters create $1.24 trillion of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and 2.65 million jobs annually, said a study this month by Woods & Poole Economics and BIA/Kelsey, released by NAB as part of its state leadership conference (http://bit.ly/1cIS6SX). The study analyzed local broadcasting and didn’t include noncommercial radio and TV or broadcast networks, except for network owned-and-operated stations, the study said. Employment data used in the study is from 2012,the study said. Local broadcasting also has a “ripple effect” on other industries through the goods and services consumed by broadcasting employees of “over $138 billion in GDP and more than 856,000 jobs,” the study said. “Broadcasting’s largest impact on the American economy stems from its role as a forum for advertising of goods and services that stimulates economic activity,” said NAB. Local TV and radio advertising generated $1.05 trillion and supported 1.48 million jobs, the study said.

The American Television Alliance backed the Department of Justice “shining a light” on “dubious practices” by broadcaster resource-sharing deals that can involve separately owned stations negotiating with multichannel video programming distributors for retransmission consent, said ATVA in a news release Friday night. Justice asked the commission to attribute joint sales agreements (JSAs) for ownership cap purposes, in a filing posted earlier Friday to docket 09-182, which also shows broadcasters and MVPDs continue lobbying the FCC on media ownership and retrans (http://bit.ly/OtUbK0). The average retrans fee Cable America Missouri pays ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates when those stations coordinate carriage talks is 19 percent higher than for separately negotiated stations, said the cable company in a filing posted to the docket Friday (http://bit.ly/1hif0kZ). JSAs “can be vital to allowing new, diverse entrants” into the TV business, wrote the general manager of Tougaloo College’s WLOO Vicksburg, Miss., which has a JSA with WDBD Jackson. Justice said JSAs should be attributed under media ownership quotas, which would limit the ability of stations to enter into them. “Without the JSA, we would not be able to operate the station as effectively as we do,” wrote the WLOO representative (http://bit.ly/1cgzMNI).

The FCC Media Bureau issued two protective orders (http://bit.ly/1budJb6 and http://bit.ly/1fnJsKG) in the docketed proceeding for Sinclair’s proposed buy of Allbritton’s TV stations. The public notices don’t indicate what information is being protected, but one notice pertains to “confidential” information while the other is for “highly confidential” information. Sinclair and the Media Bureau have been exchanging letters over sharing arrangements connected with the proposed deal (CD Dec 12 p5).