The FCC warned a New York realty company of the possible forfeiture of up to $2.3 million for allegedly hosting a pirate radio station, said an Enforcement Bureau letter in Thursday’s Daily Digest. The notice to Matovu Realty concerned a building at 3349 Decatur Ave., Bronx, and identified Matovu as the owner. The letter demands proof that unauthorized transmissions found by EB field agents have ceased and requests that the unauthorized broadcasters be identified. Matovu has 10 business days to respond. The company didn't comment.

The 2018 quadrennial review order supports Gray Television's arguments against the FCC’s $518,000 enforcement action over a 2020 transaction involving an Anchorage station, Gray told the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a response letter Thursday. Gray was responding to an FCC letter last week giving the court notice of the QR order, which was released in December. Gray has argued that the agency created a requirement for what data is used to determine station rankings without notice when it issued the forfeiture in 2022 (see 2307240065). Ratings data from the time of the transaction showed Gray already owned two of the top-four stations in the market, which the broadcaster has argued means the Anchorage deal didn’t result in a new top-four combination -- instead an existing top-four combination added another station. The FCC has argued that this ratings data wasn’t available to Gray when it made the deal and so is invalid. The QR order changes the ranking methodology to use “available data over a 12-month period immediately preceding the date of application,” Gray told the court Thursday. The inclusion of the word “available” in the QR order “underscores its prior absence, and it highlights the FCC’s failure to provide Gray with fair notice of such a requirement which the FCC invented to justify penalizing Gray,” said the broadcaster. The QR order also doesn’t show that applying the agency’s rule against affiliation swaps to Gray’s purchase of a station’s network affiliation “furthered an interest in competition, as the First Amendment requires,” Gray told the court. “Thus, nothing the FCC said in the 2023 Order cures the fatal defect in the Forfeiture Order.” Oral argument in the case is set for March.

The FCC is awaiting Paperwork Reduction Act approval for its order implementing the Low-Power Protection Act, so the opening date of the Class A window hasn't been determined (see 2401090072.

The FCC’s one-year window for certain low-power TV stations to apply for Class A status will open Feb.9, according to a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. The window stems from the FCC’s implementation of the Low-Power Protection Act in December (see 2312080043), and is open only to LPTV stations that broadcast a minimum of 18 hours a day, carry three hours per week of local programming and are located in markets of 95,000 households or fewer.

Consumer sales of ATSC 3.0 products are expected to increase by 45% in 2024 and TCL has joined the ranks of manufacturers building ATSC 3.0 TVs, the Advanced Television Systems Committee said in a news release from CES 2024 Monday. “We’re projecting that NEXTGEN TV will cross the 75% household reach milestone in February -- a significant achievement that also will mark 75 Nielsen broadcast markets with service,” ATSC President Madeleine Noland said in the release. ATSC 3.0 is expected to launch in Chicago, San Diego, and Tucson in 2024, Noland said. The number of accessory receiver models, such as ADTH’s device (see 2401040048), is expected to double in 2024, the release said. ADTH, Stavix, ZapperBox and Zinwell are displaying the devices at CES, the release said.

Streaming music company Roxi is partnering with Sinclair on an offer of interactive music channels broadcast over ATSC 3.0 in U.S. homes starting this year, said a Sinclair news release Tuesday. The initial Roxi music, karaoke and games channels will “feature the interactivity and capabilities of a music app, without having to download or launch an app,” the release said. “Our viewers will be able to pause, play and skip on broadcast TV for the first time,” said Roxi CEO Rob Lewis in the release. The Roxi Music Video Channel will feature “curated collections of the very best high-quality music videos from the biggest names in music” and allow viewers to pay for an ad-free version. The Roxi Music Games Channel features interactive music games, and the Roxi Music Video Karaoke Channel will feature karaoke tracks with original music videos and scrolling lyrics, the release said. “We’re confident this partnership will help accelerate the adoption of NextGen TV by delivering entertainment features that consumers will increasingly come to demand on their televisions,” said Skip Flenniken, Sinclair vice president-general manager, technology business development.

Audacy entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and will undergo restructuring, the radio broadcaster announced in a news release Sunday. The restructuring will reduce Audacy’s funded debt from approximately $1.9 billion to around $350 million, it said. Audacy said it doesn’t expect operational impact from the restructuring, and debt holders will receive equity in the reorganized company. “The perfect storm of sustained macroeconomic challenges over the past four years facing the traditional advertising market has led to a sharp reduction of several billion dollars in cumulative radio ad spending,” Audacy CEO David Field said in the release. “These market factors have severely impacted our financial condition and necessitated our balance sheet restructuring.” Audacy’s Chapter 11 proceedings will be held in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (docket No. 24-90004), and the company now has a restructuring website. Audacy expects the court to hold a hearing on the bankruptcy plan in February and the company to emerge from bankruptcy after receiving FCC regulatory approval, the release said.

NAB Deputy General Counsel Patrick McFadden has joined Sinclair as senior vice president-global public policy and communications, according to a news release from Sinclair Monday. McFadden "will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of Sinclair’s comprehensive legislative and regulatory strategy" and "oversee Sinclair’s strategic communications and messaging," said the release. McFadden was with NAB for 10 years, and among his most recent duties was overseeing the Future of TV Initiative, the public/private ATSC 3.0 task force that includes FCC participation. Although Sinclair participates in the task force, NAB told us NAB staff will continue to oversee the group's administration. Prior to NAB, McFadden practiced telecommunications law for Drinker Biddle.

The FCC should dismiss three counterproposals from Pacific Radio Group for allocating FM channels on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, said SSR Communications in an opposition filing posted Friday in docket 23-197. The counterproposals are defective because PRG already owns four FM facilities in that market, SSR said. SSR originally proposed allocation of three channels on the island, and PRC's counterproposals involve the same three channels but would allocate them to different communities with larger populations, the SSR filing said. In addition, PRG said it would seek construction permits to build stations for each channel: “PRG certifies that [it] will participate in a future Commission spectrum auction for a new permit at Princeville, Hawaii, and if it is the winning bidder, will build the station promptly,” said one PRG filing. As PRG already owns four full-service FMs in that market, FCC radio ownership limits would prevent it having additional stations on Kaui, SSR said. “Because PRG is not eligible to receive a construction permit for any of the channels that are the subject of the counterproposals, the counterproposals are akin to ‘strike applications’” filed to delay competitors, SSR said. PRG didn’t comment.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau warned two Brooklyn, New York, property owners of possible forfeitures of up to $2.3 million for allegedly hosting pirate radio stations, said Enforcement Bureau letters in Thursday’s Daily Digest. The notices to property owners 70 Rockaway Parkway and RAAV 2617 LLC formally notify them of illegal broadcasting that EB field agents found. They demand proof that the transmissions have ceased and request that the unauthorized broadcasters be identified. Entities that allow third parties “to engage in so-called 'pirate radio' broadcasting on their property can face significant financial penalties,” the letters said. Property owners have 10 business days to respond.