NAB’s proposal to relax instead of end the audio filtering requirement for Travelers’ Information Stations seems like a good solution, said a broadcast attorney. With the solution, the poor audio quality on TIS gets better, “but it doesn’t substantially increase the risk of interference,” said Fletcher Heald attorney Jon Markman in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1mklHFs). After proposing to eliminate the filtering requirement, the FCC opened a comment period on NAB’s proposal last week (CD April 17 p14). By doing so, the commission is giving the public another opportunity to comment on the possible new direction proposed by NAB and the Society of Broadcast Engineers, he said. The FCC has given the users and operators of the TIS a chance to weigh in on this new 5 kHz proposal, he said.

The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council requested a one-month extension of the comment deadline for the multilingual emergency alert system proceeding. Comments are due April 28 (CD March 31 p15). The current period “is insufficient for MMTC to provide meaningful comments to each of the complex questions raised,” the council said in its request in docket 04-296 (http://bit.ly/1kFcaJk). The proceeding stemmed from MMTC’s 2005 proposal for a multilingual EAS plan.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment on a proposal by NAB to relax, but not eliminate, the audio filtering requirement for Travelers’ Information Stations. NAB filed the proposal in its reply comments to an FCC proceeding that proposed to eliminate the rule, the bureau said Wednesday in a public notice (http://bit.ly/QpZSJo). NAB said full-power AM radio stations “routinely use 5 kHz filters to address and prevent interference among AM stations, with few significant problems,” the bureau said. The bureau seeks comment on whether the public interest would be better served by NAB’s request, it said. It also invites comment on any other measures that could improve the intelligibility of TIS and provide adequate measures “to protect adjacent channel stations from harmful interference,” it said. The public notice explores other issues, including whether any change in the filtering requirement should be mandatory, it said. Comments are due May 16, replies June 2.

The FCC Media Bureau dismissed an application for review (AFR) of the bureau’s decision denying Northeast Hartford Acorn’s petition against the caption application of Legion of Christ College for a new noncommercial education radio station. NHA in Hartford, Conn., argued that LCC of Cheshire, Conn., “lacked reasonable assurance of site availability at the tower site identified in the LCC Application,” the bureau said in a memorandum opinion and order (http://bit.ly/1h4rFVv). NHA later argued that LCC’s proposed tower didn’t exist at the time LCC filed its application, and that Optasite Tower “had apparently canceled its plans to construct the proposed tower in March of 2007,” it said. “NHA makes this argument for the first time in the AFR.” Upon review of the entire record, the bureau concluded that NHA’s argument “must fail because NHA never presented it to the Bureau,” it said. The bureau dismissed another AFR from Covenant Network for the same reason. After the FCC dismissed its application for a new noncommercial FM station in Macomb, Ill., Covenant, based in St. Louis, argued that various aspects of the bureau decisions violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the bureau said in a separate memorandum opinion and order (http://bit.ly/Qq1YsE). “Covenant makes these arguments for the first time in its AFR."

Sports Fans Coalition continued to urge the FCC to repeal the sports blackout rule that bars multichannel video programming distributors from carrying games blacked out by sports leagues in markets where the games haven’t sold out. The rules “are anti-consumer and do not serve the public interest,” it said in an ex parte filing in docket 12-3 (http://bit.ly/1hVtoN6). Existing FCC regulations and federal copyright statutes offer significant protection to the sports leagues, it said. The sports blackout rule should be examined separately from the network non-duplication and syndicated exclusivity rules, SFC said. The commission also may repeal the rule for open video systems and direct broadcast satellite systems, it said. SFC also continued to urge the Media Bureau to investigate SFC’s allegations that the NFL pressured some stations to buy unsold tickets in order to avoid blackouts. SFC made the allegations earlier this year (CD Feb 25 p14). The filing recounted a meeting with Media Bureau staff.

A joint sales agreement (JSA) waiver request from Howard Stirk Holdings doesn’t come from Sinclair and Free Press shouldn’t have presented the request that way in a filing earlier this week, said Sinclair in an ex parte letter filed at the FCC Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1hVVO9M). “Sinclair is not the moving party behind the HSH proposal or the HSH letter,” said Sinclair. “Nor is this a ’scheme’ by Sinclair, as Free Press alleges, to evade the commission’s rules,” Sinclair said. Sinclair is in the process of restructuring its proposed deal to buy Allbritton so it won’t include JSAs that would run afoul of the commission’s new rules, the filing said. That restructuring changed HSH’s participation in the Allbritton deal. However, Sinclair agreed to give HSH time to try to obtain assurances of a waiver from the FCC so HSH could then participate in the Allbritton deal, Sinclair said. HSH is minority-owned, and the FCC has said JSAs that assist in promoting public interests like diversity are more likely to receive a waiver. That makes it incorrect for Free Press to suggest that the HSH waiver request is an attempt by Sinclair to “renege” on the restructuring, Sinclair said.

FCC agents and deputy U.S. marshals seized radio transmission and production equipment allegedly used by pirate radio stations. The pirate radio stations allegedly broadcast on four different FM frequencies, U.S. Attorney for Manhattan Preet Bharara said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1hIJFdY). Two complaints seeking forfeiture were unsealed Tuesday and it was revealed that the equipment was seized April 2, the press release said. FCC agents identified a commercial space in the Bronx area of New York City as the production studio for “Rika FM,” it said. The agents also identified other Manhattan locations that housed the radio transmission equipment, it said. “Rika FM” illegally broadcast programming on 94.5 MHz and 94.9 MHz, the press release said.

The FCC should “exercise caution” in considering a request from broadcaster Howard Stirk Holdings asking for assurances that the commission will grant HSH a waiver of its new ownership attribution rules for joint sales agreements (JSAs), said Free Press in an ex parte filing Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1qFcERw). The waiver request is connected to Sinclair’s purchase of Allbritton, which is still awaiting commission approval. HSH is one of several sidecar companies that had been involved in the deal through JSAs. Although Sinclair said (CD March 21 p16) it will restructure the deal to come into compliance with new standards for deals involving sharing arrangements, HSH has said it can still participate in the transaction if the Media Bureau grants it a waiver of the attribution rules. Granting such a waiver would allow Sinclair “to subvert the purpose of the Commission’s ownership limits in order to expand Sinclair’s reach,” said Free Press. Since the Sinclair/Allbritton transaction is still under review, large pieces of the Free Press filing are redacted, but Free Press seems to be arguing that a waiver for HSH would still lead to Sinclair exercising control over the station’s content. “It is difficult to imagine how reaping such minuscule profits might create a path to wealth and independence, as is the Commission’s stated intent for allowing waivers of its JSA attribution standards,” said Free Press after a redacted portion, apparently concerning the financial details of the deal. “It follows that the Commission should not endorse Sinclair’s latest scheme to evade its rules,” Free Press said.

The “media universe” can no longer be viewed through “historic silos,” said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in a blog post Tuesday about attending the NAB Show last week (http://fcc.us/1eFJ4K3). “The demarcation between over-the-air, cable, internet and satellite broadcasting makes erstwhile legacy distinctions much harder to maintain,” said Clyburn. She was “pressed” at the show by network affiliates on the FCC’s recent ruling to attribute joint sales agreements, and conceded that the FCC’s delay in releasing the final text of that rulemaking meant she was unable to respond to broadcasters on the rule change. “The broadcasters were left to question our words and our wisdom pretty much unanswered,” she said. Clyburn said a walk on the show floor led to her being impressed by “Next Radio and 8K technology.” Broadcasters “play a unique and vital role in our local communities,” Clyburn said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau adopted a consent decree to settle allegations that KRXA(AM) Carmel Valley, Calif., violated sponsorship identification laws and indecency laws. The FCC investigated a complaint that the station broadcast a regularly scheduled call-in program “without disclosing that the host had paid the station to appear,” the bureau said in an order (http://bit.ly/Qm5J2g). The commission also received a complaint that indecency laws were violated based on language used by that show’s host, it said. The station is to be sold to a nonprofit broadcaster, the bureau said. Due to financial hardship, KRXA will pay $15,000 to resolve the allegations, it said. If the station isn’t sold, KRXA will implement a three-year compliance plan, the bureau said. The consent decree resolves and terminates the bureau’s investigation, it said.