A plan for proposed changes to the rules governing joint service agreements (JSAs) by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office has been shared only with the offices of his fellow Democratic commissioners, Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn, said several FCC officials. Republican commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Ajit Pai were “kept out of the loop,” one FCC official said. It’s not uncommon for a chairman’s office to work on items without giving a heads-up to commissioners of the opposing party, several former FCC officials said. It can breed animosity, one former eighth-floor official said. Such partisan inclusion in the drafting process was said to have happened under then-Chairman Julius Genachowski, as staff developed conditions to allow Comcast to buy control of NBCUniversal (CD Jan 18/11 p1).

The specter of changes to the FCC’s rules for joint sales agreements among TV station owners could complicate its response to public interest objections to Gannett’s $2.73 billion purchase of Belo, said broadcast attorneys in interviews Friday. Gannett and two companies with which it is involved in such arrangements responded Friday to an application for review filed last month by Free Press and Georgetown University’s Institute for Public Representation. The public interest application for review “invites the Commission to remove any certainty that the Commission’s ownership rules (and presumably other rules, as well) will be enforced in a fair and uniform way,” said Tucker Operating Co. It and Sander Media are the two companies involved in sharing agreements with Gannett under the Belo deal.

Amazon Studios announced Thursday 10 new pilot shows available on Prime Instant Video in the U.S. and LOVEFiLM in the U.K. Amazon will use viewer feedback as one factor in deciding which series move on to full-season production for exclusive viewing by Amazon Prime members, it said. Drama pilots include hourlong shows from creators Chris Carter (The X-Files), Eric Overmyer (The Wire, Treme) and Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch). Half-hour comedy pilots were created by writer and producer Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom), actor and musician Jason Schwartzman (Saving Mr. Banks), writer and director Alex Timbers, filmmaker Paul Weitz, writer Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under) and executive producers Ice Cube and Michael Strahan, Amazon said. Kids shows on the pilot list come from creators Duane Capizzi (Transformers Prime), Josh Selig (Wonder Pets), Angela Santomero (Blue’s Clues), Arland DiGirolamo (Sketchy) and Geoff Barbanell (Kickin’ It), it said. With previous pilots, Amazon customers submitted “thousands” of reviews within the first few days of launch, and more than 80 percent of reviews received 4 and 5 stars, said Roy Price, director-Amazon Studios.

Amazon Studios announced Thursday 10 new pilot shows available on Prime Instant Video in the U.S. and LOVEFiLM in the U.K. Amazon will use viewer feedback as one factor in deciding which series move on to full-season production for exclusive viewing by Amazon Prime members, it said. Drama pilots include hour-long shows from creators Chris Carter (The X-Files), Eric Overmyer (The Wire, Treme) and Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch). Half-hour comedy pilots were created by writer and producer Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom), actor and musician Jason Schwartzman (Saving Mr. Banks), writer and director Alex Timbers, filmmaker Paul Weitz, writer Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under) and executive producers Ice Cube and Michael Strahan, Amazon said. Kids shows on the pilot list come from creators Duane Capizzi (Transformers Prime), Josh Selig (Wonder Pets), Angela Santomero (Blue’s Clues), Arland DiGirolamo (Sketchy) and Geoff Barbanell (Kickin’ It), it said. With previous pilots, Amazon customers submitted “thousands” of reviews within the first few days of launch, and more than 80 percent of reviews received 4 and 5 stars, said Roy Price, director-Amazon Studios.

Amazon Studios announced Thursday 10 new pilot shows available on Prime Instant Video in the U.S. and LOVEFiLM in the U.K. Amazon will use viewer feedback as one factor in deciding which series move on to full-season production for exclusive viewing by Amazon Prime members, it said. Drama pilots include hourlong shows from creators Chris Carter (The X-Files), Eric Overmyer (The Wire, Treme) and Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch). Half-hour comedy pilots were created by writer and producer Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom), actor and musician Jason Schwartzman (Saving Mr. Banks), writer and director Alex Timbers, filmmaker Paul Weitz, writer Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under) and executive producers Ice Cube and Michael Strahan, Amazon said. Kids shows on the pilot list come from creators Duane Capizzi (Transformers Prime), Josh Selig (Wonder Pets), Angela Santomero (Blue’s Clues), Arland DiGirolamo (Sketchy) and Geoff Barbanell (Kickin’ It), it said. With previous pilots, Amazon customers submitted “thousands” of reviews within the first few days of launch, and more than 80 percent of reviews received 4 and 5 stars, said Roy Price, director-Amazon Studios.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office had planned to circulate a draft order Thursday that would attribute TV joint sales agreements (JSAs) for the purposes of calculating ownership, but the item is expected to be delayed until March, an agency official told us. The order would have treated the attribution of TV JSAs the same way as for radio, counting as 15 percent toward ownership, the official said. It’s not clear why the item may be delayed. The item would also have included a further notice of proposed rulemaking on media cross-ownership, the official said.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has a big decision ahead in coming months -- whether to seek en banc and, ultimately, Supreme Court review of Tuesday’s decision rejecting the agency’s 2010 net neutrality rules. Longtime FCC watchers disagree on the likelihood of an appeal. Some say an appeal carries a risk since the panel’s majority offered an expansive reading of FCC authority under Section 706 of the Communications Act. The decision is not the FCC’s alone to make because the solicitor general, not the commission, would have to file the appeal before the high court.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has a big decision ahead in coming months -- whether to seek en banc and, ultimately, Supreme Court review of Tuesday’s decision rejecting the agency’s 2010 net neutrality rules. Longtime FCC watchers disagree on the likelihood of an appeal. Some say an appeal carries a risk since the panel’s majority offered an expansive reading of FCC authority under Section 706 of the Communications Act. The decision is not the FCC’s alone to make because the solicitor general, not the commission, would have to file the appeal before the high court.

An appeals court granted a partial stay of the FCC prison phone order (CD Aug 12 p1) Monday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit kept in place the interim rate cap of 21 cents per minute for debit and prepaid calls, and 25 cents a minute for collect calls. It put on hold three other sections of the FCC’s rules: the requirement that rates and ancillary services be “cost-based”; low safe-harbor rates that presume charges are reasonable; and the annual reporting requirement.

A U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C., opinion in the FCC’s favor may also be a bad omen for the commission’s must-carry regime, several attorneys told us Friday. In a unanimous decision in Agape Church v. FCC (http://1.usa.gov/19ojjp3), a three-judge panel upheld the commission’s authority to sunset its dual carriage “viewability” rule, which required cable operators to downconvert the digital signals of “must-carry” channels for subscribers with analog television sets.