Broadcasters should pay the costs that a mandatory conversion to ATSC 3.0 will impose on MVPDs, said DirecTV in a letter to the FCC Media Bureau, posted Wednesday in docket 16-142. Purchasing enough ATSC 3.0 receivers to convert DirecTV’s 1,800 nationwide feeds would cost close to $15 million, which “would be onerous” and “a dead-weight loss,” the company said. “Spreading the cost among the nation’s nearly 1,500 broadcast stations would not only yield a much more manageable financial responsibility for each entity but also place the costs on the parties who stand to reap the benefits of the ATSC 3.0 transition.” DirecTV said it currently can’t transmit ATSC 3.0 signals because its customers’ millions of set-top boxes can’t receive the signal, and it doesn’t have the capacity to carry both ATSC 3.0 and 1.0 signals simultaneously. It also noted that an Advanced Television Systems Committee working group on creating a standard for converting 3.0 signals for MVPD transmission doesn’t include any MVPD representatives. “Because of what MVPDs view as the domineering and uncollaborative behavior of the broadcast representatives in the Working Group, there is no longer any MVPD representation” in the group.
The FCC Media Bureau has approved Connoisseur Media’s purchase of Alpha Media and its 200-plus radio stations, said a letter in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. Connoisseur owns 11 stations in New York and Connecticut, but the deal will bring it up to 218 radio stations in 47 markets, Alpha said in a May release announcing the agreement. The terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. The two companies don’t have market overlaps but required a Media Bureau waiver because Alpha owns five FM stations in a single market in Texas as part of a grandfathered arrangement. Granting a waiver to allow Connoisseur to own the stations under a similar arrangement “will simply maintain the status quo,” said the Media Bureau. “Based on the structure of the market,” approving the transfer won't be “anticompetitive nor otherwise frustrate the goals of the Local Radio Ownership Rule,” the letter said.
Twenty-three Democratic members of the House slammed an FCC Wireline Bureau order that delays until April 1, 2027, the implementation of rules curbing the costs of incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS). In a letter to Chairman Brendan Carr, they asked for an explanation (see 2507030024), given the Jan. 5 deadline for rules written into the Martha Wright-Reed Act. The delay “will have immediate and devastating consequences for our constituents,” said the lawmakers, led by Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif.
The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on channel substitutions for WLOV Licensee and One Ministries, said NPRMs in Tuesday's Daily Digest. One Ministries wants to switch the community of license for KQSL Fort Bragg, California, to Cloverdale, California, said an NPRM in docket 25-246. WLOV Licensee wants to change the channel of WLOV-TV West Point, Mississippi, from 16 to 26, according to an NPRM in docket 25-247.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawyer Eric Troutman on Tuesday labeled last week’s FCC Enforcement Bureau order removing 185 noncompliant voice service providers from the Robocall Mitigation Database (see 2508060041) a “massacre.” The order was “insane,” Troutman said. “This means the FCC literally just shut down 185 telecom companies with a flick of the wrist. … Short and sweet and fatal.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau delayed the filing deadline for 2025 incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) annual reports and certifications from Sept. 15 to Nov. 3. The requirements were broadly laid out in last July’s IPCS order (see 2407180039). The bureau has already delayed some IPCS compliance deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507310049). The bureau said it was acting on its own motion.
Smartphone and TV prices nosedived in the U.S. between July 2024 and last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index unadjusted data, released Tuesday. Smartphone prices were down 14.7% year over year, while TV prices fell 9%, it said. The bureau also said the cost of wireless phone service was down 0.8%, while residential phone service rose 1.5%. Prices for computers, peripherals and smart-home assistants dropped 1.8%, while the cost of cable, satellite and livestreaming TV service rose 2.2%. Internet service was down 2.4%, and video purchase/subscription/rental costs rose 2%. July prices for all items were up 2.7% year over year before seasonal adjustment.
TV broadcasters are positioning for a wave of deals in anticipation of changes to FCC limits on broadcast ownership, according to broadcasters, media brokers and recent announcements from station groups. Sinclair Broadcast announced in a release Monday that it's evaluating “all value-enhancing opportunities,” and Nexstar and Tegna are reportedly negotiating a possible deal. The rumors are likely an indication of pent-up demand but could also be aimed at mollifying shareholders, said broadcasters and media brokers.
Marcus Maher, ex-FCC Office of General Counsel, joins Commissioner Olivia Trusty's office as senior legal adviser; William Holloway, her acting legal adviser, takes that role permanently; Fatimah Brown, Space Bureau, joins as her staff assistant; Jessica Kinsey steps down as acting legal adviser … Consulting firm Kepler’s Nick Spina steps down as director of launch and regulatory affairs, plans unannounced.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau is warning Jacob Sanford of Brooklyn, New York, about pirate radio broadcasts allegedly coming from property he owns in Newark. Continuing to allow or engaging in pirate radio broadcasts could result in a fine of up to $2.45 million, the bureau said in a letter dated Friday and published in Monday's Daily Digest.