Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. Lawsuits added since the last update are marked with an *.
NEW YORK -- 2025 isn't a “cliff” for the broadcast TV industry despite falling retransmission consent revenue, ad sales declines and growing streaming competition, said executives at the NAB Show New York Wednesday. “We're not at the cliff,” said Nexstar President-Broadcast Andy Alford. “I think 2025 is going to have its challenges,” but “there is lots of opportunity for 2025 to be a good year." Said CBS News and Stations President Jennifer Mitchell during a TV NewsCheck-hosted panel, “Despite year-over-year declines heading into 2025 there is a lot of optimism.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith disagreed with Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis Monday about the FCC’s authority to require disclosures on political ads created with generative AI. During a Federalist Society virtual discussion, Carr and Smith said the FCC was stepping onto the FEC’s turf and going beyond the intent of statutes giving the agency regulatory power on political ads. However, Lewis said the FCC effort would be complementary to FEC rules. “If we don't have these rules, it is critically important that those who are critical of them come up with solutions to solve this threat,” Lewis said.
China-based Hikvision USA provided the FCC with additional information about its proposed plan for compliance with agency rules (see 2308070047). Questions were posed during an August meeting with staff from the FCC Public Safety Bureau, Office of Engineering and Office of General Counsel, said a filing this week in docket 21-232. “Hikvision does not market, sell, or distribute component parts to the U.S. market,” the company said: “Nor does it intentionally make available Hikvision-manufactured component parts for inclusion in products marketed, sold, or distributed in the United States.” Hikvision said Hangzhou Hikvision Technology “or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates, such as Ezviz or HikRobot, contracts directly” with original equipment manufacturers. It’s Hikvision’s understanding “that the OEM entity will apply for and obtain the applicable equipment authorization from the Commission,” the filing said.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. Lawsuits added since the last update are marked with an *.
Summit Ridge, the 3.45 GHz Clearinghouse, told the FCC it’s still waiting for NBCUniversal to complete its “relocation activity” and submit final invoices. “Total Clearinghouse costs and clearing costs are running very close to their original estimated costs,” Summit Ridge said in a report filed Monday in docket 19-348. “However, due to costs that the Clearinghouse will incur while it continues its operations, the longer the Clearinghouse exists in operations, the less likely it is that the Clearinghouse will be able to stay within its initial budget,” the firm said. Summit Ridge made similar points in its last quarterly report in July (see 2407030063).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau released on Monday data on traceback records requested from the Traceback Consortium on artificial or prerecorded voice calls where the consortium “identified an originating, gateway, or non-responsive provider.” The data covers April 1 to June 30 and lists hundreds of incidents. It doesn’t include records “where (1) the legality of the relevant call was disputed by the provider and resolved by the Traceback Consortium in favor of the provider; (2) the traceback was initiated in error; (3) the terminating provider could not identify the relevant call; or (4) the Traceback Consortium determined the call was untraceable,” the EB said.
FCC commissioners on Thursday approved an order expanding the range of accessibility features that must be included in videoconferencing platforms (see 2409040053). In addition, multiple commissioners at the open meeting said allowing non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service downlinks in the 17.2-17.8 GHz bandwidth should be a sizable boon to U.S. competitiveness in commercial space.
The California Public Utilities Commission again delayed voting on allowing people without social security numbers to apply for state LifeLine support (docket R.20-02-008). Staff pushed the item to the Oct. 17 meeting, said a hold list released Tuesday. The CPUC postponed the vote twice before; it was originally on the Aug. 22 meeting’s agenda. The last revised draft responded to various privacy concerns (see 2409120047). The CPUC still plans to vote Thursday on federally funded last-mile broadband grants and adopting rules for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment program.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.