The Consumer Technology Association and other groups are urging the FCC not to approve rules that could overcomplicate the approval of wireless devices by test facilities. The FCC is considering new rules for telecommunications certification bodies (TCBs) in response to a May Further NPRM that was part of the agency’s focus on “bad labs” (see 2505220056). Commenters warn that overly prescriptive rules could harm U.S. competitiveness.
Nexstar agreed to purchase Tegna in a $6.2 billion deal that could receive regulatory approval only if the national ownership cap is relaxed or eliminated, Nexstar said in a news release and conference call Tuesday. If the deal is consummated, Nexstar would control 265 TV stations, become the largest owner of affiliates for "all four of the biggest networks, and reach 80% of U.S. households. The current rule caps audience reach for a single station owner at 39%, but the FCC has a proceeding that will possibly change the cap. Reply comments in the proceeding are due in docket 17-318 Friday. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said he doesn't “want to presume where [FCC Chairman Brendan Carr] will come out in his national ownership proceeding” but also that Nexstar feels “very, very positive about moving forward to the regulatory approval process.”
SpaceX is seeking FCC OK to significantly rejigger the configuration of its first-generation Starlink satellites. In a Space Bureau application submitted Friday, the company said it wanted to boost the number of planes and satellites per plane for the approved 4,408 first-gen satellites. It added that the new configuration would let it more efficiently deploy broadband coverage and capacity to meet customer demand.
ATSC 3.0 isn’t being widely used by consumers because it uses digital rights management encryption, said two YouTube broadcast influencers in a presentation to FCC Media Bureau staff -- including acting Chief Erin Boone -- last week, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 16-142. Tyler Kleinle of the Antennaman YouTube channel and Lon Seidman of the Lon.TV YouTube channel have advocated against DRM in ATSC 3.0 with a number of online campaigns (see 2307130057) that have led to hundreds of consumer filings in the 3.0 docket. “The cost of complying with opaque, private regulations imposed on device manufacturers by the A3SA (ATSC 3.0 Security Authority) has resulted in market gatekeeping that significantly limits consumer choice,” said the filing. “ATSC 3.0 requires both an expensive 'NextGen TV' certification AND an equally expensive A3SA certification in order to tune live television,” the fillings said. This leads to expensive ATSC 3.0 tuners and a lack of competition, the filing said. Kleinle manufactures a low-cost 1.0 tuning device for optimizing antennas, but doing so for 3.0 would be cost-prohibitive, the filing said. “The best outcome would be to remove the private, opaque NextGenTV & A3SA regulations and allow device manufacturers to make TV tuners the same way they’ve been making them for the last two decades by self certifying their compliance,” the filing said. “If a device doesn’t work, the market will respond appropriately.”
Opponents of 5G Broadcast haven’t shown that HC2’s proposal to allow low-power TV stations to broadcast in the standard is inconsistent with the public interest, said HC2 in a meeting last week with Media Bureau acting Chief Erin Boone, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 16-142. Critics, which include NAB and Sinclair Broadcast, "have not submitted any substantive interference information into the record and have merely alleged concerns about interference,” the filing said. Interference concerns about 5G broadcast “have been fully refuted by the technical showings” of HC2 and others, the filing said. The FCC should “move forward expeditiously” to issue an NPRM on HC2’s proposal, the filing said.
The FCC Media Bureau has reached a consent decree with Sinclair Broadcast-associated Cunningham Broadcasting over children’s programming violations related to Hot Wheels toys, according to an order released Friday. As with other recent settlements connected with those violations (see 2507180066), Cunningham won’t pay a penalty and will have its licenses renewed. The previous FCC approved a $140,000 forfeiture against the broadcaster, which Cunningham had appealed. The FCC reached a $500,000 settlement in June with Sinclair, which had faced a $2.6 million penalty over the same incident (see 2506300064). All the violations involved were connected to multiple airings of an ad for Hot Wheels toys during a Hot Wheels-themed TV program.
The FCC would likely be able to do little to block state laws regulating AI, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Monday. “Case law suggests that where the FCC does not have authority to regulate, it does not have the authority to preempt the states from regulating,” Levin wrote.
Small wireless provider OptimERA disputed the Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition (ARCC)'s comments about the denial of its application to serve as an eligible telecom carrier in Alaska. In a filing posted Monday in docket 23-328, the carrier disputed ARCC's claim that the application was denied because it “was too speculative and conditioned upon too many uncertain factors,” saying the Alaska regulator left open OptimERA’s status.
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition said the FCC should reject a proposal by Axon Networks' 6 GHz automated frequency coordination system to take building entry loss into account for 6 GHz composite standard power/low-power indoor devices. Axon sought a waiver last month, citing Office of Engineering and Technology actions in similar cases (see 2505200016).
FCC bureaus and offices agreed to allow the withdrawal of various petitions filed by Warren Havens and companies he controlled before his death in 2023. The court-appointed receiver for the companies and administrator of his estate sought the withdrawals across more than 20 dockets. Havens was well known in FCC circles for the many filings he made on spectrum issues.