The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the FCC’s top-four prohibition and its extension to low-power TV stations and multicast streams but upheld the agency’s other broadcast ownership rules in a unanimous three-judge decision Wednesday on the 2018 quadrennial review.
The FCC approved Skydance’s $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global in a 2-1 vote, said a release late Thursday. In a statement released with the order, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr praised Skydance for making written commitments “to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum” and “measures that can root out the bias that has undermined trust in the national news media.” Skydance has committed to not establishing diversity programs, hiring an ombudsman to evaluate bias at the company, and working closely with its network affiliates, said the FCC release. Commissioner Anna Gomez dissented from the order. “After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions,” she said in her own statement. “In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom,” Gomez said. “Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law.” Despite condemning the arrangement, Gomez praised Carr for bringing the matter to a full commission vote. “Granting approval behind closed doors, under the cover of bureaucratic process, would have been an inappropriate way to shield this Administration’s coordinated campaign to censor speech, control narratives, and silence dissent.” According to the order, the news distortion proceeding against CBS stemming from a Center of American Rights (CAR) complaint remains open. “Our action today does not pre-judge or in any way prejudice any actions we may take in that proceeding,” the order said. “We note that the matter has not been set for hearing and CAR has not alleged that CBS or its parent are unfit to hold Commission licenses.” CAR instead asked the FCC to require CBS to release a transcript of its interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris and commit to viewpoint diversity, the order said. “CBS/Skydance has done both.”
Opponents of NAB’s petition for a mandatory transition to ATSC 3.0 pressed their case with aides to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty in a meeting last week, according to an ex parte filing Monday. The Consumer Technology Association, Public Knowledge, cable trade groups and the LPTV Broadcasters Association said the FCC shouldn’t require a nationwide shift to ATSC 3.0. “If broadcasters are concerned about market demand for ATSC 3.0 tuners, they need to do their part in consumer education and promotion rather than seeking a technology mandate,” said the filing. “Stakeholders representing all aspects of the television ecosystem do not support NAB’s proposal. This Administration has prioritized regulatory reduction, and it would be counterproductive to adopt new mandates that decrease flexibility and increase costs.”
Pearl TV and the broadcast members of the ATSC 3.0 Security Authority (A3SA) are using encryption standards to box out independent device makers, and those standards should be made public, said DVR gateway device maker SiliconDust in an FCC filing Tuesday. It responded to a Pearl TV submission last week that attacked SiliconDust’s HDHomeRun device as containing parts from a company affiliated with Chinese chipmaker Huawei (see 2507180047). The FCC rules against including Huawei technology don’t apply to devices like the HDHomeRun because it doesn’t originate voice, data, graphics or video telecommunications, SiliconDust said. The company “does not provide sensitive technology to Chinese companies. The insinuation by Pearl is shameful.”
Coconut Creek, Florida, urged the FCC to take additional steps to make next-generation 911 more accessible to people with disabilities. The city's comments were posted Tuesday (docket 21-479) in response to a Further NPRM that commissioners approved 4-0 in March (see 2503270042). “Existing NG911 systems fail to adequately support the nearly one in four Americans living with disabilities, including those with speech and hearing impairments, or the approximately 2-3 million Americans who use sign language as their primary form of communication,” it said. To address gaps, “we fully support the proposed enhancements to NG911 services, including integrating text, video, and multimedia capabilities and adopting sign language accessible communication methods such as video relay services.”
Advanced Technologies & Services filed in support Monday of a recent petition from FailSafe, which asked the FCC to find that its T911 product is in the public interest and providers should be allowed to recover the cost of adopting the technology. “T911 is clearly in the public interest because it will save lives,” Advanced Technologies, a T911 distributor, said in docket 21-479. “The idea of re-purposing Intelligent Signaling Networks to save lives is a new way for [providers] to make money in an industry where it is increasingly difficult to do so, particularly for smaller players.”
The number of unserved and underserved broadband locations in the U.S. has dropped 65% over the past 31 months, according to New York Law School's Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute. ACLP said Tuesday that states' BEAD maps -- which have been updated over the past six weeks, as NTIA directed -- show a 14% drop in eligible locations. The latest maps reflect updated FCC data, including newly served locations, Rural Deployment Opportunity Fund defaults, the addition of unlicensed fixed wireless service, and additional enforceable commitments from other funding programs. There are now about 4.2 million eligible unserved and underserved locations, ACLP said. Eligible locations dropped by about 663,000 since states released post-BEAD challenge data, a 14% decrease. The total number of eligible unserved and underserved locations has fallen by about 7.7 million since December 2022, when BEAD funding was allocated.
Aura Network Systems filed additional comments saying it agrees with the goals of an FCC NPRM (see 2505190053) that explores opening the 450 MHz band “to aeronautical command and control operations” for drones. “The 450 MHz band can be leveraged to offer services at a variety of altitudes to aircraft with a variety of concepts of operation,” the company said this week in docket 24-629. It noted that needs differ for drone operators. “Flights involving larger aircraft that occur in controlled airspace have the greatest need for robust connectivity to support flight safety and regularity,” while small drones “that operate below 400 feet have lower safety needs and may only require intermittent connectivity, which can potentially be served by existing terrestrial networks.”
Oxio on Tuesday defended its pursuit of a waiver of the FCC’s numbering assignment rules so it can offer “a new, innovative hybrid” wireless service in the U.S. The FCC Wireline Bureau last month sought comment on Oxio’s petition (see 2506050043). Replies were due Tuesday in docket 13-97. Oxio said in its waiver petition that it serves 2 million customer lines in other countries and hopes to bring the technology to the U.S.
Gogo Business Aviation discussed with the FCC its reservations about a proposal to launch a voluntary, negotiation-based process to transition 10 MHz in the 900 MHz band to broadband (see 2506170070). The plan could mean interference for Gogo’s air-to-ground (ATG) receivers in the adjacent 894-896 MHz band, the company said in a meeting with Wireless Bureau staff.