Hello and welcome back to the NVBA Washington Update. With plenty of changes afoot in Washington, we’ll use these updates to get you up to speed on what’s happening in the telecom world and what’s driving the agenda in the nation’s capital.
It should come as no surprise that healthcare and the GOP’s repeal and replacement of Obamacare is sucking up most of the policymaking oxygen in DC.…
NV Broadcasters on Capitol Hill
Nevada’s Broadcasters Attend NAB, State Leadership,
Meetings with Nevada Congressional Delegation
Washington, D.C.
February 27-March2, 2017
Mary Beth Sewald/Adam Sandler
The Nevada delegation of broadcasters is home following the annual Washington, D.C. trip to fly the flag on behalf of the NVBA and its members.
It was an exceptionally productive trip this year, as our team met, not only with the Nevada Congressional Delegation,…
FCC Approves Expansion of Use of FM Translators By AM Stations – But Warns Broadcasters Not to Jump the Gun and File Before New Rules Become Effective
As we wrote last week, the FCC approved the expanded use of FM translators by AM stations – allowing their use anywhere within a 25-mile radius of their AM transmitter site, or within the 2 mv/m contour of the AM station – whichever is greater. The current rule restricts that will be replaced limit FM translator use to the lesser of the 2 mv/m contour or the 25-mile radius for the AM station.…
Hall of Fame Nominations are Now Open
Nominations are opened from 3/1/17 through 4/30/17
To be nominated a person must have worked at least 20 years in the broadcasting industry, with 5 of those years being in Nevada. Nominees can come from any field in the broadcasting industry from administration, traffic, engineering, building support, sales, promotions, etc.
Click on the image below to download a fillable PDF nomination form.…
Broadcasters Gear Up for Trump’s First Address to Congress
Courtesy of www.adweek.com/tvnewser/
by A.J. Katz
The broadcast, cable and streaming news networks are set to provide in-depth, live coverage of Pres. Donald Trump‘s first address to the joint session of the Congress on Tuesday night. Here are their coverage plans.
Click HERE for the full article…
Repack Fever Could Lead to Tower Over-Loading or Stations Going Dark
Courtesy of www.insidetowers.com
Meintel, Sgrignoli, and Wallace (MSW) is putting numbers to potential scenarios that can affect public radio FMs co-located with TV stations expected to be impacted by the channel repack following the incentive auction. The Public Radio Satellite System published a report commissioned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on the repack so public radio stations can see what they’re likely to encounter and plan ahead.…
FCC Approves For the First Time 100% Foreign Ownership of US Broadcast Stations
The FCC yesterday released its first decision approving 100% foreign ownership of a group of US broadcast stations. This comes after significant relaxation of the FCC’s interpretation of the foreign ownership limits which, less than 4 years ago, had been interpreted to effectively prohibit foreign ownership of more than 25% of a company controlling broadcast licensees (see our article here about the 2013 decision to relax the restrictive policy).…
FCC Asks for Formal Comments on Next-Generation of Television, and Approves Greater Use of FM Translators By AM Stations
At its meeting yesterday, the FCC took two big actions affecting broadcasters. First, it approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking looking to adopt a transition plan for television broadcasters to move to the new ATSC 3.0 standard. The Commission apparently took the general actions previewed in its draft order released earlier this month, though additional questions were said to have been teed up for public comment in the final version of the NPRM.…
NAB’s Smith discusses FCC’s Pai, the future of television
Communicators with Gordon Smith National Association of Broadcasters president Gordon Smith talked about the future of television as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) entered the final round of spectrum auctions and as a new FCC Chair Ajit Paiunder weighs changes to the communications landscape. Other topics included media ownership rules, radio royalties, media mergers, and what he hoped the 115th Congress would do. …
Pai Endorses Radio, FM Chips
By Paul McLane
RadioWorld.com
In one of his first public appearances as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai delivered a ringing endorsement of radio as a “social, local, mobile and vital” medium. But he put the quash on any slim hopes the industry might have held that he would support a mandated FM chip in smartphones.
Speaking to a group of about 70 North American broadcast leaders in a conference room at the National Association of Broadcasters headquarters in Washington,…
Spectrum Auction to Close March 30
Courtesy of Broadcasting&Cable.com
By John Eggerton
The FCC’s broadcast incentive auction will close for good on March 30.
In a public notice Tuesday, the FCC said it will start the assignment-phase auction March 6, 2017. And in this auction, there is a definite end date—March 30.
The clock-phase of the broadcast incentive auction began May 31, 2016, with broadcasters first offering up spectrum at an exit price in the reverse portion and wireless companies bidding for that spectrum in the forward portion.…
What’s Up for Broadcasters in Washington Under the New Administration – A Look Ahead at TV and Radio FCC Issues for the Rest of 2017
A new President and a new Chair of the FCC have already demonstrated that change is in the air in Washington. Already we’ve seen Chairman Pai lead the FCC to abolish the requirement that broadcasters maintain letters from the public about station operations in their public file (which will take effect once the Paperwork Reduction Act analysis is finalized),…
