TVNewsCheck

Former Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition (EOBC) and spectrum sales advocate Preston Padden called on the Federal Communications Commission to “immediately end” the commission’s “quiet period” that prohibited communication among incentive auction participants in order to avoid collusion. Among the quiet period rules are requiring applicants to say nothing beyond the fact that they did or did not file an initial application to participate in the auction, and to not reveal the existence of any channel-sharing agreements.

Padden gave as his reasons for this request:

• Because all auction bidding by broadcasters has concluded.
• Because it would harm no party, could materially expedite the post-auction transition and could give broadcasters more time to construct their new facilities, the should permit 100% voluntary temporary channel sharing.
• Because it would harm no party and could materially expedite the post- auction transition, the commission should make available to any interested party all commission tools and data that could help to identify stations that present a “bottleneck” to the transition.”

[Commentary] Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said the other day that the auction “delivered on its ambitious promise.” That’s quite a stretch by any measure. The final numbers of $18.3 billion for 70 MHz of spectrum is miles away from the commission’s talk when this all started back in 2010.

[Commentary] Whoever President-elect Donald Trump appoints to head the Federal Communications Commission, broadcasters figure they should be in much better shape than they have been with the outgoing Chairman Tom Wheeler, who provided no relief on the out-of-date ownership restrictions. With Wheeler's departure, the Republicans will suddenly have a 2-1 majority, a three-person quorum necessary to do business and the power to set the agenda that comes with the chairmanship.

[Commentary] Can you believe this? A year ago, the Federal Communications Commission teased broadcasters with prospective incentive auction opening bids for TV stations ranging from $900 million to $1.2 million. Now, going into Stage 4, with the money broadcasters want and what wireless carriers are willing to pay far, far apart, there's a possibility the whole enterprise may come to naught. If so, the wireless industry should be made to reimburse the FCC for the millions (tens of millions?) of dollars that the agency has spent creating, designing and executing the auction over the past seven years.

Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker addressed the possibility that the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum incentive auction may fail in a note to investors. “The technical definition of auction failure is concluding Stage 9 (42 MHz cleared/ 20 MHz sold) with the Final Stage Rule still having not been met,” she wrote. “According to our math, we are still quite a ways away from this potential outcome. But with the forward auction going backwards in the two most recent stages, we did feel it time to gauge what might happen to our stocks should the previously unthinkable become our reality.” Her overall conclusions:

• We consider a failed auction more of a disappointment than a thesis changer for our broadcast stocks especially in light of a Republican administration.
• Of the three broadcasters most 'exposed' to the auction, we view Sinclair Broadcast Group as the healthiest regardless and would view Tribune Co. as having the most potential downside risk to its stock price. (Media General is in the middle).
• We particularly like Dish Network's scarcity value.
• We think Comcast's risk/reward profile might actually go UP.

Republicans who generally oppose regulation seem likely to take charge at the Federal Communications Commission. That alone could mean the end of rules designed to protect privacy and individual choice on the Internet. Those rules were enacted over the past several years under the Obama Administration.

The emergence of Jeffrey A. Eisenach, a long-time Washington telecommunications policy insider and economist who favors free markets, as head of President-elect Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission transition team — and as a leading candidate for the agency’s chairmanship — has raised broadcast industry hopes that the agency will shift onto a more deregulatory course.

Eisenach, 58, is well known in communications policy circles. He has served as a consultant to the National Association of Broadcasters and the Walt Disney Co., writing detailed economic reports supporting their positions on the incentive auction, retransmission consent and ownership deregulation. Eisenach has also been called in by NCTA–The Internet & Television Association on telephone issues, said Brian Dietz, an NCTA spokesman. “Over the past several years, NCTA occasionally engaged Jeffrey Eisenach’s firm for economic studies on different policy issues. He has deep experience on technology policy and competition issues and we’ve always welcomed his thoughts and analysis.” NAB President Gordon Smith calls him a "smart choice" for the Trump transition.

Dear Commissioner Pai:
A major theme of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign was “to make America safe again,” and a fundamental component of keeping the public out of harm’s way is delivery of timely emergency communications that blanket a city, region or even the entire nation to warn of impending danger. Traditionally, television and radio broadcasters have played critical roles in disseminating lifesaving information, warning those in the path of tornados to take shelter, avoid certain areas during flash flooding or whether to evacuate their homes and businesses as hurricanes bear down on coastal regions. ATSC 3.0, the next-generation television standard that awaits rulemaking, offers never-before-available capabilities to serve the public’s interest in times of emergency.

[Commentary] There may be no better way to get a handle on how Donald John Trump will govern than to see who he appoints to replace Tom Wheeler as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Will he appoint a chairman that will eschew new regulations and cut down existing ones? Or will he choose someone who will make good on Candidate Trump's oft-stated desire to bring "mainstream media" to heel?

[Commentary] As president, [Donald Trump] would be in position to use government agencies to constrain media and to harass and punish individual media companies that offended him during his campaign or that too aggressively cover his administration. Broadcasting and cable are especially vulnerable because their businesses are directly and heavily regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. One of the things we have learned from the Obama Administration is that the notion that the FCC is independent of the White House is a joke. See network neutrality.

Trump wouldn't be the first to abuse the office in such a way. Lyndon Johnson and especially Richard Nixon were adept at using government power to pressure the networks and their affiliates. During the height of Watergate, Nixon threatened the Washington Post's TV licenses. There are a lot of reasons to support or not support a candidate for president. For broadcasters, I think, this is a big one. They have an obligation to preserve and protect the First Amendment as it preserves and protects them.