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Inside Radio October 17, 2018   Supporters of a performance royalty on AM/FM radio have said they’ll work to make life difficult for broadcasters until the industry begins paying the fee. The latest evidence that strategy is still part of the playbook comes from the Federal Communications Commission, where the musicFirst Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition have asked the agency to reject any requests for deregulation until the royalty issue is settled. While the two issues may seem disconnected, the groups said radio consolidation has already led to a “homogenization” of AM/FM radio playlists, meaning listeners “now hear a substantially less diverse swath of artists and recordings than before consolidation.” The comments were filed as part of the FCC’s proceeding ( MB Docket No. 18-227) examining the state of the audio marketplace. Under a law passed earlier this year, the Commission is required to submit reports to Capitol Hill in every even-numbered year on the state of competition in the audio services market, including how traditional AM/FM radio stacks up against newer audio services such as satellite radio and streaming services. The first report to lawmakers is due by the end of December. MusicFirst and the Future of Music Coalition said even as new digital services grow their listener base, AM/FM radio still accounts for a “substantial percentage” of the listening done today, especially in cars. At the same time it said broadcasters enjoy a “significant competitive advantage” over every other audio delivery platform because AM/FM radio is currently exempt from paying royalties for on-air use of sound recordings. “Considering the fact that AM/FM radio has not lost a substantial number of listeners, the competitive advantages that owners of large numbers of radio stations enjoy, and the public interest in protecting smaller broadcasters from reduced competition, we strongly urge the Commission to refrain from loosening the local radio station ownership caps in its upcoming quadrennial review,” the two groups told the FCC in a filing. The two groups want that message included in the report that the FCC delivers to Congress, a move that could give ammunition to their allies who are expected to continue to push for a performance royalty. “AM/FM radio already enjoys a competitive advantage over their audio competitors—they don’t pay music creators while every other platform playing sound recordings does,” said Chris Israel, musicFirst’s executive director. “Congress’ unanimous passage of the Music Modernization Act demonstrates that updating old laws, leveling playing fields and fairly compensating music creators will win the day over anti-competitive practices.” It’s not the first time musicFirst has waded into the debate over media ownership rules. Two years ago it publicly thanked then-FCC chair Tom Wheeler for rejecting calls to roll back radio ownership rules, including cross-ownership limits. FCC Urged To Stay On Sidelines Through the years the FCC has remained on the sidelines in the performance royalty fight. The National Association of Broadcasters thinks it should stay there. In response to the music industry’s efforts to ensnare the FCC in the battle, the NAB has urged the Commission to rebuff the attempt to become involved in the decades-long debate. The NAB said it recognizes the “frustration” felt by the record labels, but added that isn’t reason enough for the FCC to weigh in on a legislative matter outside its “regulatory jurisdiction and expertise.” Recognizing the Commission may not take that advice, the NAB also offered a list of reasons why it believes the music industry is misrepresenting the current situation. That includes the FCC directly. The NAB explained that copyright law may treat different audio outlets differently, but terrestrial radio stations have other costs and burdens online companies don’t face. That includes buying an FCC-issued license, complying with dozens of FCC rules, participating in the Emergency Alert System, proving they serve the community every eight years during license renewal, all while charging no subscription fees. “Given these significant costs borne by terrestrial broadcasters but not by internet-based audio providers, current differences in copyright law do not result in AM/FM stations having a ‘huge’ (or perhaps any) competitive advantage and are not a valid reason for the FCC to retain radio ownership caps adopted in the analog era, as the Coalitions contend,” the NAB said in a filing. The NAB also took on the idea that competition within radio is lacking, noting there are more than 4,700 owners in radio today with more stations on the air than when the 1996 Telecom Act was passed. It also challenged the music industry’s argument that further consolidation would hurt small broadcasters, pointing out that several small groups have explicitly asked the FCC to relax the current limits that they find outdated. The message from broadcasters as the FCC has taken stock of the audio marketplace has largely been focused on how much things have changed for radio in recent years, although the introduction of the performance royalty issue will likely bring some pushback in the coming days. It’s not yet clear just how big the FCC’s appetite for deregulation of the radio industry really is. Audio Division chief Albert Shuldiner said many in radio may be “getting out a little bit ahead” of where the Commission itself is on potential revisions to media ownership rules. “We’re at the early stages of this,” he told the Radio Show last month. Shuldiner said one broadcaster was so convinced that the Commission would greenlight changes proposed by the NAB that they tried to get a deal approved by proposing that a waiver be issued in the meantime. “As you can imagine, we told them not to bother and that was something we were not going to even entertain,” he said, telling broadcasters, “You have to stand by and see where we come out on this.”

Bob Fernandez The Philadelphia Inquirer The countdown has begun: NBC10 and Telemundo62, both owned by Comcast Corp. through NBCUniversal, are relocating to the 12th, 13th, and 14th floors of the $1.5 billion new Comcast tower, leaving their legacy studios in Bala Cynwyd. That means news anchors and control-room crews are doing double duty, as they broadcast on-air for the Philadelphia TV audience in Bala Cynwyd and rehearse off-air in studios at the new Com cast Technology Center in Center City. About 150 employees will work out of the new studios and newsroom in Center City, at 18th and Arch Streets, with NBC10 and Telemundo62 broadcasting out of separate studios on the 13th floor. They’re easily the highest television newsroom in Philadelphia. Fifty or so employees will still work out of the Bala Cynwyd offices. NBC10 and Telemundo will store and manage their 40 news trucks and vehicles there. Ric Harris, president and general manager for NBC10 and Telemundo62, declined to give an exact date when the two stations would go live from the new location, but he promised it would be “this fall.” He excitedly talked about how the old studios had been refurbished and reconfigured over the decades. CBS or NBC has continually broadcast from those studios under the call letters WCAU since 1952. The new studios allow for efficient work flow for a modern TV station. Construction delays have pushed back the opening of Comcast Technology Center by about a year. The 60-floor tower, about a block from the Comcast Center, will house Comcast product and development teams, the two Comcast-owned television stations and a Four Seasons Hotel. The hotel is expected to open in mid-2019. On a Wednesday walk-around with Harris, the NBC10 and Telemundo62 operations looked about 80 percent ready, with two news studios mostly complete. Athird “auxiliary” studio is still unfinished. There were LG computer screens flickering and control rooms blinking with video feeds. In other areas, there were unopened boxes. Perhaps the most noticeable change for NBC10 viewers will be the vivid backdrop for the news anchors: a 20-foot by 10-foot 4K video screen with live images of the Philadelphia skyline from the aquarium in Camden. 4K is four times the resolution of high-definition televisions. During the tour, you could see the water rippling on the Delaware River on the 4K screen. “No one has it,” Harris said of the 4K screen. “This is not a market first, this is an industry first.” The studio will be roughly the same size as the one in Bala Cynwyd with areas for traffic reports, weather and the news anchors. Morning anchor Tracy Davidson said there would be more cameras and more monitors, plus windows. The Bala Cynwyd studios have no windows. As for modern conveniences off-camera, women can breast feed in privacy in a “mother’s room.” Male or female employees can find alone time in a “quiet room,” but mostly employees are expected to collaborate and interact in the open-space floor plan. The Comcast Technology Center — including the three floors with the television studios — comes with 28 plug-and-play “broadcast service panels” for news or camera crews to immediately go live with TV video. “We could do for employees or we could push it out to the public,” Harris said of broadcasts in the new tower. Bill Baldini, a former NBC10 reporter who worked out of the Bala Cynwyd office for 44 years before he retired in 2007, said relocating the NBC10 news studios and operations will be a trade-off for employees. “It’s Comcast’s move,” said Baldini. “The convenience of City Line Avenue was great, fantastic. When people became employed, they moved into Narberth, Ardmore, Drexel Hill, Havertown.” Parking and the city wage tax are two big issues for employees relocating to Center City from Bala Cynwyd, Baldini said. Also, “time will be the worst thing. A lot of people will be late for work in a snowstorm,” he said. Davidson said she would take public transportation — both the Comcast Center and the Comcast Technology Center can be accessed through Suburban Station —but the trains don’t run in the middle of the night when she has to be there. NBC10 said in a statement that the stations “are providing a stipend to employees who have to work from our new facility and as a result, pay the city wage tax. The stipend is based on employee’s residential address to help offset taxes as well as commuter costs” such as public transit and parking. Many things can go wrong with a new studio, NBC10 and Telemundo62 officials say. The lighting might be bad or the new control room software could go wrong. So the rehearsals over the last month are important, though they can complicate employee lives. On Thursday, Davidson’s shift began at 2:30 a.m. in Bala Cynwyd, with her prepping for the 4, 5and 6 a.m. news shows. At about 8 a.m., she called for a car 30-minute drive downtown, recalling “I talked to my Uber driver about how he liked Gritty.” Meeting up with the rest of the NBC10 morning crew at the Com-cast Technology Center, Davidson and the others did a one-hour rehearsal at 9a.m. of anews show — a dry run — to get everything right. “It’s a real-time start and real-time commercial breaks,” she said, “just as we would on-air.”

For the last two weeks, after a long and rainy summer break, the Pennsylvania General Assembly was back in Harrisburg to wrap up their two year session  before  heading  back to their districts for re-election battles. The top issues on the docket were relief for sexual abuse victims in light of the Attorney General’s report into the Catholic Church, whether by special fund or revision of statute of limitations, as well as limiting the size of the General Assembly. So far, the legislature has been  unable to come to a consensus on the  former issue and the latter issue was shelved for another session after a poison pill amendment was added to the vehicle to reduce both chambers not just the House.   They go home empty handed with the  House returning on October 9th for three session days and both chambers returning on the 15th for their final three session days before the November 6th election. Of note, President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati introduced a bill that would provide for semi-open primary elections in Pennsylvania, allowing registered Independents to cast a ballot for either Republicans or Democrats. While he has no plans to pass the bill in the current session, Scarnati is serious in his effort to reign in the extremes of partisan politics and bring compromising moderates back from near extinction. In addition to open primaries, Senator Folmer recently held a hearing of the Senate State Government Committee to examine at a bill that would establish the Pennsylvania Election Law Advisory Board, leading to an environment that is ripe for a serious discussion about moving the Pennsylvania Primary to an earlier date. Ben Dannels Greenlee Partners, LLC

The Pennsylvania General Assembly, after enjoying their first real summer in six years, is slated to come back to Harrisburg to continue their legislative session in September. With only nine days on the schedule, the House and Senate are expected to work on issues that have evaded passage the last year and a half, with hopes to get them over the finish line before the end of the legislative session. As summer turns to fall, the election season will undoubtedly ramp up, as the entire House, half of the Senate and the Governor’s Office are up for grabs. On October 1 st, Governor Wolf and former State Senator Scott Wagner will square off in their only debate of the election cycle at the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce Dinner, with Jeopardy star Alex Trebek as the moderator. Ben Dannels Greenlee Partners

At issue is who gets to control the location of antennas for 5G. Philadelphia Inquirer, September 27, 2018 By Bob Fernandez STAFF WRITER Verizon and AT&T won big at the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday as the agency voted to make it easier and cheaper to place 800,000 small antennas for super-fast 5G services on utility poles, traffic lights, sidewalks, and other public areas. Philadelphia; Santa Barbara, Calif., and other municipalities have blasted the new rules as subsidies to profitable wireless companies through low fees and mandated quick response times for 5G antenna applications that will flood local government offices. A top Philadelphia official said Wednesday that the financial impact from the FCC’s action “could be substantial.” The boxy 5G equipment sprouts five-foot antennas on poles or buildings. They will proliferate like weeds throughout the nation over the next decade. “The rhetoric is that towns want to hold up this new network,” John Davis, the manager at Doylestown Borough in Bucks County, which spent about $150,000 fighting 5G antennas proposed there, said Wednesday. “And that’s not so at all.” Pennsylvania and other state governments also have passed, or are considering, wireless-friendly legislation to help the companies upgrade their networks with the use of public rights-of-way. Introduced this summer, proposed Pennsylvania legislation would strip local towns of much of their zoning authority over small-cell antenna placements in public rights-of-way. The measure would be another blow to local towns that would like to retain control over the antennas when they are proposed for historic districts, in neighborhoods without utility poles, or in front of residential homes. The new FCC rules do not diminish local zoning authority over placement of the antennas but instead set deadlines for towns to process applications and fees. FCC officials warned that local red tape and exorbitant fees would slow 5G for years and cost billions of dollars as town officials look at the antennas as revenue sources. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the prime backer of the new federal rules, said Wednesday that the favorable treatment for wireless companies was “about economic leadership for the next decade. Those are the stakes.” Carr compared the potential of 5G to the innovation related to the current 4G wireless network that unleashed the “app economy” and services such as Uber and Lyft in recent years. He also warned that the U.S. was losing out to China in developing a 5G network and that the nation had to close the gap. Wireless firms and their infrastructure providers, such as Crown Castle, are expected to install the antennas over the next decade in the next wave of wireless-technology upgrades, leading to driverless cars, internet-of-things devices that will automate daily life, and high-speed wireless broadband services to compete with Comcast Corp. and other cable companies. “At the FCC, we’re working hard to ensure that the United States leads the world in developing this next generation of wireless connectivity so that American consumers and our nation’s economy enjoy the immense benefits that 5G will bring,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. FCC rules force a shot clock on towns, making them respond to wireless companies requests for 5G antennas within 60 days. They also have a deadline of 90 days for new utility poles with 5G antennas. The rules set $270 annual fees for each antenna or pole and a $500 application fee per antenna, though this can be slashed if a wireless company seeks antennas in batches, or multiple ones at the same time, according to the FCC website on Wednesday. Verizon was pleased. “Today’s action by the Federal Communications Commission to accelerate small-cell deployment is another critical step toward making our nation’s 5G future a reality, sooner than later,” said Nicola Palmer, Verizon’s head of wireless networks. The “order will significantly boost 5G deployment by adopting common-sense guidelines, modeled on state legislation, that reduce the time and cost of small-cell deployments while accounting for legitimate local interests,” Palmer added. “We would like to thank the FCC for demonstrating vision and determination … as we enter the 5G age.” Philadelphia wasn’t so ebullient. “Today’s actions by the FCC ignore longstanding local authority to manage the public rights-of-way. The city has agreements in place for service providers to pay up to $3,000 per year per site with a 3 percent annual escalator, consistent with city ordinance. To incentivize development, the fee starts at $3,000 but falls to $250 to reflect economies of scale,” Michael Carroll, the city’s deputy managing director for transportation, said Wednesday after the FCC vote. “Today, the FCC declared that service providers should be charged a flat annual fee of $270 per site, leaving the city’s existing agreements and ordinance subject to judicial challenge,” Carroll added. “The financial impact to the city could be substantial.” Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo said in aletter filed with the FCC that the rules “effectively give access to public property to for-profit companies to install their equipment and to sell their private services, while limiting the ability of jurisdictions to recover their costs through the collection of rents and fees for the use of their public right-of-way.” The new FCC rules make it impossible for towns to do what Doylestown Borough officials have done over the last year: force Crown Castle to pay the borough what they consider appropriate fees for the use of the public rights-of-way. When Doylestown finally settled with Crown Castle in July, the borough won the right to reduce the number of poles as well as camouflage and relocate some of them. It also won a 5 percent share of the revenues for the services Verizon or other companies sell through some of those Crown Castle small cells and $750 a year for other antennas. The Doylestown deal with Crown Castle — which will lease the small-cell antennas to Verizon and other wireless carriers — should be grandfathered, thus not jeopardized by the new FCC rules, Davis said. But other towns will miss out on a similar lucrative deal.

Philadelphia Inquirer, September 15, 2018 By Bob Fernandez STAFF WRITER Entercom Communications Corp. CEO David Field says the radio giant’s retooling is over and now revenues are projected to grow for the first time since the CBS Radio deal closed in late 2017. “We have accomplished essentially everything we set out to accomplish and we are extremely happy with what we have been able to do to date,” Field said in a recent interview with the Inquirer and Daily News. Field, 55, declined to comment on what he called the “worst-kept secret” in the region — Entercom’s plans to relocate its headquarters and broadcast studios to one location in Philadelphia. Entercom, which owns 235 radio stations nationwide, is based in Bala Cynwyd, and its local CBS Radio studios are scattered throughout the city and the suburbs. “We are big believers in the city and we want to be part of it,” Field added. People should “stay tuned,” he said. Controlled by the Field family for decades, Entercom has gone largely unnoticed in the local media and the Philadelphia business community because of a portfolio of radio stations in mid-sized and smaller cities. But CBS Radio catapulted Field and Entercom into big-time radio, adding Philly stations KYW, WIP, WOGL, WPHT, and WTDY, in addition to CBS Radio stations in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, to its holdings. (Enter-com also bought the independently owned WBEB in Philadelphia this year.) Dressed in a green-striped shirt and blue khakis, Field was bullish on radio and Entercom/CBS Radio, even as he made dramatic changes while Wall Street punished the company’s stock. Entercom stock is down 30 percent this year. Shares closed down 5 cents, at $7.65 on Friday. Seeking to energize the company, Enter-com replaced 17 of the 48 Entercom/CBS Radio market managers around the United States, reformatted seven stations to boost ratings, and launched both a new app and the Entercom Radio Network, with Proctor & Gamble, Walgreens, and Indeed.com as advertisers. It was “the proverbial ‘the bus is going 100 miles an hour and you are changing the tires,’ ” Field said. In addition, Entercom reached deals to sell surplus property in Los Angeles and Chicago, and is preparing to close on the sale of eight radio stations to the Mormon Church-controlled Bonneville International Corp. The divestiture was required by antitrust attorneys at the U.S. Justice Department as part of the approval for Entercom to acquire CBS Radio. The property and Bonneville deals are expected to generate $200 million in after-tax cash for debt reduction. Entercom says that it expects to easily comply with loan covenants on almost $1.9 billion in debt. The real headache for Field and Enter-com from CBS Radio this year was with Malvern-based United States Traffic Network. USTN sold advertising around traffic alerts for CBS Radio stations. USTN then funneled some of its revenue back to CBS Radio — later Entercom. But USTN stopped paying its share of the traffic-related advertising in late 2017 because of problems with its own business. Entercom ended the contract with USTN this summer and has said it will do its is own traffic updates and sell the traffic-related advertising, which means it doesn’t have to share it with another company. USTN recently disclosed it was shutting down its radio-traffic new business, leading to more than 100 job losses in Chester County. “We just got dealt a couple bad cards and I think we played it pretty well,” Field said of USTN. Field evangelized about the potential for local news and sports radio stations, with personalities such as Angelo Cataldi connecting with local audiences. “We just think that radio is at its best when it’s local. Here’s a perfect example. Tonight. If I am driving to the game tonight I don’t care if I am listening to music. I want somebody to talk about how it is so damn humid and when is this going to change? And oh, by the way, how fired up are you about the Eagles game tonight?” Field added, “I don’t want to hear someone from, you know, Wisconsin, talking about something generic.”

Pillsbury CommLawCenter August 29, 2018   Many thought the broadcast incentive auction was the most complex task ever undertaken by the FCC, but the ten-phase spectrum repack following the auction is running a close second.  The TV stations being repacked in Phase 1 are serving as the pioneers of the repack process, and since they must complete the transition to their post-repack channel by November 30, 2018, the applicable deadlines are coming at a fast and furious pace. The process of repacking these Phase 1 stations has led to lots of questions, and in an effort to answer at least some of them, the FCC released a Public Notice this week discussing a variety of details for stations completing the repack.  Since Phase 1 will be the template for all subsequent phases, all stations being repacked should review the Public Notice with an eye toward discerning their obligations and timely meeting the various milestones. The Public Notice also reminds transitioning stations that they can, where necessary, seek authority from the FCC to go silent, operate with alternate facilities or reduced power, remain on their pre-transition channels for a period of time, or commence early operations on their post-transition channels.  All of these require filing for Special Temporary Authority and obtaining Commission consent in advance.  While such flexibility will be useful for stations facing unusual repack obstacles, such stations must be sure to schedule adequate time to request and secure Special Temporary Authority from the Commission, lest they find themselves in the uncomfortable position of being forced to violate either the FCC’s repack requirements or the FCC’s operating rules (or being forced off the air entirely). While the Public Notice provides various ground rules for stations, it also provides a lot of densely packed information on the procedures stations must follow during the repack.  To assist stations, we have consolidated that information below in a concise format that will hopefully make it easier to follow.  While the dates will obviously be different for stations assigned to other phases of the repack, the information below provides a good overview of the path that all repacked stations must navigate during their own repack phase. Note that the information below assumes that a station will not terminate operations on its pre-transition channel until the last day of the phase (November 30, in the case of Phase 1 stations).  Stations transitioning before that time will need to adjust the other various dates accordingly. The Public Notice makes clear that between September 14, 2018 and November 30, 2018, Phase 1 stations may test their equipment/signal and commence operating on their new channel pursuant to program test authority.  The testing phase, however, is strictly for testing, and does not permit stations to simulcast content on both their pre-transition and post-transition channels.  Broadcasters should be aware that some stations’ construction permits do not grant them automatic program test authority (e.g., stations transitioning to Channel 14), so those stations must build extra time into their schedules to request and obtain such authority. Finally, the Public Notice indicates that linked stations cannot simply test their own equipment and commence operations on their post-transition channel as they choose.  They must coordinate with the other stations in their phase with which they are linked by interference concerns. The schedule for Phase 1 stations is as follows: September 1, 2018 Last day to provide notice of channel change to MVPDs. Any stations granted additional time or flexibility to transition by the FCC must provide MVPDs with this notice 90 days prior to commencing operation on their post-transition channel.  Stations should also review their construction permits for individual notice requirements.  For example, a station must provide notice of its channel change to health care facilities in its service area an “ample time before commencing operation” on its new channel, and some stations may be required to give notice to nearby AM stations, as discussed in more detail in the Public Notice. September 4, 2018 Last day to request 180-day Construction Permit Extension on Form 2100, Schedule 337. Stations may request one extension of up to 180 days in which to complete construction of their new facility.  An extension application must include an exhibit demonstrating circumstances that, despite all reasonable efforts by the station, were either unforeseeable or beyond the station’s control. September 14, 2018 Testing Period begins. September 21, 2018 File Transition Progress Report on Form 2100, Schedule 387. Transitioning stations must file a transition progress report ten weeks before the end of their assigned construction deadline. October 1, 2018 Deadline for channel-sharing repacked stations to file a minor modification application. Applications must specify the host’s post-auction channel and the parameters of the sharee’s facility. October 10, 2018 File Quarterly Transition Progress Report on Form 2100, Schedule 387.  Transitioning stations must file a transition progress report on the tenth day following each calendar quarter, providing information regarding the steps taken during the previous quarter to construct facilities for its new channel and end operations on its current channel.  This obligation ceases when a station has completed its transition and has filed a final report with the FCC indicating that fact. November 1, 2018 Last day to commence consumer notifications of channel change. Any stations granted additional time or flexibility by the FCC must provide viewers with this notice 30 days prior to commencing operations on their post-transition channel. November 30, 2018 Last day to operate on pre-auction channel absent FCC consent. December 5, 2018 Last day to file “Pre-Auction Termination” Transition Progress Report on Form 2100, Schedule 387. Any stations that terminate operations on their pre-auction channel earlier than November 30 must file this report within 5 days of terminating operations on their pre-auction channel. December 10, 2018 Last day to file “Construction Completion” Transition Progress Report on Form 2100, Schedule 387. Any stations that complete construction earlier (including before September 14, 2018) must file this report within 10 days of completion of all construction-related work. December 10, 2018 Last day to file License to Cover Application on FCC Form 2100, Schedule B (full power) or Schedule F (Class A). Any stations that commence program test operations earlier than November 30 must file this application within 10 days of commencing program test operations. December 30, 2018 Last day to file certification of compliance with viewer notification obligations. Any stations that complete their transitions earlier than November 30 must place these certifications in the public file within 30 days of completing the transition. Considering the variety of notices, reports, applications, and certifications involved in the repack process, and how tightly interwoven the associated deadlines are, stations should not dally in finalizing their repack plans.  One missed deadline can quickly cascade into multiple missed deadlines, severely undercutting a station’s prospects for achieving a successful repack.

Soundboard Video Update This month, we review the nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Alert System (WEA) on September 20, as well as broadcast details on the statewide gubernatorial debate scheduled for October 1st. Joe also shares some important PAB member updates, including upcoming webinars and other benefits to becoming a member of the PAB. If you haven’t done so already, take a look our website to see all the benefits to PAB Membership! Become a PAB Member

Pillsbury CommLaw Center By Lauren Lynch Flick and Warren Kessler August 20, 2018 Full Story The FCC and FEMA have established September 20, 2018 as the date for the next nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).  The nationwide test is designed to study the effectiveness of the EAS and to monitor the performance of EAS participants.  The Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system will be tested immediately prior to the test of the EAS.  The FCC and FEMA have designated October 3, 2018 as the back-up date should circumstances prevent testing on September 20. While the test itself is a month away, all EAS participants must file their Form One with the FCC by August 27, 2018 in preparation for the test.  To make this filing, EAS participants must log in to the EAS Test Reporting System using an FCC Username Account.  Those filers who do not already have an account can register for one in the FCC’s updated CORES system.  Once a username account is set up, it will need to be associated with a licensee’s FCC Registration Number (FRN) before the user can draft or file forms for that licensee’s station(s).  Many filers struggled to successfully register in past years, but those who participated in the annual test in 2017 should already be registered. Form One requests information about a station’s transmitter location, EAS equipment, and the stations it is assigned to monitor.  For most EAS participants, this information will prefill from last year’s Form One (so be particularly careful reviewing it if your monitoring assignments, equipment, or something else has changed since last year).  Stations will also see an instruction to file a separate Form One for each encoder, decoder or combination unit.  Most broadcasters will likely have a combination unit and therefore only need to file a single Form One.  However, there may be situations where multiple filings are needed, for example where a cluster of co-owned radio stations share a studio but have to employ separate encoders and decoders to deal with stations in the group having different monitoring assignments. As in the past, after the test is completed, participants must report the results of the test by filing Form Two, which requests abbreviated “day of test” data, and then Form Three, which collects more detailed data about the station’s performance. Filing Deadlines: Form One must be filed on or before August 27, 2018. Form Two (“day of test” data) must be filed by 11:59 PM (EDT) on September 20, 2018. Form Three must be filed on or before November 5, 2018. Additional Requirements To prepare for the test, the FCC recommends that EAS participants review the EAS Operating Handbook and be sure that it is available at normal duty positions or EAS equipment locations, and is otherwise readily accessible to employees responsible for managing EAS actions. Participants should also use this time to ensure their facilities are in a state of “operational readiness.”  Operators should confirm that their EAS equipment has any necessary software and firmware upgrades and that it is capable of receiving the various test codes.  If not automatic, operators must also manually set their EAS equipment to the “official time” as established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  Each of these issues has been a significant cause of stations being unable to receive or transmit past tests. Finally, the person filing for each station should verify that they have the right username, password, and licensee FRN in advance of the filing deadline.  Experience from the the past two national tests revealed that many stations were caught off guard not by the test itself, but by their inability to access the ETRS to make required filings, often because of confusion surrounding how to log in. Summer break notwithstanding, this is one test that broadcasters should study for ahead of time.

Inside Radio August 21, 2018   After losing its largest radio client on July 30, United States Traffic Network has begun to inform employees of plans to wind down its radio traffic services division. According to sources, the company expects to deliver its final radio traffic reports for advertisers this Friday (Aug. 24) and final traffic data to radio affiliates two weeks later on Sept. 7. Services to the company’s TV clients will continue uninterrupted. The network’s radio sellers were informed of the latest chapter in the saga of the financially struggling company during a conference call on Monday. Radio sellers were told their last day would be Aug. 3. In what’s being described as an orderly wind-down of the radio division, a total of about 130 employees will eventually be affected. USTN’s reporters and sellers are expected to be released from their non-compete agreements, making them free to seek employment elsewhere. For radio sales people, that date is Aug. 31 and Sept. 7 for radio anchors. Some radio employees will be shuttled over to USTN’s TV division. The decision comes three weeks after USTN had a very public falling out with Entercom, which severed ties with the Malvern, PA-based company over millions of dollars in unpaid bills. Sources say the radio division was unable to recover from the loss of its largest radio client and couldn’t meet advertiser needs without Entercom’s business. After Entercom abruptly ended its relationship with USTN, the traffic reseller was forced to reschedule close to 10,000 spots in a matter of days. The end of the partnership with Entercom came after USTN filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Texas, against the broadcaster, claiming that Entercom was in talks to buy USTN, bailed on the deal, severed its relationship with the company and used trade secrets it gained from USTN to develop a competing service to launch in fourth quarter. The radio division shutdown will affect hundreds of radio stations owned by Cumulus Media, Emmis, Cox, Hubbard and numerous smaller players that relied on USTN in some of their markets. During its second quarter results call on Monday, Cumulus said it took a nearly $5 million revenue hit from USTN. Later in the day, Cumulus said it had signed a new multi-year partnership that will make Total Traffic & Weather Network (TTWN) its exclusive provider of traffic content. During its second quarter results call on Aug. 8, Entercom said it took a $12 million revenue hit from financial problems at USTN. Entercom, which relied on USTN to resell their short-form traffic ad inventory, is bringing traffic in house. Prior to losing Entercom, USTN counted 1,100 radio and TV station affiliates.

Philadelphia Inquirer August 17, 2018 By Bob Fernandez STAFF WRITER Television officials say that people should be prepared for “rescan days” with their TV remotes. For the second time in a decade, the federal government and television broadcasters are messing with over-the-air television signals, this time to make available wireless capacity for smart phones. A decade ago, the entire TV industry switched to digital signals from analog, a heavily advertised and national program called the DTV transition. But this time, about half of U.S. television stations are relocating their frequencies in a repacking of the wireless spectrum that officially kicks off next month and stretches through mid-2020. Television officials say that people should be prepared for “rescan days” with their TV remotes — which means they rescan their televisions, or reprogram on the day of the frequency switch — so that they won’t lose television reception. About 550,000 households in the Philadelphia TV market still tune in to over-the-air television. Nationwide, the number is 77 million. This older TV technology has grown in popularity in recent years with cord-cutters as millennials and boomers package free over-the-air television with streaming services for their entertainment, skipping cable and satellite. “We’re concerned that people might think there is something wrong with their televisions,” said Steve Gardner, an official with the National Association of Broadcasters. He added that people won’t need new equipment as they did a decade ago when the government mandated that television broadcasters switch from analog to digital signals. Gardner and others emphasize that cable- or satellite-TV customers, including those with Verizon Fios TV, don’t have to rescan their televisions. Their TV signals come over cable or satellite. The spectrum repack was triggered by an auction of wireless spectrum, run by the Federal Communications Commission, that enabled television broadcasters to sell some wireless spectrum to wireless companies in 2017. The auction raised $19.8 billion. Comcast, T-Mobile and other telecom companies were among those that acquired the spectrum. But this also forced about half the nation’s television stations to relocate their frequencies. Nineteen Philadelphia TV stations, among them CBS, NBC and Fox, will find a new place in the TV ether. To stay tuned in to their networks, people with over-the-air television sets will have to “rescan” their digital televisions with their remotes to lock in to the new frequencies, TV officials say. Some public-interest, religious and Spanish-language television stations in the Philadelphia area have already shifted their frequencies. These include Univision 65, Telemundo 62, New Jersey’s WNJT, and PBS39. Because it will share spectrum with another television station and because it was mandated by the FCC, PBS39 in Bethlehem made the frequency switch last month — or before the official kickoff of the repack program next month. “We were prepared for the worst and it never really happened,” said Jim Macdonald, PBS39’s director of marketing. PBS39 televised public service announcements and informed viewers of the frequency change, with the need to rescan their televisions, about a month before the switch. PBS39 also produced a three-minute step-by-step video on how to rescan for TV signals at the time of the frequency changes. Macdonald estimated that about a dozen viewers called, emailed or contacted PBS39 through social media about the frequency change. Because of a shortage of TV rigs that can replace the transmission equipment for television stations, the frequency changes are staggered throughout the nation. About a dozen television-installation crews are responsible for the national program and they will work on several stations at one time in particular TV markets. “There are not a ton of crews doing this,” Gardner said. “It’s highly technical and it’s not something that has a lot of longterm demand.” Most of the Philadelphia-area television stations that haven’t already switched frequencies will do so between June 22 and Aug. 2, 2019. It’s during this period when people will have to rescan their televisions, with buttons on their remotes. They are CBS3, NBC 10, NJTV, Son-Life Broadcasting Network 25, ION Media Networks 61, CW Television Network 57, WPSJ, WQAV, FOX 29, WDPB and Uni-Mas 28. The last station to change frequencies will be WHYY between March 14 and May 1, 2020. bob.fernandez@phillynews.com 215-854-5897 @bobfernandez1

We are thrilled to share with you the first ever Pennsylvania Broadcasters Economic Impact Study!  We have been working with the talented team at ParkerPhillips, who spent a great deal of time meeting with our member stations to properly understand and measure our collective community impact.  The data analysis presented in this report is evidence that the broadcasting industry is a significant driver to the Pennsylvania economy, as well as a critical connection between Pennsylvanians and local charities, communities, cultural experiences and more.   This report was made possible through the work of member stations in over 15 different markets throughout the Commonwealth.  We are extremely grateful for their time and effort in helping us to paint a comprehensive picture of the broadcasting industry in Pennsylvania.  We hope you enjoy reading the report. You can view the full report here: Enhancing Communities Delivering Trust Generating Impact -PAB 2018 Report Here are some top line highlights: