Tag: FCC
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The FCC Chair Has “Serious Concerns” About The Sinclair & Tribune Merger
Last year Sinclair agreed to buy Tribune Broadcasting, which would give Sinclair ownership of Tribune’s locals and WGN America. The deal has faced strong scrutiny by Congress, the FCC, and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Now it is being reported that the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pais said he has “serious concerns.” “The evidence…
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Station Owners Ask The FCC To Increase National Ownership Cap to 50%
Currently, local TV station owners cannot own more than 39% of TV market in the United States. Recently Sinclair is changing that in an attempt to buy Tribune but it looks like they may have some help from other station owners. Today in a filing with the FCC Hearst Television, Scripps Media, Raycom Media, Gray Television,…
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The FCC is Asking eBay & Amazon to Crack Down on “Kodi Boxes”
Today the FCC has asked both Amazon and eBay to stop selling bogus pay-TV set-top boxes. These boxes in public are often known as “Kodi Boxes” and are packed full of 3rd party Kodi add-ons that give free access to movies and TV shows. (Please note the team behind Kodi are not the ones making…
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Sinclair Plans to Sell a Dozen OTA TV Stations to Minority Owners to Close Tribune Deal
Last year Sinclair agreed to buy Tribune Broadcasting, which would give Sinclair ownership of Tribune’s locals and WGN America. The deal has faced strong scrutiny by Congress, the FCC, and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Now Sinclair has proposed new terms in an effort to satisfy the government agencies that are overseeing the deal. According…
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This Website Will Help You Find Out if Your Local OTA Channel is Moving Soon
You may have heard that your local station is getting ready to move to a new channel number. For many Americans that is true and you will need to rescan or you will lose your local. A few years ago the FCC started the process of selling over the air TV spectrum. This sale meant…
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The FCC Approves SpaceX’s Plan For 1 Gbps Satellite Internet
Today in 1 5-0 vote the FCC approve SpaceX’s plan to offer 1 Gbps internet via satellite. This effort comes from Elon Musk, who plans to build a fleet of orbiting devices to blanket the globe with wireless broadband. Unlike current satellite internet, these devices will be in a far lower orbit and offer far faster…
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Congress Wants to Create a National Broadband Access Standard
Recently a bipartisan bill called the Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Act of 2018 was introduced by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.). This bill would determine whether mobile and broadband in rural areas is “reasonably comparable” to services in urban areas. T “While progress has been made, too many rural areas continue to…
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The FCC Is About to Release $2 Billion for Rural Broadband
Last week, the FCC took the final steps in a plan to release $2 billion in federal funding for new broadband infrastructure in rural areas. This plan is called the Connect America Fund II, and its goal is to subsidize work in underserviced areas. These areas are picked by the FCC, and companies will be…
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The FCC Just Made It Easier For Google Fiber to Expand
For years Google Fiber has fought to expand their internet services into new markets. Sadly they have been slowed by existing providers blocking access to poles. This has greatly impacted Google’s ability to expand their fiber internet service. Now an FCC Committee has handed Google Fiber, and other internet providers who want to expand, a…
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The FCC Decided Not to Redefine “Broadband Internet”
Recently there was great concern that the FCC would lower the definition of broadband internet from 25 Mbps down to the old standard of 10 Mbps. This week the FCC said it would not redefine broadband. This means that internet providers must offer 25 Mbps down if they want it to be considered broadband. “This…