Top Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee are pressing FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to provide information on future spectrum auction opportunities, as well policy reforms that could be needed to ensure auction rules maximize spectrum use and further next-generation technologies.

In asking for the information, ranking member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune (R-S.D.) pointed out that under her leadership, and that of her Republican predecessor, the Federal Communications Commission had auctioned hundreds of MHz of valuable spectrum for 5G — that includes C-band and 3.45-GHz spectrum.

They pointed out that the FCC‘s authority to conduct those and any future auctions expires September 30 and wanted to know what would happen if that authority were not extended.

The senators sought answers to the following questions:

“Please respond to the following questions to help inform our deliberations:

1.) “Congress has granted frequency-specific, extended statutory authority for auctions to the FCC in some instances. Please detail the specific auction authority the FCC will retain after the expiration of the general auction authority.

2.) “What spectrum auctions are pending or in the rulemaking process? When will those auctions be completed?

3.) “What statutory tools, beyond auction authority, do you believe would improve the FCC’s ability to make additional spectrum available for auction in the future?“

4.) “What specific frequencies, if any, do you believe are good candidates for auction that the FCC does not currently have the authority to conduct following the September 2022 expiration date?

5.) “What policy reforms can be made to spectrum auction rules to promote international competitiveness, maximize spectrum use efficiency, and foster the rapid deployment of next-generation technologies?” ■

WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency's unwinding of TV-station joint sales agreements (JSAs) as part of merger decisions does not violate the language of Congress's legislation providing a 10-year grandfather of any JSAs that existed before the FCC's March 2014 decision to make them attributable as ownership interests.

That came in an FCC oversight hearing before the House Communications Subcommittee, during which Republicans raked the Democratic FCC chairman over the coals, saying the agency had ignored that statute, which had no exceptions for JSAs that changed hands as part of station sales.

Wheeler argued to House Appropriation Committee members at a hearing last week that when licenses change hands, the FCC treats such transactions as the sunsetting of the old license and a granting of a new license to the purchasing party.

Under that interpretation, which he has said goes back several decades, the JSAs become new arrangements, and are thus subject to the March 2014 decision that they are ownership interests — and must be unwound if they violate local ownership rules.

Wheeler did not get a chance to repeat that explanation as he was peppered with requests for yes or no answers from Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.). Wheeler answered no when Long asked if the FCC JSA unwindings violated the language of the statute or circumvented the law.

Long had prefaced his peppering with the point that JSAs in his state had allowed for the purchase of life-saving weather radar.

But Long was far from the only Republican on the panel to probe him on the JSA decision, which also drew a letter from Senate Democrats and Republicans earlier this month also accusing the FCC of circumventing the legislation and the intent of Congress.

Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) began the hearing by saying he was concerned about the unwound JSAs, and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) even related it to the general political “revolt brewing” against government out in the country.

When the people see agencies disregard duly passed statutes, Shimkus said, that contributes to the frustration and “revolt.”

Shimkus said the bill was not ambiguous, and allowed for no exceptions. He said he was surprised and shocked to find the dissolution of "legitimate" JSAs via merger reviews.

Commissioner Ajit Pai agreed that the FCC was circumventing the law, but not with the surprise. Asked by Shimkis to comment, he said it was “paradigmatic of the agency's disrespect for the rule of law.” He said the FCC had "thumbed its nose" at the statute, including unwinding an Entravision Communications JSA in his home state of Kansas that provided the only Spanish-language news, and which the FCC had assured him would not be affected by the March 2014 order.

Again, Wheeler’s argument is that existing JSAs aren’t affected, only new ones struck since March of 2014, and any JSA involving stations that changed hands since March 2014 is considered new. 

Fox News is adjusting its coverage and hosting of the first Republican presidential debate to accommodate the historically large field of candidates, which could be 17 by the Aug. 6 debate date.

Fox and Facebook are teaming on that primetime debate for the top 10 polling candidates, but Fox is also providing an "undercard" debate -- preceding the main event -- featuring the balance of the candidates.

Just yesterday, Fox relaxed its requirement for participation in that second (chronologically first) debate among the non-top 10 pollers to make sure all the candidates had a forum. Initially, it was requiring polling at least 1%.

Fox News at first planned to air the "undercard debate" in the afternoon of Aug. 6 between 1 and 3 p.m., but later decided to move it to 5-6 p.m. to have it be closer to the primetime debate -- making it more of a debate event package -- and as a lead-in to Special Report with Bret Baier.

Fox will also use some video from the early debate in the main event coverage, so those second-tier candidates will get primetime exposure.

“As we noted when we first announced the debate criteria, our intention has always been to provide coverage to the wide field of Republican candidates," Fox News EVP Michael Clemente said when announcing the second debate.

The pre-debate debate will be hosted by Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum.