■ FCC Probing LPTV Owner for ‘Unauthorized Transfers’

■ Trump Wants Kimmel Fired over Rude Comments Aimed at the First Lady

■ NFL Defends Streaming Deals in Meeting with Skeptical Trusty

■ DuJuan McCoy to Anna Gomez: Local News Rebounding in Indianapolis

■ Concerned Women for America Backs Carr on Studying TV Ratings Related to Gender Topics in Children’s Programming

■ CFTC Keeps Suing States to Shield Kalshi from Regulation

■ FCC Seeks Comment on Plan to Shift Mediacom’s Control to Rocco’s Family

■ Comments Due May 26, 2026 on Carr Plan to Onshore Call Centers

■ People: Jeffrey Lewis Retiring as Sinclair’s Chief Compliance Officer

■ Nexstar to Celebrate 30th Anniversary with ‘30 Days of Giving’

AT&T or ACP: AT&T is cutting the cost of home broadband for millions of low‑income households. The company marked the 10th anniversary of its Access from AT&T program Monday by adding a new option: A $25 monthly discount for eligible customers who choose AT&T Internet Air, its plug‑and‑play 5G home Internet service backed by the AT&T Guarantee. “This expansion using Internet Air matters because in many communities, wired home Internet is not yet available, and this gives families a new way to get online using the fast and reliable AT&T 5G network,” said Josh Goodell, AT&T’s VP of Broadband and Converged Products. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Hilton Shooter Targeted FCC’s Carr, Other Top Trump Officials at Media Dinner

■ NSR Analyst Harlalka Calls Charter, Comcast Selloff ‘Bloody Friday’

Read more

■ Charter’s Mixed Q1: Mobile Up 368,000, Broadband Down 120,000 Subs

■ GCI Liberty No Longer Has a DEI Council or DEI Executive

■ Lawyers Say Supreme Court Did Not Create ‘Loper Bright Delegation’

■ Retail Group Continues to Bash Carr’s Call for Onshoring Call Centers

■ WideOpenWest (WOW!) One Step Closer to Ownership by Japan’s SoftBank

■ Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) Probing Link Between Data Centers, Energy Bills

■ Hispanic Group Leader Wants Kalshi, Polymarket Regulated as Gambling Outfits

■ North Carolina Ready to Fund BEAD Projects

■ Shentel Shareholders Re-Elect Three Board Directors

■ Vandals Attack Verizon Fiber Network in Kalamazoo County, Michigan

■ Gigapower’s Toni Broberg Joins INCOMPAS’ Board of Directors.

Read more

■ Ohio Democrat Ready to Regulate TV Sports on Streaming Platforms

■ Comcast Lost 65,000 Broadband Sub But Added 435,000 Wireless Lines In Q1

■ FCC Grants John Malone Legal Control of GCI Liberty Despite Owning Less than 7% of the ISP

■ FCC’s Carr Concerned TV ‘Ratings Creep’ Fails to Protect Kids or Inform Parents

■ House GOP Unveils Privacy Bills Opposed by Key Democrats, Public Knowledge

■ House Amendment Would Block FCC from Approving NextNav

■ Reps. Stefanik, Gottheimer Want Better Age Verification from TikTok

TV Sports: The NFL now seems aware that its streaming deals have caught Washington’s attention. NFL officials defended the league’s long‑standing media strategy in a meeting with senior FCC staff, outlining why they believe their broadcast‑heavy model continues to serve fans even as regulators question the shift of some games to paid streaming platforms. “Since its founding, the NFL has strived to put its fans at the center of everything we do. Nowhere is that more evident than in the NFL’s media distribution strategy, which for more than 50 years has served as a foundation and catalyst for the League’s growth and popularity,” the NFL said in an April 21 letter to the FCC. In an April 17 meeting, NFL General Counsel Ted Ullyot, Executive Vice President for Media Distribution Hans Schroeder, and Executive Vice President for Communications Jeff Miller met with Greg Watson, chief of staff to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, along with senior FCC advisers. The discussion centered on Carr’s concerns about whether the NFL still needs the antitrust exemption granted under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which allows the league’s 32 teams to negotiate television deals collectively. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ AT&T Added 273,000 Fiber and 239,000 FWA Subs in First Quarter

■ Analyst Supino: FWA Location Reach Keeps Growing

■ Deutsche Telekom Looking to Merge with T-Mobile, WSJ Reports

■ NTCA Applauds Passage of Capito’s USF Accountability Bill

■ NextNav Plans to Start New Field Testing as Early as April 27

■ Wiley Attorney Warns Congress about China’s LEO Advancements

■ TDS Buying Internet/Phone-Only Granite State Communications in N.H.

■ Ezee Fiber Loses Better Business Approval over Deployment Woes Near Houston

■ NFL Visits FCC to Talk Media Deals with Streamers, WSJ Reports

■ Vyve Broadband Names Hannasch, McCormick Co-President Ahead of Sale to Cable One.

Merger: GCI Liberty, an Alaska communications company controlled by cable pioneer John Malone, is buying subsea fiber network owner Quintillion for more than $300 million in addition to a few other deal sweeteners. Grain Management, a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C., has owned Quintillion for just 26 months, a tenure that included a disastrous and prolonged subsea fiber cut in the Arctic Ocean that couldn’t be repaired for about nine months, degrading Internet and mobile service in large areas of Alaska in 2025. “The transaction will combine Quintillion’s 1,800+ miles of existing subsea and terrestrial fiber and ~1,500 miles of planned fiber expansion with GCI’s statewide network and operations, advancing GCI’s mission to deliver reliable connectivity for Alaskans,” the companies said in a press release Wednesday morning. GCI is acquiring Quintillion at a $310 million enterprise value, which combines equity and debt, minus cash on hand. Soon after signing the papers, GCI is planning to provide a $160 million unsecured loan to Quintillion. The press release did not discuss Quintillion President Mac McHale’s future with the combined entity. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Trusty Questions Need for NFL Antitrust Exemption in SBA

■ Departing CEO Tim Cook Built Apple into a $4 Trillion Colossus

■ SIA Leader Stroup Warns Congress about China’s LEO Ambitions

■ Joel Thayer Concerned about Google’s Growing Video Dominance

■ AST SpaceMobile Loses Satellite Launched by Blue Origin

■ Lawmakers Offer Bill to Update Closed Captioning Laws

■ Retailing Association Says Onshoring Call Centers Not ‘Pro-Consumer’

■ Seattle Mayor Hints at Data Center Moratorium in the City

■ Ookla: Starlink Mobile Driving D2D Growth

■ Children’s Defense Fund Enters BEAD Funding Battle in Mississippi

Retrans: Gray Media says DISH Network is illegally retransmitting one of its stations through a hotel‑TV system the company controls. In a detailed complaint filed with the FCC on April 15, Gray alleged that DISH Network is continuing to deliver the signal of WVLT‑TV (CBS) in Knoxville – and other Gray stations – through its SMARTBOX commercial distribution platform even though the companies’ retransmission‑consent agreement expired March 10. Gray says Robert J. Folliard III, the company’s senior vice president for government relations and distribution, confirmed the unauthorized carriage during a March stay at Hotel Cleo in Knoxville, where DISH provides the video service. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Nexstar to Appeal Judge’s Preliminary Injunction Halting TEGNA Deal

■ Newsmax Hopes to Gain from Decline in Trust for Legacy Media

■ Free State’s Long Has Issues with Media Bureau’s Nexstar-TEGNA Order

Read more

■ Carr Tosses Support Behind Updating 1996 Telecom Act

■ Carr to Cruz, Cantwell: Nexstar-TEGNA Merger Was By the Book

■ Scripps Needs FCC Waivers to Own Three TV Stations in Eight Markets

■ Analysts Urge Mayor Mamdani to Build Out NYC’s Public Broadband

■ LPTV 5G Datacaster Goes Live in Boston with … France 24 (in English)

■ SHLB Has Issues with Carr’s E-Rate Bidding Portal

■ Conservative Analyst: Delaware’s Dem Governor Showing the Way on Permitting

■ U.S. Space Command Worried About Russia Nuking LEOs

■ NTIA’s Adam Cassady a Step Closer to Becoming Ambassador Adam Cassady

Call Centers: A fiber broadband executive said FCC officials should refrain from regulating foreign-based customer service centers when their time could be spent on different kinds of market failure. “I think it’s best when policy makers focus on things that are imperfections in the market and not things that are someone’s desire or something,” said Ziply Fiber CEO Harold Zeitz at a USTelecom forum Thursday in Washington, D.C. “So of all the things that [FCC Chairman Brendan] Carr talked about, the one that I think makes no sense to me is that customer care one, because if I provide a great service, and I’m doing that by using whatever means I’m using, and customers love it, then hallelujah.” Ziply is owned by Montreal-based BCE Inc. (parent company of Bell Canada). Zeitz is also a USTelecom board member. Under Carr, the FCC might adopt regulations designed to encourage the onshoring of calls centers that would be staffed by call representatives “proficient in American Standard English.” (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Outkick NFL Sports Columnist: ‘America is Rooting for Brendan Carr’

■ CAR’s Daniel Suhr: 60 Minutes Aired “One‑Sided Hit Piece’ on Catholics and Iran War

■ FCC Seeks Comment on Overhauling USF Supervisor USAC

■ A3SA Leader Defends DRM in NextGen TV Standard

■ House Panel to Review Guthrie’s Satellite Licensing Bill

■ USF Reform Discussion Draft Ready in ‘Summer Timeframe,” Fischer Aide Says

■ Cablefax Violates Viscount Falkland’s Famous Warning about Unnecessary Change

TV Sports: Bipartisan support for addressing concerns about TV sports costs and inconvenient fan access is building on Capitol Hill. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis) introduced a bill Wednesday designed to address a few fan pain points in today’s TV sports programming market. She moved after Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice to probe NFL streaming deals in tandem with the league’s antitrust exemption in striking media deals. DOJ, according to the Wall Street Journal, has launched an investigation. One of two key provisions in Baldwin’s For the Fans Act would ensure that everyone in Wisconsin, by way of example, would have free TV access to Green Bay Packers games, home and away. “The Packers’ [wild card] playoff game in January against the Bears [in Chicago] was solely available on Amazon Prime for five of Wisconsin’s seven media markets,” Baldwin said in a press release that voiced concern about the rising cost of TV sports. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Big Four TV Affiliates Slam CTA, CCIA as ‘Arrogant and Simplistic’

■ Pearl TV Shows FCC Next Gen TV Converter Box Prototype

■ BNP Paribas Analyst Calls Amazon-Globalstar Deal a ‘Strategic Positive’

■ Broadband Group Urges Top House Leaders to Pass Permitting Reform Bill

■ Trusty Stresses “Universal Connectivity’ in New Orleans Speech

■ DIRECTV, Newsmax Press FCC to Reverse Nexstar-TEGNA Approval

■ Sen. Booker (D-N.J.) Wants Skydance Media’s Ellison to Testify on WBD Deal

■ Charter Concerned about Intrusive Cybersecurity Rules

■ Reliance on Free TV Surges 51% in Past Two Years

■ Disney CEO Plans to Cut 1,000 Jobs

TV Rules: Is the truce over? A new war could be breaking out between FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and ABC late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel. Carr said the agency is preparing to revisit long‑standing conflict‑of‑interest rules for broadcasters, citing concerns about undisclosed political activity by on‑air talent. In an April 14 interview with CNBC anchor Sara Eisen, Carr said many viewers were unaware that broadcasters were subject to both personal financial and personal political conflict‑of‑interest standards. “A lot of people don’t know this, but there’s conflict‑of‑interest rules that apply to broadcasters, both personal financial, but also personal political,” he said. Carr — who had a blow up with Kimmel last September over the comic’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination — did not mention Kimmel by name. But he really did not need to because of the existence of a conflict of interest complaint pending against the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (via an ABC station) at the FCC. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ CPAC Foundation to FCC: Let Markets Govern TV Sports Rights

■ Daniel Suhr: Kimmel, Colbert Fawned over Disgraced Swalwell

■ TV Vet Tom Sly: DIRECTV’s Beef with Nexstar-TEGNA Merger Really a Business Dispute

■ Carr Names ioXt Alliance (ioXt) as New Lead Administrator of U.S. Cyber Trust Mark Program

■ Bulk Billing Supported as FTC Looks at Unfair or Deceptive Rental Fees

■ Amazon Leo Unveils Aviation Antenna to Deliver 1 Gbps Speeds In Flight

■ NCTA: Memory Chips Shortage Hurting U.S. Broadband Deployment

Indy TV: Roger Penske, owner of the NTT IndyCar Series, urged the FCC to protect broadcast television’s role in delivering major sports, calling it essential to both viewers and local communities. In an April 10 letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Penske praised Carr’s recent remarks linking the availability of live sports on broadcast TV to broader civic benefits, including stronger local news, public‑service programming and charitable engagement. “The data is clear: Sports thrive on broadcast television. Protecting this ecosystem is essential for the fans, sports teams, and the local communities that depend on the strength of their local broadcast stations. I commend you for your efforts,” Penske wrote. Penske, 89, is a legend. He has won a record 20 Indianapolis 500 races as a team owner. Team Penske won at Indy for the first time in 1972. Its most recent win came in 2024 with driver Josef Newgarden. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ CPI: NFL better not lose Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 protections

■ AT&T, Verizon hammer FCC at Supreme Court over fines before trial

■ Mediacom seeks FCC approval to restructure control after Rocco’s death

■ Will Disney Sue Sling TV over new $19.99 package with ESPN?

■ Breezeline parent Cogeco not feeling the heat from Starlink

■ Ookla: millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G networks show ‘ongoing growth’

■ The Internet Society concerned about Europe’s proposed Digital Networks Act

■ Earnings Season Calendar

TV Sports: When it comes to higher TV sports cost fueled by the fragmentation of NFL media rights, the issue seems to be causing the most financial pain for a certain type of pro football fan: Someone dog loyal to a team that plays in a distant, out-of-market city. Take Ryan Kellermeyer, founder of HUDDLEMAXX who lives in Marion, Indiana and is a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. “When I ran the numbers, the year-round cost of covering every Eagles game came to $937,” Kellermeyer said in an April 10 filing with the FCC in which he slammed the Consumer Technology Association for suggesting NFL deals with Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube TV represented a functioning market that promoted consumer choice. “This is the marketplace the CTA is asking the [FCC] to leave alone,” he wrote. “The average fan needs five to six streaming services to watch a full season of one team. Not all 32 teams. One team.” (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Circle City’s McCoy Had ‘Cordial and Constructive’ Meeting with Gomez

■ Amazon Leo’s ‘Performance Will Be Stronger’ Than Starlink’s, CEO Jassy Says

■ DOJ Looking at Consumer Impact of NFL Streaming Deals

■ Anchorage Bans Data Centers in ‘Residential Zones’

■ American Consumer Institute: U.S. Needs Data Privacy Law ASAP’

■ Copper Theft Concentrated in Texas and California, NCTA Says

■ US Mobile-Starlink Bundle Stars at Promotional $47 a Month

■ Ohio AG Yost — a Republican with ‘Deep Reservations’ about Nexstar-TEGNA

■ AMC Networks Now Goes by AMC Global Media

State Drones: Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican running for Governor, is serious: He is going to shoot down drones in the act of dropping contraband items like drugs, weapons, and cell phones into state prisons. And he’s not waiting for the Trump White House to endorse his plan. Carr revealed his aggressive stance Thursday in a short video posted on YouTube. The Republican was accompanied by Grady County Sheriff Earl Prince, who has endorsed Carr for Governor. In the clip, Carr and Prince agreed as to the the public safety risks posed by drone drops and to the most practical solution: “Shoot 'em down!” Carr exclaims. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ California AG Bonta, DIRECTV Draft Tough Nexstar-TEGNA Merger Injunction for Judge to Sign

■ Nexstar Asks Judge to Allow TEGNA Cost Cuts in the $100 Million Range

Read more

■ Nexstar Lawyer to U.S. Judge: ‘We Don’t Want Local Broadcasting to End Up Like the Local Newspaper Industry Did 30 or 40 Years Ago’

■ Trump White House Insider Mike Davis Backs FCC Carr’s Deregulatory Path

■ FCC Media Bureau’s Nexstar-TEGNA Merger Order Made Right Call: Nexstar

■ Carrie Healey Joins NAB as Vice President of Communications

■ Trade Group: FCC Can’t Require English at Foreign Call Centers

■ Missouri Lawmakers Back Off from AI Bills, Fearing Loss of BEAD Money

■ Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) Blames Cable News for Capitol Hill Gridlock

Price War: Mint Mobile is pitching a cheaper bundle for home Internet and wireless service. In the media rollout, Mint used cable broadband operators as its bunching bag. If anything, Mint’s offer illustrated the growing number of pricing plans and bundles available to consumers at attractive discounts, fueled in part by light-touch regulation and spectrum allocation policies embraced by the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr.

Mint Mobile, owned by T-Mobile, said Tuesday it is launching its “Unf*! Your Bills” offer, which includes a year of 5G Home MINTernet and unlimited premium wireless for $45 a month, with no long-term contracts. If there’s a catch, this is it: The offer requires an upfront payment of $450 to cover the first year of service, plus taxes and fees. That looks like a tool to limit churn in the first year. Mint also said customers can add a second unlimited phone line for $15 a month, bringing the total to $60 a month for home Internet and two wireless lines. “Big Cable has had a pretty good run charging people whatever they want and calling it a promotion,” said Scott Venuti, general manager of Home MINTernet at Mint Mobile. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Clement Files Cruz’s FCC-Bashing Letter with D.C. Circuit

■ NCTA Fighting FCC-Imposed Must Carry for ATSC 3.0 Signals

■ DuJuan McCoy Expands Local News at WRTV-ABC in Indianapolis

■ Daniel Lyons: Cox’s SCOTUS Victory Likely Helpful to AI Systems

■ Banking Group Praises FCC Action Against Voxbeam

■ War Department Comments on FCC’s Foreign Drone Policies

■ RIP: Former Time Warner Cable Executive Joe Collins

BEAD: Rep. Doris Matsui is Capitol Hill Republicans’ favorite Democrat: Loved by all, feared by none. But Matsui has a big job – she’s the top Dem on the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, overseeing the FCC and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). So that’s why it was more than strange to see a subject matter pro like Matsui totally contradict herself in writing with regard to BEAD program implementation by NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth. Based on recent letters to Roth, Matsui has staked out legal and policy positions that did not match up. In the first letter – sent to Roth last November – Matsui was clear, saying “NTIA’s implementation of the BEAD Program violates the letter of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and ignores the intent of Congress, jeopardizing the bipartisan goal of delivering fast, reliable, and affordable Internet to everyone in America.” Matsui signed that letter along with just House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.). On March 27, Matsui, along with 18 other House Democrats, sent a completely different message, one that tossed Biden Commerce and NTIA officials like Gina Raimono, Alan Davidson, and Evan Feinman under the bus. “… The current administration appropriately modified the BEAD program by adopting a more technology-neutral approach that allowed greater competition from non-fiber operators …” Matsui wrote, though much of the letter was filled with animus toward Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink. “Appropriately modified?” Say what? Capitol Hill Democrats gave Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick unshirted hell for altering BEAD rules in June 2025 in ways that produced more than $20 billion in savings. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ CAGW analyst Alec Mena: Abolish Rural Utilities Service (RUS)

■ CWA Rallies Members to Support Title II for VoIP

■ NCTA Says as Mobile Prices Drop, Users Buy More

■ Amazon Leo Adds 29 Satellites to LEO Constellation

■ Shocker: House Democrats Actually Praise Lutnick’s New Technology-Neutral BEAD Rules

■ Is the Mob Walking Off with AT&T’s Copper Plant?

■ Optimum EVP & General Counsel Michael E. Olsen Retiring at End of 2027

MSO Shake-Up: Cable One just lost Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson. Johnson’s departure – disclosed in an April 2 filing with the SEC a day before a stock market holiday – came less than two months since the arrival of new CEO Jim Holanda, who is attempting to reverse debt-heavy Cable One’s multiyear financial and operational slide. Johnson’s departure is effective May 1, 2025. Cable One’s phraseology seemed awkward: “Cable One, Inc. (the “Company”) determined that Kenneth E. Johnson would step down …” But the SEC filing did have the customary disclaimer about internal conflicts. “Mr. Johnson’s transition is not as a result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies and practices, including any matters concerning the Company’s controls or any financial or accounting-related matters or disclosures,” Cable One said. In 2025, Cable One lost 56,100 broadband subs, dipping below the psychologically important 1 million level. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ Veteran Journalist Harry Jessell: Nexstar Merger Good for Broadcasting

■ FCC Hammers Voxbeam with $4.5 Million Robocall Fine/NAL

■ T-Mobile to Eat Netflix’s 12.5% Rate Hike on Standard+Ads Plan

■ Massachusetts to Spend $28.5 million to Hand out Free Laptops, Tablets

■ SpaceX to FCC: Amazon Leo Satellites Risking Space Collisions

■ LPTV Group Requests FCC Exemption from ATSC 1.0 Sunset Mandate

■ WSJ Editorial: Congress ‘Might’ Consider Changes to NFL Antitrust Exemption

■ Maine Close to Becoming First State to Pause Data Center Builds

■ West Va. Gov. Morrisey Signs Bill Regulating Crypto ATMs

Indy: DuJuan McCoy wants a sit-down with Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez. McCoy, president and CEO of Circle City Broadcasting, just paid $83 million to buy the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis. After closing on the deal Tuesday, McCoy initiated a round of layoffs at his newly acquired station, generating a backlash on social media fueled by posts from reporters who were let go and by a McCoy-critical columnist for the Indianapolis Star (IndyStar), the city’s major newspaper. Gomez chimed in as well, saying April 1 in a snarky X post: “As history has shown, local broadcaster consolidation does not lead to more local journalism. Instead, it leads to less local news through journalist layoffs. We can expect more of this if the unlawful Nexstar-TEGNA merger is allowed to move forward.” [Gomez was reacting to an X post by journalist Matthew Keys, “a [former] web producer and network site administrator for KTXL FOX40, a Sacramento television station,” who was “sentenced [in 2016] to two years in prison for inciting, assisting, and conducting a weeks-long campaign of online attacks against FOX40 and The Los Angeles Times,” according to a Department of Justice press release.] McCoy, who wants to be known as a fighter in the sense made famous by Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech in 1910, was unhappy with Gomez’s post and wrote her to say so. McCoy told Policyband said he “vehemently disagreed with Anna Gomez’s post.” He said he “sent Gomez an invitation to a meeting to discuss her posts along with pertinent information regarding” his WRTV deal. (More after paywall)

Read more

■ As Circle City Begins Layoffs at Newly Acquired ABC Station in Indianapolis, FCC Democrat Gomez Posts Gloating, Told-You-So Reaction

■ Sinclair Executives Urge FCC to Dig Deeper into TV Sports Issues

■ NTCA CEO Romano Says Some Telecom Act Reforms “Don’t Pencil Out’

■ Amazon Opens Two Operations Facilities in West Virginia

■ U.S. Chamber Leader Urges Congress to Pass Permitting Reform

■ Analyst: 25% of NFL Broadcast Revenue Comes from Amazon, YouTube TV and Netflix

■ Amazon in Talks to Acquire Globalstar, FT Reports

■ Judge Provides Call-In Number to Hear Nexstar Arguments on April 7

■ Grain Says It Closed on Sale of Hunter to Oak Hill Capital

NY ABA: Benton Institute researcher Caroline Stratton said New York can’t yet measure the reach of the five-year-old Affordable Broadband Act. Stratton, who holds a Ph.D. in information studies from the University of Texas, analyzed Internet service provider compliance reports filed with the New York Public Service Commission and found that enrollment data was too incomplete to determine how many households were using low-cost ABA Internet access plans for eligible low-income households. “How many households subscribe to New York state ABA plans? We cannot say,” Stratton said in an April 1 report. There’s a good reasons for this result: Stratton got her hands on a partial data set. Major New York ISPs such as Charter, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Optimum filed their ABA enrollment data confidentially. Comcast – which as about 33,133 New York locations, according to Stratton – reported just 326 ABA enrollees.

Read more

■ Cruz, Cantwell Share ‘Process’ Concerns about FCC Approval of Nexstar-TEGNA Merger

■ Nexstar Says Judge Created a ‘Governance Vacuum’ with TEGNA TRO

■ KeyBanc Analyst Nispel: New AT&T OneConnect Plan Aimed at Cable’s Mobile Strength

■ Amazon Leo, Delta Airlines Announce Wi-Fi Partnership

■ Sen. Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Concerned about Big Tech Data Center Risk Concealment

■ Colorado AG Weiser (D) Makes Highly Suspect Claim About Nexstar-TEGNA Merger

■ WSJ Editors Urge Ergen to Honor Debts to Cell Tower Builders

■ Scripps Closes $83 Million Sale of ABC Station in Indianapolis to Circle City Broadcasting

■ AI Bills on Hold in Louisiana over BEAD-Funding Threats

Drones: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is seeking new ideas on ways to boost U.S. drone dominance. Carr visited Anduril Industries’ Texas test site Tuesday with CEO Brian Schmipf and COO Matt Grimm to watch demonstrations of drone and counter-drone systems. The visit came as the FCC said it is working with U.S. drone companies to carry out President Trump’s strategy for “American drone dominance.”

Today, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology are expected to issue a Public Notice seeking comment on regulatory and spectrum changes the agency could adopt to strengthen U.S. drone technology, manufacturing, and operations.

“President Trump has been clear that the Administration will act to secure our airspace and unleash American drone dominance,” Carr said, calling drone production, deployment, and exports “core elements of U.S. national security, technological sovereignty, and global competitiveness.” (More after paywall)

Read more