This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: September 24, 2022 to September 30, 2022

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. At its September 29 regular monthly open meeting, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to update... Continue Reading…

October Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Renewals and EEO Obligations, Quarterly Issues Programs Lists, Rulemaking Comments and More

With regulatory fees due today, September 30, 2022 (extended from September 28 because of the effects of Hurricane Ian and some other technical issues with fee payment by this FCC Public Notice, with the date for waiver requests similarly extended by this Public Notice), it is time to look ahead to October and some of... Continue Reading…

As More Political Advertising Moves Online, State Laws Provide the Regulatory Framework for Disclosures and Recordkeeping

In a recent state court decision, a King County judge in Washington State concluded that Facebook violated state political disclosure rules by not publicly providing information about the sale of political ads relating to state elections and ballot issues, as required by state law.  While there does not yet appear to be a written decision... Continue Reading…

A Closer Look at Multi-Million Dollar Proposed Fines for Program-Length Commercials in Children’s Television

We kicked off our summary of last week’s regulatory actions for broadcasters with the news of several millions of dollars in fines imposed on over 100 television stations for apparent “program-length commercials” in children’s programming.  Last week’s Notice of Apparent Liability, a unanimous decision by all four FCC Commissioners, stemmed from a Hot Wheels Super Ultimate Garage ad that was aired a total of 11 times during a Team Hot Wheels TV program which ran 8 times during November and December of 2018.  The same programming was provided by Sinclair Broadcast Group to both commonly owned stations and stations owned by other companies.   ... Read More

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: September 17, 2022 to September 23, 2022

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC’s Media Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent Liability proposing to fine licensees of over 100 television stations for... Continue Reading…

More on FCC Regulatory Fees Due on September 28 – Public Notices on Payment Procedures, Deadlines, Amounts, and Waivers

As we wrote in several of our recent weekly summaries of regulatory issues for broadcasters, the FCC released a Public Notice the week before last announcing that regulatory fees must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on September 28. This public notice set the deadline for the payment of fees established in the FCC’s Report... Continue Reading…

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: September 10, 2022 to September 16, 2022

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC released additional public notices in connection with the upcoming September 28 deadline for submission of annual regulatory fees.... Continue Reading…

Senator Rand Paul Introduces Bill to Repeal Broadcast Ownership Limits and Allow Joint Negotiations with Big Tech Companies

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has introduced a bill to repeal all broadcast ownership limitations including the radio and television local ownership rules (see the draft bill, the Local News and Broadcast Media Preservation Act, here, and the Senator’s press release, here).  As we have noted before (see, for instance, our article here), the FCC is... Continue Reading…

Don’t Forget September 15 Deadline For Broadcasters to Assure That Buyers of Program Time Are Not Foreign Governments or Their Agents

With so much focus on the upcoming regulatory fee deadline, broadcasters may well overlook another more imminent deadline – Thursday, September 15 is the deadline for broadcasters to have assured themselves that no buyer of program time on their stations is a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government.  As we wrote here,... Continue Reading…

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: September 3, 2022 to September 9, 2022

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC announced that regulatory fees must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on September 28. In addition, the... Continue Reading…

2020 Recap

2020 has been an extremely challenging year for our nation and especially our state. Many Nevada broadcasters have struggled to survive under the weight of a depressed local economy and uncertainty of the future.

Many families experienced financial and physical loss because of the pandemic. I was saddened to hear of the passing of veteran Reno news anchor and good friend Brent Boynton who succumbed to the disease in November.

To be honest, in January and February of this year, few of us knew what we would experience in 2020.

On January 30 we were thrilled to attend the ribbon cutting for Telemundo’s KBLR new 22,622 square foot media center. Congratulations to President and General Manager Ramiro Lopez!

The next day we welcomed Congresswoman Susie Lee, Henderson Mayor Debra March, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, County Commissioner Michael Naft and State Senator Scott Hammond to the grand opening of our new offices on South Eastern off the I-215.

In February a group of us traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Nevada’s Congressional Delegation and lobby on behalf of Nevada’s broadcasters. With the help of KCEP General Manager Craig Knight, we were able to convince Congressman Steven Horsford to support the Local Radio Freedom Act. With the support of Representatives Mark Amodei and Susie Lee we worked with the National Association of Broadcasters to help secure enough votes to kill a radio royalty fee which had surfaced in two different bills.

Throughout February and March, we were able to conduct 26 alternative FCC inspections (ABIP), a service we provide, free of charge, to all of our members.

And then in March, our world was turned upside down and yours as well.

We locked up our new offices and started working from home, but we ended up having one of the most productive years in the history of the Association.

Early on, we had to make the difficult decision of canceling our annual Hall of Fame Gala, along with our Northern and Southern Golf Tournaments, three events critical to the funding success of our Foundation and the Tony and Linda Bonnici Scholarship Program.

With help from our Washington D.C. lobbying team, the Porter Group, we started scheduling Zoom meetings with every member of our Congressional delegation. It was important that they heard about the plight of broadcasters and how our industry has been unselfishly serving the community with impactful outreach projects and with our own NCSA program which pushed out important messages on health and safety protocols.

By the way, thank you for donating airtime to our efforts so we could facilitate the messaging for multiple COVID campaigns. Your generosity also helps pay for our operating expenses and we are extremely grateful for our partnership!

As the year progressed, we lobbied our congressional representatives to make sure that all broadcasters were eligible for PPP loans and that federal ad dollars would be directed to local stations here in Nevada.

When the state legislature conducted its special session, we were asked by the Legislative Counsel Bureau to coordinate the access of all of the radio and television stations who wanted access to the legislative building. It was a herculean task but thanks to the cooperation of our member stations, it was a success!

The Nevada Broadcasters Association also worked hard to get a letter from Governor Sisolak and the Department of Homeland Security specifying that broadcasting was an essential business and that our members needed to conduct their normal operations while ensuring that management and employees implemented prescribed health and safety measures.

Throughout the year we conducted three separate distributions of face coverings to any radio or television station that wanted them. We also were able to provide Reno-area radio and television stations with air support surveillance from the Washoe County Sheriff’s office during a 72-hour period of unrest and violent protests.

Despite everything that’s taken place, the Nevada Broadcasters Association will finish the year in a strong place financially. We will be able to donate a portion of our net income to our Foundation to use for scholarships. This is especially critical because traditional fundraising activities were suspended in 2020.

Thank you again for your support.

Mitch

Introducing New NVBA Chairman Chris Way