This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: March 13 to March 17, 2023
Posted On: March 19, 2023Here 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. Continue Reading…
Two Million Dollar Fine for Pirate Radio – Don’t Cross the Commission Again After You’ve Been Caught Once, Especially as More Enforcement Appears to be on the Way
Posted On: March 17, 2023This week, the FCC released two Notices of Apparent Liability proposing to impose big fines on two pirate radio operators. Using the enforcement tools – particularly the higher fines – authorized by the PIRATE Act passed by Congress in 2020, the FCC proposed a to impose a fine of $2,316,034 on one alleged operator of... Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: March 6 to March 10, 2023
Posted On: March 12, 2023Here 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. Continue Reading…
March Madness and Advertising: Use of NCAA Trademarks (2023 Update – Part 2)
Posted On: March 10, 2023Yesterday, I wrote about the history of the NCAA’s assembling of the rights to an array of trademarks associated with this month’s basketball tournament. Today, I will provide some examples of the activities that can bring unwanted NCAA attention to your advertisements or broadcasting of advertising, as well as one more issue that should be considered when considering whether to accept advertising.
Activities that May Result in a Demand Letter from the NCAA
The NCAA acknowledges that media entities can sell advertising that accompanies the entity’s coverage of the NCAA championships. However, similar to my discussion last year on the use of Super Bowl trademarks (see here) and my 2018 discussion on the use of Olympics trademarks (see here), ... Read More
March Madness and Advertising: Use of NCAA Trademarks (2023 Update – Part 1)
Posted On: March 9, 2023With Selection Sunday this weekend, the 2023 NCAA Collegiate Basketball Tournament is about to begin. As faithful readers of this blog know, broadcasters, publishers and other businesses need to be wary about potential claims arising from their use of terms and logos associated with the tournament.
NCAA Trademarks
The NCAA owns the well-known marks March Madness®, The Big Dance®, Final Four®, Women’s Final Four®, Elite Eight,® and The Road to the Final Four® (with and without the word “The”), each of which is a federally registered trademark. The NCAA does not own “Sweet Sixteen” – someone else does – but it does have federal registrations for NCAA Sweet Sixteen® and NCAA Sweet 16®. ... Read More
Gigi Sohn Withdraws from Consideration for Open Seat as FCC Commissioner – What that Means for Broadcast Regulation
Posted On: March 8, 2023Yesterday’s big news across the broadcast press was that Gigi Sohn, who had for well over a year been the nominee of the Biden administration to fill the open seat at the FCC, withdrew her name from consideration. This may have been in reaction to circulated stories that there were several Democratic Senators who still... Continue Reading…
Parties to TEGNA Deal Seek Full Commission Review of Hearing Designation Order – Looking at the Process They are Trying to Avoid
Posted On: March 7, 2023Last week, broadcasters and broadcast journalists were abuzz with discussions of the FCC’s Media Bureau issuing a hearing designation order referring to an Administrative Law Judge questions about the proposed acquisition of the TEGNA broadcast stations by Standard General Broadcasting. This week brings news that the parties have filed a Motion asking that the Judge... Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: February 27 to March 3, 2023
Posted On: March 5, 2023Here 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. Continue Reading…
March Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Comment Dates on FCC Ownership Rules, FTC Proposed Ban on Noncompete Agreements, and TV Captioning Rules; Higher FCC Application Fees; Daylight Savings Time Adjustments for AM Stations; and More
Posted On: February 27, 2023March may not have any of the regular FCC filing deadlines, but there are still plenty of regulatory activities going on this month that should grab the attention of any broadcast or media company. Initially, there are several FCC proceedings in which there are dates in March worth noting. Initially, there are comments in the... Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: February 20 to February 25, 2023
Posted On: February 26, 2023Here 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. Continue Reading…
Year in Review and Looking Ahead
- NVBA was the second state association in the nation to get its EAS plan approved by the FCC!
- We revamped our Alternative Inspection Program (ABIP) which enabled us to conduct 36 inspections, a service we provide free of charge to our member stations.
- The FCC reduced an unreasonable 13% increase in regulatory fees after we vigorously fought that increase through our Washington DC attorney.
