From Broadcast Law Blog

President-elect Trump this week selected sitting FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to be the new Chairman of the FCC starting on Inauguration Day, January 20.  As a sitting Commissioner, Carr can become permanent Chair immediately – no Senate confirmation is necessary.  Current FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced that, as is traditional, she will not only step down from her position as Chair on January 20 and will also leave the Commission on that date – leaving one empty seat on the FCC to be filled by the new President (to permanently fill that vacancy,  

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 comments are due January 13, 2025, in response to proposed community of license changes for several radio stations. 

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.

• On our Broadcast Law Blog, we reviewed  many of the broadcast issues pending before FCC that could be affected by the transition to Republican leadership as a result of the change in administration because of Tuesday’s presidential election. 

With the election over, broadcasters and their Washington representatives are now trying to decipher what the next administration will have in store at the FCC and other government agencies that regulate the media.  Already, the DC press is speculating about who will assume what positions in the government agencies that make these decisions.  While those speculations will go on for weeks,

In a Press Release issued on November 1, the Radio Music License Committee announced the results of its arbitration with SESAC.  Despite the arbitrators’ decision that rates for commercial radio broadcasters are going up modestly, RMLC declared the decision a win.  How can an increase in royalties be a win?  Let’s provide some background on this decision and why the radio industry may breathe a sigh of relief.

With much of everyone’s focus on the outcome of the November 5 general election, broadcasters can’t forget the regulatory dates and deadlines in November and early December.  While the dates and deadlines in November are lighter than in many other months, many routine deadlines do fall in early December, and even the upcoming month does have dates worthy of note. 

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 National Association of Broadcasters denounced recent threats to revoke broadcast station licenses for political reasons, stating: “The threat from any politician to revoke a broadcast license simply because they disagree with the station’s content undermines [the] basic freedom . 

The FCC last week released a Public Notice announcing the opening of a filing window for parties interested in building new noncommercial TV stations at 12 communities in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Idaho, Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia.  Applications by nonprofit educational organizations can be filed in a window opening on December 4 and ending at 6 PM Eastern Time on December 11. 

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 Enforcement Bureau released its second EEO audit notice for 2024.  Audited stations and their station employment units (commonly owned stations serving the same area) must provide to the FCC their last two years of EEO Annual Public File Reports and other documentation showing that the stations complied with the FCC’s EEO rules. 

On Friday, the FCC released another EEO audit notice for 2024.  The FCC’s Public Notice, audit letter, and the list of the 150 radio and TV stations selected for audit is available here.  Those stations, and the station employment units (commonly owned or controlled stations serving the same area sharing at least one employee) with which they are associated,

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 released a Public Notice announcing the opening of a filing window for construction permits for new noncommercial TV stations in certain locations in Alabama,

With less than a month to go before the November election, we can expect more and more attack ads, some of which may lead to cease and desist letters from the candidate being attacked.  These letters can raise the risk of defamation claims against broadcasters and cable companies when the ads are not bought by candidates.  The use of artificial intelligence in such ads raises the prospect of even nastier attack ads,