From Broadcast Law Blog

Last week, the FCC announced a Consent Decree with a Florida broadcaster, with the broadcaster admitting violations of several FCC rules and agreeing to pay a $125,000 fine and enter into a consent decree to ensure future compliance.  The violations addressed in the decree include (i) the failure to monitor tower lights and report that they had been out for significant periods of time,…

Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.  Also, we include a look at actions to watch in the week ahead. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced his intention… Continue Reading…

Zonecasting – the proposal by GeoBroadcast Solutions to allow FM boosters to originate limited amounts of programming different than their primary station – has advanced at the FCC though the release this week of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking formally asking if the FCC should adopt rules permitting this service and, if so, what those… Continue Reading…

December is a busy month for broadcasters with routine filings to complete and action on FCC proceedings that will carry over to the next administration.  Keep on top of these dates and deadlines even as your calendar fills up with holiday celebrations. We start at the beginning of the month, with December 1 being the… Continue Reading…

Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC is seeking comment on proposed sponsorship identification requirements for broadcast programming that is paid for, or provided by,… Continue Reading…

In one of those weird little quandaries in the broadcast legal world, the FCC just asked for comments on a petition for declaratory ruling filed by the NAB seeking a clarification as to who is responsible for the content of simulcast streams provided to comply with the ATSC 3.0 conversion rules.  Under those rules, for a station to convert to the new NextGen TV transmission system,…

The FCC’s Video Division yesterday issued a Notice of Apparent Liability to a Baltimore TV station for airing a commercial for a Hot Wheels product in eight showings of the program “Team Hot Wheels.”  The Commission has, for almost 30 years, had a policy against what they term “program-length commercials” – programs that feature characters… Continue Reading…

Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. After reviewing comments submitted this summer (we wrote about the rulemaking, here), the FCC will vote at its next Open… Continue Reading…

In the last few days, two defamation cases filed against media companies by the Trump campaign have been dismissed – one on the merits and one by agreement of the parties.  This includes the suit filed by the campaign against Northland Television, the licensee of a rural Wisconsin television station.  That station was perhaps the… Continue Reading…

Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. On November 12, the notice was published in the Federal Register of the lifting of the filing freeze for certain… Continue Reading…

While last Tuesday’s elections may well affect broadcast regulation in the future, there were several regulatory developments in the last week of immediate significance to broadcasters.  Here is a summary of some of those developments, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations…. Continue Reading…

Earlier this week, we wrote that the FCC issued a public notice stating that Lowest Unit Charges (or lowest unit rates as they are often called) do not apply to post-election political ads (e.g. ads that urge ballots to be counted in any particular manner).  One important caveat to that advice is that LUC does… Continue Reading…