A decision was expected in December on the royalties to be paid by broadcasters and other digital media companies who stream their non-interactive audio programming on the Internet. As we wrote at the beginning of the pandemic, the Copyright Royalty Board, which hears the arguments about the royalties to be paid to SoundExchange in a… Continue Reading…
$15,000 FCC Fine Proposed for Underwriting Announcements that Were Too Commercial
When do noncommercial stations stray from permissible acknowledgment of those local businesses that provide funding for its operations to impermissible commercials? That question was addressed in a Notice of Apparent Liability issued by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau on Thursday, proposing a $15,000 fine for a low power FM station whose underwriting announcements were deemed too… Continue Reading…
This Week at the FCC for Broadcasters – June 27, 2020 to July 3, 2020
Here are some of the FCC actions 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’s Enforcement Bureau entered into negotiated settlements with two Boston-area pirate radio operators who admitted to illegal operations and… Continue Reading…
July Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: End of the TV Repacking, Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Children’s Television Reporting, EEO, Carriage Election Public File Information Deadline, LPTV Settlement Window, Rulemaking Comments and More
July is usually a month of family vacations and patriotic celebrations. While the pandemic has seen to it that those activities, if they happen at all, will look different than they have in years past, there are plenty of regulatory obligations to fill a broadcaster’s long, summer days. Here are a few of the dates… Continue Reading…
This Week at the FCC for Broadcasters: June 20, 2020 to June 26, 2020
Here are some of the regulatory actions 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: FEMA announced that it has canceled the 2020 test of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which is… Continue Reading…
FCC Seeking Comment on the Origination of Programming by FM Translators
Should broadcasters be able to originate programming on FM translators? Playing off the proposal to allow limited amounts of programming on FM boosters – basically the insertion of local ads, news, or emergency alerts – in the zonecasting proposal on which the FCC took comments earlier this year (see our summary here), a group of… Continue Reading…
FEMA Calls Off Nationwide EAS Test for This Year
The year of the pandemic claimed another victim – this one being what has become a regular event – the nationwide test of the EAS system (see our articles here and here about the last two tests – tests which are required to assess the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System – IPAWS – at… Continue Reading…
This Week at the FCC for Broadcasters: June 13, 2020 to June 19, 2020
Here are some of the legal and regulatory actions 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 released a Second Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration regarding Next Gen TV (ATSC 3.0)…. Continue Reading…
This Week at the FCC for Broadcasters: June 6, 2020 to June 12, 2020
Here are some of the FCC regulatory and legal actions of the last week—and a congressional action in the week ahead—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 on June 9 held an Open Meeting where it… Continue Reading…
Facebook Defends Not Censoring Political Ads – Looking at the Differences In Regulation of Political Speech on Different Communications Platforms
The question about what to do with the protections offered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act took another turn this week, when Joe Biden suggested that online platforms needed to take responsibility for the content posted on them and correct misinformation in those ads. That position is seemingly the opposite of the President’s… Continue Reading…
Rule Changes on LPFM and Interference Protections for Channel 6 TV from Reserved Band FM to Become Effective on July 13
In April, the FCC modified a number of its rules regarding LPFM stations, and also modified its processing policies as to considerations of interference between Channel 6 TV stations and noncommercial FM stations operating on the reserved band (the low end of the FM dial). We wrote about those changes here and here. The changes… Continue Reading…
FCC Adopts Declaratory Ruling and Starts Rulemaking on ATSC 3.0 TV Datacasting Issues – the Broadcast Internet
The FCC at its open meeting this week adopted the Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that we wrote about here when the draft order was released. The Declaratory Ruling makes clear that the leasing of television spectrum for datacasting uses does not trigger FCC multiple ownership issues (in other words, one entity can… Continue Reading…
