About this time each year, broadcasters and other entities regulated by the FCC prepare to find out the amount of their annual FCC regulatory fees. These fees are likely to be paid in September, before the October 1 start of the new government fiscal year. Last week, the FCC added to its list of “items on circulation” (FCC orders that have been written and are circulating among the Commissioners for a vote) an order to establish the specifics of this year’s regulatory fees,…
FM Translators for AM Stations – Now that the Filing Window is Done, What’s Next?
The window for filing applications for new FM translators for Class C and D AM stations has now closed. According to a statement from FCC Chairman Pai, over 1000 AM stations took advantage of the filing window. What’s next? The FCC will take these applications and determine which of them are mutually exclusive with some other application filed during the window that ended yesterday.…
FCC Releases Tutorial on FM Translator Auction Window for AM Stations – Clarifies that AM Buyers Can File Applications
The FCC yesterday released an online tutorial for the upcoming windows for filing for FM translators for AM stations. The first window will run from July 26 until 6 pm ET on August 2, where Class C and D AM stations that did not receive a translator in last year’s 250-mile waiver windows can file for a new FM translator to rebroadcast their AM station.…
FCC’s Elimination of the Requirement that Letters From the Public be Kept in a Broadcaster’s Public Inspection File Effective Today
Today, the order eliminating the requirement that broadcasters maintain in a paper public inspection file copies of letters and emails to their stations about station operations becomes effective. While the FCC abolished the requirement back in January, one of the first deregulatory actions of the new Chairman (see our article on that decision here), the decision did not become effective until the publication of that decision in the Federal Register,…
July Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues Programs and Children’s Television Reports, Comment Dates on Main Studio Rule Elimination and Modernization of Media Regulation, Incentive Auction CP Filing Deadline, Effective Date for Captioning Clips of Live and Near-Live Programming, and Window for FM Translators for AM Stations
July is a big month on the Washington regulatory scene for broadcasters. There are, of course, the routine quarterly regulatory obligations. For all stations, commercial and noncommercial, Quarterly Issues Programs Lists, summarizing the most important issues facing a broadcaster’s community, and the programs that were broadcast in the prior quarter to address those issues, must be in a station’s public file (the online public file for all TV stations and for radio stations that have already converted to the online file) by July 10.…
FCC Releases Instructions for Window for AM Stations to File for FM Translators and Announces Translator Filing Freeze – Pay Attention to the Details!
Late yesterday, the FCC released the Public Notice setting out the instructions for the upcoming window for Class C and D AM stations to file for new FM translators. The window will be open for the submission of applications from July 26 to August 2 – and mutually exclusive applications filed during that window will be resolved by an auction if they cannot be resolved by settlements or engineering solutions.…
Comments on FCC Proposal to Abolish Broadcast Main Studio Rule Due July 3
In today’s Federal Register, the FCC has given notice of its proposal to abolish the main studio rule. That notice, here, sets the date for comments on this proposal as July 3. Reply comments are due two weeks later on July 17. We wrote about the FCC’s proposal and the questions being asked in this proceeding here and here.…
First Window for New FM Translators for AM Stations to Open July 26
The FCC released a Public Notice announcing that its window for Class C and D AM stations to file for new FM translators to rebroadcast their stations will open on July 26. The notice does not say much more except that there will be another notice coming soon providing more details on the filing process. This notice does not say whether applications will be processed on a first-come,…
FCC Proposes Regulatory Fees to Be Paid Later This Year – Questions about Allocation of Radio Fees, TV Satellite Stations, and Small Entity Exceptions
Each year, the FCC is required by Congress to collect regulatory fees to cover the costs of its operations. All entities regulated by the FCC contribute to the amount necessary to cover the FCC’s costs – fees being allocated by the proportion of the total number of FCC employees needed to regulate a particular service. Before requiring the payment of the fees (which is usually done in September,…
FCC Officially Starts Proceedings to Abolish Main Studio Rule and Review All Other Broadcast Rules
As expected, at its monthly open meeting yesterday, the FCC started two proceedings of particular importance to broadcasters. The first looks at the abolition of the main studio rules. The second asks for comments on all of the other rules affecting broadcasters and other media companies to see which are ripe for appeal. For the most part, the proposals as adopted mirrored the draft orders released for public review back at the end of April,…
Announcement of FCC Window for AM Stations to File For New FM Translators Coming Very Soon
At the NAB Convention, Chairman Pai announced that the promised windows for AM stations to apply for new FM translators would open this summer (see our article here). It now looks as if that promise is about to become a reality as on Friday the FCC added to its list of “items on circulation” a Public Notice announcing that window.…
5 Questions on the Meaning of the FCC’s Recent Ruling on Online Recruiting – How Does it Change a Broadcaster’s EEO Obligations?
The FCC recently issued a declaratory ruling (which we summarized here) addressing the requirement that broadcasters widely disseminate information about all of their job openings in such a way as to reach all of the groups within their communities. The recent FCC decision stated that a broadcaster can now rely solely on online sources to meet the wide dissemination obligation.…
