It has been a busy week for regulatory actions affecting broadcasters. Here are some of the significant developments of the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC held a virtual Open Meeting on Tuesday, voting to approve an… Continue Reading…
FCC to Lift Freeze on TV Station Technical Improvement Applications
A freeze on technical improvements by full-power TV stations is about to come to an end after more than 15 years. Television stations have been unable to improve their coverage areas by a freeze first instituted in 2004 to allow the FCC to deal with a stable database of television stations during the transition to… Continue Reading…
Changes to FCC Public Notice Requirements Effective October 30 – New Link Required on Commercial Station Websites
In May, the FCC voted to change its requirements for public notices of broadcast applications (see our post here) – standardizing the messages that must be conveyed to the public and eliminating the need for newspaper publication in those instances where it was still required. The new rules also require that each commercial station include… Continue Reading…
November Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: Rulemaking Comments, Hearings on Diversity and a New Commissioner, an FCC Open Meeting and More
November is one of those few months with no routine FCC filing obligations (no renewals, reports, fees or other regularly scheduled deadlines. While that might seem to suggest that you can take time that you normally devote to regulatory actions to begin your holiday preparations even in this most unusual year, there are still many… Continue Reading…
This Week in Broadcast Regulation: October 17, 2020 to October 23, 2020
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’s International Bureau released a Public Notice on its review of the requests for “lump sum reimbursement requests” for… Continue Reading…
Congressman Walden Urges Adoption of Broadcast Diversity in Leadership Act – An Incubator Program to Assist New Entrants to Broadcast Ownership
There were several reports in the broadcast trade press today about an article in the Hill newsletter from retiring Congressman Greg Walden about his proposals to increase diversity in broadcast ownership. Congressman Walden, a former broadcaster, seeks in his Broadcast Diversity in Leadership Act to foster minority ownership and ownership by new entrants by establishing… Continue Reading…
Looking at FCC Non-Vacancy Specific EEO Outreach Efforts – the “Menu Options” – in a Pandemic World
In the last few weeks, we have received several inquiries from broadcasters about the FCC’s enforcement of its requirements that broadcasters conduct non-vacancy specific outreach efforts to educate their communities about broadcast employment opportunities and to train their staff to assume greater responsibility at stations and otherwise assist them in their career development (not to… Continue Reading…
Abolition of the Radio Program Nonduplication Rules Effective October 22, 2020
The FCC’s abolition of the rule that prohibited same-service radio stations serving the same area from substantially duplicating their programming becomes effective today, as the FCC order repealing the rule was published in the Federal Register. The rule had prohibited radio stations in the same service (AM or FM) that have over 50% overlap of… Continue Reading…
Next Step to a Filing Window for New Noncommercial FM Stations – FCC Asks for Comments on Limits on How Many Applications One Applicant Can Submit
The FCC yesterday issued a Public Notice announcing that it will in fact be opening a window for the filing of applications for new reserved-band noncommercial FM stations (those stations operating in the portion of the FM band below 92.1 FM, which is reserved for noncommercial educational broadcasters). We anticipated that this window was coming… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: October 10, 2020 to October 16, 2020
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 set the comment dates for its proposal for changing the cost to file various broadcast applications. The new… Continue Reading…
More FCC Consent Decrees for Political File Violations – Issues to Watch in the Last Weeks of the Election
As the campaign enters its final weeks, the FCC has begun to send out the next round of proposed consent decrees to radio broadcasters unable to certify in their license renewal applications, because of perceived deficiencies in their political file, that that every document was placed into their FCC-hosted online public inspection file on a… Continue Reading…
Music in Podcasts – As Podcasts Shut Down Following Infringement Notices, Looking at the Required Music Rights
The use of music has long been an issue for those looking to provide music-oriented podcasts to the public. As we have written before (see, for example, our articles here and here), clearing rights to use music in podcasts is not as simple as signing up with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC (or even adding GMR… Continue Reading…
