With the end of summer upon us, we begin to look forward to the regulatory issues that will face broadcasters as we barrel toward the end of the year. One date on many broadcaster’s minds is the date by which the annual regulatory fees will be due to be paid. While the payment date is… Continue Reading…
Looking at Legislative Proposals that Would Allow Broadcasters to Accept Marijuana Advertising
As more and more states revise their laws to decriminalize or legalize marijuana use (for medical and recreational purposes), and more and more cannabis businesses in those states begin operations, broadcasters have been looking to provide their advertising services to these new companies. But, as we’ve written before (see, for instance, our articles here and here) ,… Continue Reading…
Why Federal and State Issue Ads Have Different Broadcast Public File Requirements
Recently, I’ve received many calls from broadcasters about the FCC public file obligations for issue ads (those ads not bought by legally qualified candidates or their authorized committees) – particularly concerning the different treatment between issue ads dealing with federal candidates or federal matters, and those dealing with state and local matters. There was much… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: July 16, 2022 to July 22, 2022
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. July 18, 2022 was the reply comment deadline for the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the its proposed regulatory… Continue Reading…
New Copyright Royalty Board Chief Judge Named – Looking at the Issues Considered by the CRB of Importance to Media Companies
A new Chief Copyright Royalty Judge of the Copyright Royalty Board has just been named by the Librarian of Congress. According to the Press Release announcing his appointment, David Shaw will fill that position after having previously served as an administrative law judge on the International Trade Commission for over 10 years. There, he heard… Continue Reading…
FCC Cracking Down on Long Periods of Station Silence – Short-Term Renewals for Radio Stations Silent More than 25% of License Term
The FCC’s Audio Division, in the latter part of the license renewal cycle for radio stations, seems to have adopted a more aggressive position on stations that were silent for extended periods of time during their license term. In our summary of last week’s events of importance to broadcasters, we noted one case where an… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: July 9, 2022 to July 15, 2022
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 US Court of Appeals this week determined that the FCC’s requirement that broadcasters confirm by searching DOJ and FCC… Continue Reading…
Court Overturns Part of FCC Requirement that Broadcasters Confirm that Programmers are Not Foreign Government Agents
When providing briefings on FCC issues at a number of broadcast conventions in the past few months, I find that broadcasters are most often surprised by the relatively new FCC rule that requires that they verify that any buyer of programming time on their station is not an agent of a foreign government. This week, the burden that this rule (about which we wrote here) imposed on broadcasters was eased,…
FCC Database Transitions – Are You Ready for the New CORES on July 15? Did You Know Call Sign Reservation Has Moved?
The FCC in recent years has been upgrading their technical systems (even though, as many broadcasters and their attorneys know, the upgrades are often not without their own problems). The old CDBS database, in which broadcasters for years filed their applications, is shut down for all new filings as almost all broadcast applications have migrated… Continue Reading…
Public Performance Royalties for Comedy Recordings? – New PROs Claim that Additional Royalties Are Due
In recent months, lawsuits have been filed against streaming audio service Pandora by comedian Lewis Black, the estate of Robin Williams, and representatives of other comedians seeking public performance royalties for the underlying comedic work – not the recording of the comedy bit for which a royalty is already paid, but instead for the script… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: June 25, 2022 to July 8, 2022
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past two weeks, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC has issued a Public Notice confirming the comment and reply comment dates for its Third Further Notice… Continue Reading…
July Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists and Other Public File Obligations, Lowest Unit Charge Periods, License Renewal, Copyright Filings and More
The lazy days of summer continue to provide little respite from the regulatory actions of importance to broadcasters. The good news is that there are no license renewal or EEO deadlines during the month of July. Nonetheless, there will be a number of July deadlines that require attention. On July 1, comments are due on… Continue Reading…
