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.
- President Trump this week issued an Executive Order instructing various government agencies to take steps to move marijuana from Schedule I (an illegal controlled substance with no medical uses and a high degree of potential abuse) to Schedule III, which includes many other drugs, such as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine, that require a prescription and FDA approval. While a rescheduling to Schedule III may have an impact on research and on marijuana’s medical uses, broadcasters need to continue to take a cautious approach to marijuana advertising while the details of any possible changes unfold, as it is likely that, even after action by all of the government agencies that need to approve the change to Schedule III, advertising will still be restricted under federal law. See our article on our Broadcast Law Blog where we review the remaining issues with marijuana advertising on broadcast stations.
- The Senate Commerce Committee held an oversight hearing this past week to review recent actions of the FCC, featuring testimony from FCC Chairman Carr and FCC Commissioners Trusty and Gomez. A variety of issues were discussed including the review of the broadcast ownership rules (see our article on the radio ownership rules here and one on the TV ownership rules here); recent FCC merger reviews (like the FCC’s approval Paramount-Skydance merger, which we noted here); payola issues (see our note here regarding Senator Blackburn’s February letter to Chairman Carr contending that it was illegal payola for radio stations to have musicians to play “free radio shows” in exchange for more airtime on stations, or to avoid threats of less airplay); the controversy over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments following the Charlie Kirk assassination (see our notes here and here); and the FCC’s recent investigations of broadcasters deemed to be airing programming critical of President Trump (see our notes here, here, and here). Further information on the hearing, including a video recording and the Commissioners’ written testimony, is available on the Committee’s website here.
- At its regularly monthly Open Meeting, the FCC adopted a Report and Order modifying its rules governing Class A TV, LPTV, and TV translator stations. The draft Report and Order included several changes to the FCC’s rules such as updating displacement and channel sharing application procedures; establishing a maximum relocation distance of 49.1 kilometers from a station’s current antenna reference coordinates for all minor modification applications; establishing a formal method for these stations to change their communities of license (and a requirement that a station’s protected contour overlap a boundary of its community of license, and requiring all stations to file for a community of license compliant with this requirement within 6 months of the new rule’s effective date); requiring Class A and LPTV stations to use call signs matching their service designation (“-LD” for LPTV and “-CD” for Class A) but grandfathering existing call signs; requiring that all LPTV stations broadcast an operational video programming signal (test patterns and still pictures with unrelated audio are insufficient); and establishing a formal process to change a station’s classification from LPTV to TV translator (or vice versa). The full text of the FCC’s decision can be found on the FCC page summarizing the action, here (note that, at time this article was written, the Text version of the Order is available while the PDF appears to be corrupted, and no Docx version has been posted).
- Comments were due on Wednesday responding to the FCC’s NPRM asking whether the Commission, in concluding its 2022 Quadrennial Review of the FCC’s media ownership rules, should modify or abolish those rules. As we discussed here, Congress requires the FCC to review its media ownership rules every 4 years to determine whether, as result of competition, they remain necessary, and to repeal or modify any rule that the FCC determines is no longer in the public interest. Specific issues to be considered in this proceeding are the local radio ownership rule (limiting one owner from having an “attributable” interest in more than 8 stations, and only 5 FMs in the largest markets, and fewer in smaller markets); the local TV ownership rule (limiting an owner from having an interests in more than 2 TV stations in any market); and the dual network rule (limiting a TV station from affiliating with any company that has an interest in more than one of the Big 4 TV networks). For more on the issues involved, see our article on the radio ownership rules here and one on the TV ownership rules here. Most broadcast groups supported a relaxation of the rules, while many “public interest” groups opposed any such relaxation. The filed comments can be found here. Reply comments are due January 16.
- The FCC announced that comments are due February 13 responding to the following AM and FM station community of license change proposals: WKQK(AM), from Cocoa Beach, Florida, to Melbourne Beach, Florida; WRKY(AM), from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Lititz, Pennsylvania; WXRS(AM), from Swainsboro, Georgia, to Meldrim, Georgia; KAZK(FM), from Willcox, Arizona, to San Manuel, Arizona; KUBQ(FM) from La Grande, Oregon, to Lostine, Oregon; KXQX(FM), from Tusayan, Arizona, to Big Water, Utah; KXUT(FM), from Page, Arizona, to Orderville, Utah; WEGG(FM), from Bowman, Georgia, to Royston, Georgia; WNJD(FM), from Cape May, New Jersey, to Hartly, Delaware; WROV-FM, from Martinsville, Virginia, to New Castle, Virginia; WUMT(FM), from Marshfield, Massachusetts, to Kingston, Massachusetts; and WMNA-FM, from Halifax, Virginia, to Brookneal, Virginia.
- The FCC’s Media Bureau reinstated the following channels in the FM Table of Allotments as vacant due to either the cancellation of the associated station authorizations or the dismissal of the associated long-form auction applications: Channel 250A at Eufaula, Alabama; Channel 247A at Coalinga, California; Channel 229C2 at Port St. Joe, Florida; Channel 226A at Warrenton, Georgia; Channel 245C2 at Grand Marais, Minnesota; Channel 258A at Vardaman, Mississippi; Channel 281A at Jefferson City, Missouri; Channel 229C1 at Conrad, Montana; Channel 233C1 at Hatteras, North Carolina; Channel 227A at Meyersdale, Pennsylvania; Channel 274A at New Ellenton, South Carolina; Channel 252C1 at Big Lake, Texas; Channel 252C1 at Farwell, Texas; and Channels 263A and 297C3 at Junction, Texas; Channel 271A at Lockney, Texas. The Bureau also added Channel 266C3 at Coupeville, Washington as a vacant allotment but later retracted it. The Bureau also deleted the following channels from the FM Table of Allotments to reflect these changes: Channel 247B1 at Coalinga, California; Channel 245C3 at Grand Marais, Minnesota; Channel 252C2 at Big Lake, Texas; Channel 271C3 at Lockney, Texas; and Channel 266A at Coupeville, Washington. The FCC will announce at a later date when it will open windows for the filing of applications for construction permits to build new stations on the vacant allotments.
- The FCC’s Space Bureau and Wireless Telecommunications Bureaus extended the comment deadlines in two proceedings concerning earth station licenses, which are held by some broadcasters:
- The Space Bureau extended the comment and reply comment deadlines to January 20 and February 18, respectively, for the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to facilitate more intensive use of spectrum in the 24 GHz, 28 GHz, upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, 47 GHz, and 50 GHz bands (the UMFUS bands), which are used by some earth stations (see our note here). The Bureau did so to align the comment deadlines in this proceeding with those in the proceeding concerning the FCC’s NPRM proposing changes to its existing regulatory framework for space and earth station licenses (see our note here).
- The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau extended the comment and reply comment deadlines to January 20 and February 18, respectively, responding to the FCC’s NPRM proposing to auction a portion the Upper C-Band (3.7-4.2 GHz), which is s intended to fulfill Congress’ mandate in the One Big Beautiful Bill that the FCC complete an auction of that spectrum by July 2027 (see our note here). The Bureau did so to allow commenters to submit more comprehensive responses to the NPRM’s complex technical, legal, and policy issues without jeopardizing the FCC’s ability to conduct the Upper C-Band auction by July 2027.
On our Broadcast Law Blog, we looked at some of the issues raised by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s recent hearing on the American Music Fairness Act which looked at the possibility of imposing a SoundExchange royalty on over-the-air broadcasting, as well as the articles referenced above on the President’s Executive Order on marijuana rescheduling and on possible changes to the TV ownership rules.
We do not expect to publish a summary of broadcast regulatory activity next week, so look for our next update after the holidays where we will cover any issues that arise in the intervening two-week period. Also, watch the Broadcast Law Blog for our monthly look ahead at the regulatory issues that will be facing broadcasters, this one looking at regulatory dates in January and early February.
