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 FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a public broadcaster to resolve an investigation into whether false Emergency Alert System (EAS) tones were broadcast on each of the broadcaster’s 46 licensed stations and approximately 500 affiliated stations. The Bureau found that a recorded EAS tone was aired twice on the stations – along with pieces of NOAA tornado warning alert – during a segment of a BBC program titled “Witness” that described chasing the world’s biggest tornado. The Consent Decree requires that the broadcaster pay an $86,400 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury and enter into a compliance plan to ensure that future FCC rule violations do not occur. See our article on the Broadcast Law Blog for more on this Consent Decree.
- There were press reports this week that the AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act will soon be voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives. As we noted here and discussed here and here, the bill requires that automobile manufacturers retain AM radio in the car dashboard. As we noted here, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved House version of the bill in September 2024. If passed in the House, the Senate must approve a reconciled version of the bill (one with identical language) before the bill can be signed by President Trump. The bill enjoys broad bipartisan support in both chambers, so it is possible that it will be passed into law soon.
- President Trump signed an Executive Order setting forth Executive Branch actions to preempt State artificial intelligence (AI) laws. The Executive Order conditions or withholds federal funding awards for broadband expansion from states whose AI laws unconstitutionally regulate interstate commerce, are preempted by existing federal regulations, or are otherwise unlawful in the Attorney General’s judgment. This would include laws “that require AI models to alter their truthful outputs, or that may compel AI developers or deployers to disclose or report information in a manner that would violate the First Amendment or any other constitutional provision.” This may impact state AI laws affecting broadcasters, such as those dealing with AI in political advertising (which have been adopted in the majority of all states – see our articles here and here about some of the early state laws) and those requiring the labeling of other content that was created with AI. The Executive Order gives the FCC a role to play – initiating “a proceeding to determine whether to adopt a Federal reporting and disclosure standard for AI models that preempts conflicting State laws.”
- The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau released a Public Notice announcing a random audit of the EEO programs of 27 multichannel video programming distributors (e.g., cable systems and similar providers). Like the recent EEO audits of broadcasters (see our article here), these cable audits require systems to identify DEI programs at the systems or their suppliers using questions almost identical to those used in the last broadcast audit. The selected MVPDs need to report any complaints, formal or informal, about discrimination and any reprimands or other penalties imposed on employees “for failing to comply with or affirm policies or programs regarding race, color, religion, national origin or sex.” The use in hiring of any “race-based hiring databases” must also be disclosed. It appears that these questions will now be standard in EEO audits, so broadcasters should anticipate having to respond to them if they are selected in a future audit.
- The Media Bureau announced that January 1 is the effective date of the last of the FCC’s revisions to its cable rate regulations that it adopted in a June Report and Order which streamlined its cable rate regulations, many of which are now obsolete or unworkable due to the end of most cable rate regulation years ago.
- The Media Bureau released a Report and Order granting a petition for rulemaking proposing a change in KQSL(TV)’s city of license by amending the TV Table of Allotments to specify the use of TV Channel 8 at Cloverdale, California instead of at Fort Bragg, California, thus providing Cloverdale with its first local service. The Bureau concluded that the proposed change created a preferred arrangement of television allotments because it would add the first local service to the larger community of Cloverdale without adversely affecting service to Fort Bragg viewers since another station would remain licensed to Fort Bragg and because KQSL did not propose to modify its technical facilities so it would still provide technical service to the community.
On our Broadcast Law Blog, we discussed steps broadcasters should be taking now to avoid legal issues with political broadcasting during what will likely be a very active political broadcasting season leading up to the 2026 election.
