Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past weeks, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- FCC Chairman Carr suggested in a podcast interview that the FCC could penalize ABC/Disney if the company failed to discipline late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made on Charlie Kirk’s assassination and urged ABC affiliates to preempt Kimmel’s show. Following Carr’s interview and announcements from two major ABC affiliates that they were no longer airing Kimmel’s show on their stations, ABC/Disney suspended Kimmel’s show indefinitely. FCC Commissioner Gomez released a statement on the matter stating that the First Amendment prohibits the FCC from revoking broadcast licenses or otherwise punishing broadcasters for speech that the government dislikes, and that threatening license revocations “poses an existential risk to a broadcaster, which by definition cannot exist without its license.” During her remarks at the Free State Foundation, FCC Commissioner Trusty stated that the ABC affiliates’ preemption of Kimmel’s show was a “business decision” and that the FCC must ensure that broadcasters comply with their public interest obligations – which it evaluates on a case-by-case basis. Democratic politicians (see here and here) called for Carr’s resignation, stating that his comments were a threat to broadcasters’ First Amendment rights. Senator Schumer (D-NY) also stated that Trump’s suggestion that the FCC should consider revoking broadcasters’ licenses for negative coverage of him was a threat to democracy. Even Ted Cruz (R-TX) reportedly said that the FCC’s implied threats against broadcast licenses were “dangerous as hell.” President Trump, on the other hand, praised the Chairman’s actions. Chairman Carr posted on X that the he was glad to see affiliates pushing back on their national networks by preempting this programming in response to the values of the communities that they serve.
- On another podcast, Chairman Carr said that he wondered whether the talk program The View should be considered a bona fide news interview program exempt from equal time requirements during pre-election periods. In recent years, the FCC has taken an expansive view of the exceptions to the equal time rule– see our Broadcast Law Blog article here about the issues that arise in interpreting these exemptions.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr. tweeted that “the wheels are in motion to require every broadcast prescription drug ad to display its full safety facts on-screen.” As we noted last week here, the Food and Drug Administration announced a rulemaking proceeding proposing stricter adherence to the requirement that all “critical safety facts” be disclosed in advertising. If adopted, this may significantly reduce broadcast advertising as disclosures could be lengthy and difficult to fit into typical commercial spots.
- The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Violation against a Wisconsin tower owner after multiple inspections revealed that the tower’s lighting had been extinguished and that its paint was severely faded and flaking. The Bureau also stated that the tower owner failed to promptly repair or dismantle the tower (as the owner’s previously indicated that it would do in prior inspections). The tower owner must now explain to the Bureau how it will correct the rule violations and prevent future violations from occurring.
- The FCC’s Space Bureau released a Public Notice containing an updated list of earth stations operating in the upper C-band (4.0-4.2 GHz), which should receive a degree of interference protection from new C-band users. The list of incumbent C-band earth stations, including those used by broadcasters, can be found here. The Public Notice reminds these “incumbent” users of the C-Band to update registrations if changes are made, and to notify the FCC if these earth stations are no longer actively used.
- The FCC’s Media Bureau took three actions regarding changes to the FM and TV Tables of Allotments:
- The Bureau granted the substitution of Channel 24 for Channel 4 at Jacksonville, Oregon, finding that the substitution was in the public interest due to the inferior quality of reception of digital VHF signals, especially indoors.
- The Bureau released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments on a petitioner TV station’s proposed substitution of Channel 33 for Channel 8 at Hutchinson, Kansas due to a long history of VHF reception issues among petitioner’s viewers.
- The Bureau granted a broadcaster’s petition for reconsideration of the Bureau’s designation of Channel 285A at Adamsville, Texas as a vacant FM allotment, instead listing the vacant allotment as Channel 235A at Richland Springs. A construction permit was originally granted on Channel 235A at Richland Springs but, after a series of modifications, the permittee requested, and the Bureau granted, a minor modification of the permit to specify the use of Channel 285A at Adamsville, Texas. The station was never built, and the permit was cancelled. The Bureau determined that the community change to Adamsville should never have been granted as that proposal was not mutually exclusive with the original allotment at Richland Springs, and thus a city of license and channel change should not have been granted as a minor change. The FCC will announce in future when a filing window for the Richland Springs allotment will open.
