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Lowest Unit Charge Windows Open in About 30 States and Territories – Reviewing A Broadcaster’s Political Advertising Obligations

January 17, 2020

On January 18, the lowest unit charge window for Presidential primaries or caucuses begins in Super Tuesday states including Alabama, American Samoa (D), Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. The LUC window opened on January 15 for South Carolina’s Democratic primary and will open on January 23 for stations in Puerto Rico. Soon behind, on January 25, lowest unit charge windows for presidential contests open in Hawaii, Idaho,…

Broadcast Law Blog

FCC Consent Decree Requires $1,130,000 Payment to Settle Issues About Monitoring Tower Lights – Are You Doing What’s Required?

By David Oxenford

January 16, 2020

Earlier this week, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau released an Order approving a consent decree with Scripps Broadcasting where Scripps agreed to pay a penalty of $1,130,000 for perceived violations of the FCC’s rules requiring tower light monitoring for towers used by a number of TV stations that it had recently purchased. The company also agreed to adopt numerous procedures to insure continuing compliance, including notification to the FCC of future issues. The FCC began the…

Broadcast Law Blog

Facebook Not Fact-Checking Candidate Ads – Online Political Ads vs. Broadcast and Cable

By David Oxenford

January 13, 2020

vector-of-a-powerful-successful-buisnessman-being-liked-by-busy-crowd-vector-id1126187751

This weekend, the New York Times ran an article seemingly critical of Facebook for not rejecting ads from political candidates that contained false statements of fact. We have already written that this policy of Facebook matches the policy that Congress has imposed on broadcast stations and local cable franchisees who sell time to political candidates – they cannot refuse an ad from a candidate’s authorized campaign committee based on its content – even if it…

Broadcast Law Blog

PIRATE Act Passes Senate, and Now on to the President for Signature – Provides for Big Fines and Enforcement Sweeps in Big Markets

By David Oxenford

January 10, 2020

The PIRATE Act, to crack down on pirate radio, passed the Senate this week after having passed in the House of Representatives last year. It now goes to the President for signature. We’ve written about this legislation several times before (see for instance, our articles here and here). In this final version, it provides more tools for the FCC to crack down on pirate radio operators more quickly, plus it imposes obligations on the…

Broadcast Law Blog

A Broadcaster’s 2020 Regulatory Calendar – Looking at Some of the Important Dates for the Year Ahead

By David Oxenford

January 9, 2020

Here we are, more than a week into the New Year, and already we’ve written about a host of regulatory issues that will be facing broadcasters in the first month of the year (see for instance our articles here and here). But what about the rest of the year? As we do most years, we’ve put together a Broadcaster’s Regulatory Calendar for 2020, here. While this calendar can’t be seen as an exhaustive…

Broadcast Law Blog

University Pays $76,000 Fine to Settle Complaint About Underwriting Announcements on Noncommercial Station that Went Too Far

By David Oxenford

January 8, 2020

university-hall-on-campus-of-university-of-arkansas-picture-id1043805542

Every noncommercial station, including LPFMs, that accepts underwriting announcements should be concerned about making sure that the announcements meet FCC guidelines and remain truly noncommercial. An FCC Order was released yesterday announcing a consent decree entered into between the University of Arkansas and the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. The Order illustrates what can happen if noncommercial stations are not careful – as the University agreed to pay what is essentially a fine of $76,000 and to…

Broadcast Law Blog

Comments Due March 9 on FCC Proposal to Allow All-Digital AM Stations

By David Oxenford

January 7, 2020

The FCC’s proposal to allow AM stations to voluntarily transition into all-digital operations (see our post here for a summary of the FCC’s proposal) was published in the Federal Register today. That sets the comment deadlines in this proceeding – with initial comments due March 9, 2020 and reply comments due by April 6. AM stations interested in making this voluntary conversion should file their supporting comments in this filing window. As we wrote …

Broadcast Law Blog

While You Were on Vacation….Looking at FCC Regulatory Actions over the Holidays and Deadlines for January

By David Oxenford

January 6, 2020

While many of us were trying to enjoy the holidays, the world of regulation kept right on moving, seemingly never taking time off. So we thought that we ought to highlight some of the actions taken by the FCC in the last couple weeks and to also remind you of some of the upcoming January regulatory deadlines. Before Christmas, we highlighted some of the regulatory dates for January – including the Quarterly Issues Programs…

Broadcast Law Blog

January 22 Deadline for Comments on FCC Proposal to Change Rule Prohibiting Duplication of Radio Programming

By David Oxenford

January 3, 2020

The FCC recently proposed modifying its rules prohibiting a radio station in one service (either AM or FM) from duplicating more than 25% of the weekly programming of another station in the same service if there is more than 50% overlap of the principal community contour of either of the stations. The FCC this week issued a Public Notice announcing that the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking setting out the proposed changes has now been published…

Broadcast Law Blog

FCC Postpones Filing Deadline for First Annual Children’s Television Programming Report and Announces Effectiveness of Other Changes in Children’s Television Rules

By David Oxenford

December 29, 2019

The FCC gave a present to TV broadcasters at the end of the week before Christmas by issuing a Public Notice announcing the effective date of the remaining changes to the children’s television rules, and postponing the filing date for the initial Children’s Television Programming Report, which was to be filed by January 30, to March 30. This will give broadcasters more time to become familiar with the new report. The annual Children’s Programming Report…

Broadcast Law Blog

Blog Authors

Lowest Unit Charge Windows Open in About 30 States and Territories – Reviewing A Broadcaster’s Political Advertising Obligations

FCC Consent Decree Requires $1,130,000 Payment to Settle Issues About Monitoring Tower Lights – Are You Doing What’s Required?

Facebook Not Fact-Checking Candidate Ads – Online Political Ads vs. Broadcast and Cable

PIRATE Act Passes Senate, and Now on to the President for Signature – Provides for Big Fines and Enforcement Sweeps in Big Markets

A Broadcaster’s 2020 Regulatory Calendar – Looking at Some of the Important Dates for the Year Ahead

University Pays $76,000 Fine to Settle Complaint About Underwriting Announcements on Noncommercial Station that Went Too Far

Comments Due March 9 on FCC Proposal to Allow All-Digital AM Stations

While You Were on Vacation….Looking at FCC Regulatory Actions over the Holidays and Deadlines for January

January 22 Deadline for Comments on FCC Proposal to Change Rule Prohibiting Duplication of Radio Programming

FCC Postpones Filing Deadline for First Annual Children’s Television Programming Report and Announces Effectiveness of Other Changes in Children’s Television Rules

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