Dates to Remember
August 1, 2025
Radio and TV Stations located in North Carolina... Read More
A letter to the FCC from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo complaining about loud commercials and questioning enforcement efforts has prompted the Media Bureau to request comments on the effectiveness of the FCC’s rules mitigating loud commercials and whether they need to be updated. Comments are due June 3, 2021. The original rules were adopted in 2011, […]
Read More →The FCC has adopted an order updating its sponsorship identification rules to require disclosures of foreign government-provided programming on broadcast stations in certain circumstances. The new requirements apply when stations lease time to any entity or individual that is a foreign government, a foreign political party, an agent acting on behalf of such entities, or […]
Read More →In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the Third Circuit and reinstated the broadcast station ownership rule changes that were adopted by the FCC in 2017. In doing so, the Court emphatically underscored the principle that federal courts are required to defer to the decisions of expert federal agencies. In some circles, […]
Read More →April 1, 2021 Radio Stations located in Texas – deadline to file license renewal application and EEO program report; on-air/online announcements and public file certifications are required under the new local public notice rule. Television Stations located in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee – deadline to file license renewal application and EEO program report; on-air/online announcements […]
Read More →In recent weeks, the FCC’s Media and Enforcement Bureaus have issued advisories or reminders on certain broadcast station obligations. Typically, such reminders are issued when the Bureaus begin seeing a recurring issue or realize that there may be some widespread non-compliance. Both Bureau reminders were issued on March 12, 2021, but on different topics. The […]
Read More →Some of our readers and clients have recently asked about the status of a few items at the FCC, so we thought it best to also give an update here. While the FCC has announced Auction 109 for four commercial AM and 136 commercial FM construction permits, and requested comment on proposed bidding procedures, it […]
Read More →The Regional Director of Region Two of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau recently issued two Notices of Violation to broadcast stations whose operations were creating unattenuated and therefore spurious emissions on frequencies removed from their authorized frequency by more than the FCC’s rules allowed. The two NOVs can be found here and here. In the second […]
Read More →For the 200 broadcast stations included in the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s EEO Audit announced on February 25, 2021, the deadline to respond is April 26, 2021. Audit responses must be uploaded to the FCC-hosted station online public inspection file in the EEO Audits, Investigations and Complaints subfolder. The station’s facility identification number and an e-mail […]
Read More →The FCC recently designated the renewal application of a broadcast station for a hearing before an administrative law judge on the question of whether the licensee is fit to remain so in light of the extended periods of station silence during the prior license term. The Order notes that the basic duty of broadcast licensees […]
Read More →The FCC regularly fines tower owners for failing to submit ownership changes in the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration System. A recent reminder of this requirement from the FCC included a note that there is inconsistent compliance with the tower ownership change process. The system for doing so was revised in February 2019 and requires the […]
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