Dates to Remember
October 1, 2026
Deadline for all Full Power Commercial and No... Read More
October 1, 2026 Deadline for all Full Power Commercial and Noncommercial Television stations to place their 2027-29 carriage election statement in the public file (and if applicable, email the election to any MVPD providers for which carriage is initially being sought or changed) and deadline for all Class-A and Low Power Television stations eligible for […]
Read More →The FCC announced a National EAS Test for November 17, 2026, at 2:20 pm ET. In advance of the test, all EAS participant broadcast stations must either update or file ETRS Form 1 by October 30, 2026. ETRS Form 2 must be filed on or before 2:20 pm ET November 19, 2026, to report test […]
Read More →On September 30, 2026, the Commission is expected to adopt an order revising the Commission’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules to clarify which Commission actions meet the amended NEPA statute’s definition of Major Federal Action (MFA) and trigger required compliance with NEPA. Currently, new tower construction – for wireless or broadcast use – requires […]
Read More →Television station WGBP-TV was reassigned by Nielsen from the Designated Market Area (DMA) where its community of license is located (Columbus (GA)-Opelika) to the Atlanta DMA and tried to elect satellite carriage throughout both DMAs simultaneously. In its September 29, 2026 Memorandum Opinion & Order the Commission granted DISH Network’s Application for Review of a […]
Read More →Pursuant to section 73.671(d) of the Commission’s rules, the Media Bureau had referred five (5) TV station renewal applications to the Commission for assessment of whether the licensees complied with their obligation to offer programing designed to serve the educational and information needs of children (Core Programming) because they could not “demonstrate compliance with the […]
Read More →As noted in our August newsletter, the FCC’s cybersecurity rules for EAS equipment went into effect on September 29, 2026. If you are still confused about all of the new rules, last week, the Commission issued some Frequently Asked Questions (and answers). You can find them here.
Read More →Late September 2026 All Non-Exempt Commercial Broadcast Stations must remit annual regulatory fees during a to-be-set time period usually occurring in late September. The exact dates and amounts should be announced in late August 2026 September 29, 2026 All broadcast stations with EAS equipment: Effective date for new EAS rules requiring strong passwords, putting all […]
Read More →On Thursday, August 27, 2026 the FCC adopted an order setting the annual regulatory fees that will be due in September. The various FCC bureaus, including the Media Bureau, will now issue public notices on payment procedures, along with the deadline for remitting the annual fees. All commercial broadcast stations, unless exempt, must remit fees […]
Read More →The FCC has clarified the requirements for points system qualification for the 14-day noncommercial FM translator filing window scheduled to occur between November 4, 2026 at 12:01am ET and November 17, 2026 at 6pm ET. To qualify for filing window participation, applicants must already be licensee of the proposed FM translator’s primary station, however, the […]
Read More →Back in March, the FCC Media Bureau issued a public notice providing guidance to broadcasters that certain joint fundraising committees of political candidates and, in some cases, candidate-political party joint ads, were entitled to the lowest unit charge normally afforded only to candidates and their election committee. Opponents challenged the Media Bureau notice and the […]
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