Dates to Remember
August 1, 2026
Radio and TV Stations located in North Carolina... Read More
Last month, we reported on two separate orders by the FCC’s Media Bureau Video Division Chief directing two TV station owners to file early license renewal applications amidst separate ongoing investigations of both groups. One of those TV station group owners, Bridge News, LLC, filed a May 19th petition for reconsideration of the FCC’s April […]
Read More →The current Republican majority at the FCC has been hyper-focused on broadcaster “public interest” requirements over the past year, casting many issues, including news distortion, live sports, political candidate access to stations, underwriting, EEO compliance and even payola, through a “public interest” lens. On the heels of ordering early license renewals as detailed in our […]
Read More →The portions of the FCC’s Foreign Sponsorship Identification rule implementing modified certification options and the rule’s applicability to paid issue advertising and public service announcements will become effective June 7. Sponsor certifications using your own format or via FCC-provided template in Appendix C of its Report & Order, or programmer provided screen-shots, can be used […]
Read More →A few weeks ago, the FCC published new guidance clarifying how it interprets whether candidate appearances on TV late night shows qualify as exempt from triggering equal time rights for other candidates, stating that it would no longer consider every such program to be a bona fide news interview program. Instead, the circumstances of each […]
Read More →On May 11, 2026, the FCC announced an auction for certain specified FM station construction permits and scheduled it for February 2, 2027. A public notice seeking comment on the auction procedures can be found here, with comments due June 9. A filing freeze related to the allotted FM facilities went into effect on May […]
Read More →The FCC announced June 18 as the effective date for updates to Parts 73 and 74 of its rules governing full power and low power broadcast stations. The rule changes were adopted back in March to delete several obsolete rule portions, better reflect current application processing requirements, codify existing practices, and remove references to outdated […]
Read More →June 1, 2026 Radio and TV Stations located in Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia and West Virginia: if five (5) full time employee threshold is met, prepare EEO public file report covering the period from ‘June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026, upload it to the station […]
Read More →On April 28, 2026, the FCC’s Media Bureau Video Division Chief issued an Order requiring Disney’s ABC to file early renewal applications for its eight owned television stations as part of an ongoing investigation. The Order cites to the ongoing investigation launched last year into the stations’ DEI practices and for non-compliance with the Communications […]
Read More →In a 33-page final order effective April 22, 2026, the Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Agency reclassified marijuana as a Schedule III drug. Previously, it was a Schedule 1 drug. In addition, the DEA has announced an expedited hearing for June 29, 2026 to consider other federal law changes that may be needed as a […]
Read More →On April 22, 2026 the FCC’s Media Bureau opened a docket seeking public comment on TV parental guidelines and television content ratings. Comments are due by May 22 and reply comments by June 22. Industry adopted TV ratings (by age and content) have been in place for over 25 years and is used voluntarily by […]
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