CommLawBlog

Broadcast Deadlines: April 29, 2019: Quadrennial Review of Broadcast Ownership Rules – Comments are due with regard to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (MB Docket 18-349, FCC-18-179A1) which initiated the required 2018 Quadrennial Review of broadcast ownership rules. May 28, 2019: Deadline for Submission of Information on Earth Station and Satellite Use Of The C-Band...… Continue Reading

Has it been eight years already? It’s hard to believe, but yes – the license renewal cycle for radio stations is about to start over again, with preparatory on-air announcements already in progress. The TV cycle will start next year. In a Public Notice released today, The Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or the “Commission”) Media...… Continue Reading

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) issued a Public Notice on April 11, 2019 (DA 19-278) in the proceeding relating to the use of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band (referred to as the “C-band”). In its July 13, 2018 Order, the Commission announced that it would issue an information collection requirement for...… Continue Reading

On March 15, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) released a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) seeking comment on how the Commission can improve its secondary market rules for spectrum transactions. Specifically, the FCC wants to know whether and how it can improve its secondary market rules to get more spectrum in...… Continue Reading

WINDOW FOR LIMITING PRE-72 SOUND RECORDING OWNERS’ ABILITY TO COLLECT CRIPPLING DAMAGES AWARDS FROM YOU IS RAPIDLY CLOSING If you are an “Oldies” station – or you play more than a handful of songs from the early 60s/early 70s (or before) in a given week – then this post is for you. There is a...… Continue Reading

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) has opened a new frontier in the amount of spectrum available for unlicensed and experimental operations, adopting rules covering frequencies between 95 GHz and 3 THz (3,000 GHz). Once upon a time, the world’s techies thought that radio waves at extremely high frequencies (i.e., with very short...… Continue Reading

Full Power and Class A TV stations that are changing channels as part of the TV spectrum repack and are scheduled to transition in Phases 3, 5, and 8 have been granted relief from the obligation to file what would otherwise be duplicative transition reports close together in time. Full power and Class A stations...… Continue Reading

[Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of a 2-part series. Part 1, addressing repack funds for LPTV and TV Translator stations, is available here] As we reported in August 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) at that time released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking laying out how it would parcel out reimbursement funds...… Continue Reading

[Editor’s Note: This is part 1 of a two part series. Part 2, addressing repack funds for FM stations, will be available tomorrow] As we reported in August 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) at that time released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking laying out how it would parcel out reimbursement funds for...… Continue Reading

Broadcast Deadlines: April 1, 2019: License Renewal Pre-Filing Announcements – Radio stations located in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia must begin their pre-filing announcements with regard to their applications for renewal of license. These announcements must be continued on April 16, May 1, and May 16. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Public...… Continue Reading

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) has announced in a public notice on March 19, 2019, that it will lift the 9-year old freeze on applications for displacement relief and digital companion channels by Low Power Television and TV Translator stations (together, “LPTV”). Applications will be accepted starting April 18, 2019. The new...… Continue Reading

[Blogmeister’s Note: To re-state an obvious but important point that our blogger, Kevin, has previously made, neither he nor we are “employment” lawyers. But readers and others have expressed enough interest in the coming changes to the federal minimum wage and overtime rules that he thought it a good idea to take a look at...… Continue Reading

We are proud to congratulate retired FHH member Frank Jazzo on his recent recognition at the NAB State Leadership Conference. Overall, it was a wonderful presentation with some of his closest clients offering warm testimonials. Quite simply, “Frank Jazzo is the guy to know. He’s smart, he’s kind, he’s great at his job,” said John...… Continue Reading

In December we reported that the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) commenced their 2018 Quadrennial Review of media ownership rules by adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”). On February 28, that NPRM was published in the Federal Register, establishing the comment and reply comment dates in the proceeding. Comments on the NPRM...… Continue Reading

One of the most famous movie franchises ever is the “Rocky” series. From its origin as an underdog story where an unknown fighter named Rocky Balboa shocks the world by taking heavyweight champion Apollo Creed the distance (spoiler alert: only to lose the fight but get the girl) through sequels II (Rocky Wins!), III (Mr....… Continue Reading

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) continued its long-running fight against unwanted robocalls earlier this month, but the steps the Commission proposed may not make a significant impact immediately. On Friday, February 15th, the FCC released a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) seeking comment on issues associated with implementing new caller ID spoofing...… Continue Reading

There’s a green wave coming in the form of expanding marijuana legalization across the US, and many of the people trying to take advantage of this green wave are also trying to turn it into another kind of green: money. Broadcasters are also looking to take advantage of these new revenue opportunities, but because marijuana...… Continue Reading

Broadcast Deadlines – March 11, 2019: Additional Steps to Revitalize the AM Radio Service – Reply comments are due in response to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with regard to revised alternative proposals regarding interference protection to Class A AM radio stations. April 1, 2019: Equal...… Continue Reading

Anyone who has filed an application for a new noncommercial educational (NCE) station or a new Low Power FM (LPFM) station knows that many traps beset the unwary throughout the process. If you fall into one of those traps, your chance of success can be severely injured. On Valentine’s Day, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”...… Continue Reading

On February 14, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC,” or the “Commission”) released a Report and Order in which it eliminated the requirement that certain broadcast television and radio stations file a Broadcast Mid-Term Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Report (Form 397). As we reported back in January, the FCC found that the Form 397 reporting...… Continue Reading

As we reported back in December, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Report and Order that would eliminate the need to post and maintain broadcast licenses at a physical location. The Commission’s stated goal is to modernize U.S. “media rules and remove unnecessary regulatory burdens that impede competition and innovation in the media marketplace.”...… Continue Reading

Last month I participated in a webinar with my colleague Dan Kirkpatrick where we addressed the issue of advertising controversial products. While the topic of marijuana advertising (which we discussed in our webinar) gets much attention these days–especially with the recent decision by CBS to turn down a cannabis ad for the Super Bowl–we also...… Continue Reading

As we reported, immediately after reopening from the Federal government shutdown, the FCC extended most filing deadlines that would have fallen during the shutdown to January 30, 2019. Upon review, the FCC has now further extended many of those deadlines. In a Public Notice released on January 30, the Commission’s Bureaus and Offices collectively retained the...… Continue Reading

As we reported early in the government shutdown, the FCC proactively extended most filing deadlines until one business day after the first day the FCC was re-opened post-shutdown. Now that the government (including the FCC) has reopened, the Commission has further extended that deadline by one additional day. As a result, most filings that would have been...… Continue Reading

In collaboration with the Colorado Broadcasters Association, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth’s Frank Montero and Dan Kirkpatrick presented a webinar covering guidelines for broadcasters on how to handle controversial advertising and proper sponsorship identification. Frank and Dan discussed many aspects of Federal and state regulation pertaining to advertising on potentially problematic subjects, including marijuana, tobacco, alcohol, and...… Continue Reading

On December 12, the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or “Commission”) three Republican Commissioners were in a self-congratulatory mood for standing with consumers against unwanted robotexts by classifying text messaging as a Title I service, but did the Commission’s classification decision really mark a major TCPA victory for consumers? Probably not. As Sekoia Rogers detailed on...… Continue Reading

On January 3, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) released a proposed Report and Order which would eliminate the requirement that certain broadcast television and radio stations file a Broadcast Mid-Term EEO Report (Form 397). The Commission released the proposed Report and Order for adoption at its public meeting scheduled for January...… Continue Reading