Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 22, 2009

A decision released by the FCC's Media Bureau staff this week makes clear that the permittee of a noncommercial station , who was awarded the permit based on a 307(b) preference , cannot change transmitter sites so as to abandon service to the area that it promised to cover in order to get the preference - even if it proposes to cover an equivalent amount of underserved area from its new transmitter site.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 14, 2009

In a speech to the Free Press Summit , Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps suggested that broadcast license renewals should no longer be a "postcard", but instead should be a real test of the broadcaster's service to the public interest - and should happen every three years, rather than on the eight year renewal cycle that is currently provided for by the law.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 16, 2009

The full text of the FCC's revisions to its ownership report filing process was released last week. The new rules will require that all commercial stations (including LPTV stations) file an updated Form 323 on November 1 every other year - starting in 2009. The Order does not add much to the summary that we provided when the decision was first announced, though it does make clear that the electronic form will be revised to no longer allow for PDF attachments, instead requiring that all informati

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 15, 2009

Last month, the FCC released its proposal to restrict the movement of FM stations from rural areas into larger markets (which we summarized here ). The proposals that the FCC has put forward would greatly restrict the ability of broadcast owners to move stations to cover larger population areas - in many senses reversing the decision of the FCC just two years ago granting stations more flexibility to change cities of license and otherwise improve their facilities (see our posts here and here ).

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 13, 2009

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee today approved a bill that would impose, for the first time, a royalty on radio broadcasters for the public performance of sound recordings in their over-the-air broadcasts. if this bill were to be adopted by the full House of Representatives and the Senate, and signed by the President, broadcasters would have to pay for the use of sound recordings (the actual recording of a song by a particular musical artist) in addition to the royalties that th

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 29, 2009

In a truly eleventh-hour decision, the FCC released an Order late Friday evening suspending the filing of FCC Form 323 Ownership Reports that would otherwise be due on Monday, June 1st for certain broadcast stations. In its recent Report and Order adopted in the proceeding devoted to Promoting Diversification of Ownership in the Broadcasting Services , the Commission revised its rules to implement a single November 1st filing deadline for all commercial broadcast stations to submit an ownership

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 25, 2009

This past week, I attended the BIAfn Winning Media Strategies Conference in Washington, DC. During the course of the conference, there was much talk about how broadcasters and publishers need to provide unique service to their communities in order to survive in the competitive media marketplace. The point was made over and over again that, in each market there are unique attributes and personalities that a station should be covering in its programming, and should be exploiting even more broadly

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 19, 2009

In a case released this week, the FCC decided to forgive a fine that had been imposed on a radio station for not timely filing its license renewal (and for operating after the license expired without authority). The fine was eliminated because the station's operator had declared bankruptcy , and the persons who were in charge of the station at the time of the violation were no longer involved in its operation.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 18, 2009

The FCC today issued a Notice of Inquiry into the use of the Portable People Meter technology of radio audience measurement now being rolled out by Arbitron in radio markets throughout the country. Several months ago, various groups petitioned the FCC for an inquiry into the PPM, contending that it has certain methodological flaws that undercounted particular groups, including minority groups, and thus could have an impact on the financial viability of the stations listened to by such groups (se

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 16, 2009

In light of the recent decision upholding the FCC's right to sanction licensees for violations of the FCC's Indecency rules for " fleeting expletives " in the Golden Globes and Billboard music awards, i.e. isolated profanity on the airwaves, the Supreme Court also remanded the Janet Jackson case to the Court of Appeals. The one sentence remand (see page 2 of the list of orders) was so that the Court of Appeals could consider the impact of the fleeting expletives case on the Court of Ap

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 6, 2009

National Association of Broadcasters President David Rehr today announced his decision to leave the Association, leaving the NAB without a leader at a time when the Association is facing an incredible number of challenges in Washington. One can only hope that the NAB acts quickly to replace Rehr with someone prepared to aggressively address the needs of an industry hobbled by the current economic climate, and challenged by regulatory issues that could further undermine the ability of radio and t

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 3, 2009

A recent stir was created when a Midwestern television company was reported to have signed a contract with a state government agency, promising to market the agency and its programs throughout the state. This promotion was to include a segment in the company's televised news promoting the effects of the work of the agency. Questions were immediately raised about whether this was prohibited by FCC rules.

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Broadcast Law Blog

MAY 3, 2009

We’re not even in what most would consider election season - except for the two states with off-year governor’s contests and those other states with various state and municipal elections. Yet political ads are running on broadcast stations across the country. Republican groups have announced plans to run ads attacking certain Democratic Congressmen who are perceived as vulnerable, while certain Democratic interest groups have run ads about the positions of Republicans on the Obama st

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