Dates to Remember
January 10, 2025
TV, Class A, AM & FM Stations (commercial... Read More
By a 3-2 vote, the FCC adopted a Report & Order reinstating EEO Form 395-B to collect race, gender and ethnicity of broadcast station employees. The form was thrown out as unconstitutional over 20 years ago when the data was used to enforce hiring quotas, and then suspended after another court rejected the FCC’s attempt […]
Read More →On February 1, the Media Bureau issued a public notice announcing the procedures being followed in processing the 1,336 low power FM applications filed during the early December 2023 filing window. The notice provides important details about singleton and mutually exclusive applications, amendments, and settlement agreements, including the timing for certain of those actions. Singleton […]
Read More →The FCC’s rule requiring a mid-term review of EEO compliance for broadcast stations kicked in last June 1 for radio stations and will begin this June 1 for television stations. Since license renewals are staggered by state over a three-year period, with radio starting first, and TV a year later, the mid-term review occurs using […]
Read More →January 31, 2024 Web Streaming Stations: deadline to remit annual license fee and related statement of account with SoundExchange for the statutory license allowing streaming of sound recordings on the web. Payment can be made on SoundExchange’s online filing portal “Licensee Direct.” February 1, 2024 Radio and TV Stations located in New Jersey, New York, […]
Read More →In a 3-2 vote, with both Republican-appointed Commissioners objecting, the FCC has approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement an application prioritization rule based upon applicants certifying that they air certain amounts of local programming. The FCC’s announced goal with the proposed rule is to incentivize stations to support “local journalism” and provide programming […]
Read More →If your full power or Class A television station did not complete and file a children’s television report and upload children’s television commercial limits documentation to its online public file by the January 30, 2024 deadline, you need to do so immediately. Failure to timely file the annual children’s television report, or reporting less than […]
Read More →Although the Report & Order and Further Rulemaking in the FCC’s EEO proceeding considering whether to reinstate the FCC’s Form 395-B, is on circulation among the Commissioners, it has not yet been made public, even in draft form. The item is also not included on the FCC’s February Open Meeting Agenda. It remains possible that […]
Read More →The full Commission recently issued an Order assessing a $26,000 monetary forfeiture for a broadcast licensee’s failure to upload an annual EEO public file report to the public files and websites of the stations in a specific station employment unit. The public file upload finally occurred 9 months after the deadline. While there were aggravating […]
Read More →In late January, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would make certain disaster reporting mandatory for broadcast stations. Many broadcasters are familiar with the current Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) where reports during a disaster on a station’s status are optional. The NPRM would make such reporting obligatory. In addition, the NPRM […]
Read More →The FCC’s Media Bureau announced a consent decree with a broadcast licensee that includes a $500,000 fine for violations of the FCC’s sponsorship identification and political file rules. The action stems from the licensee’s repeated failure to air sponsorship identification announcements for multiple episodes of, and numerous advertisements promoting a paid-for political program on multiple […]
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