The Oregon Association of Broadcasters honored retired Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth attorney Matt McCormick with the Tom McCall Leadership Award, which honors an individual for their outstanding service to the state and/or nation on behalf of the broadcast industry. The entire FHH family joins the Oregon Association of Broadcasters in offering their warmest congratulations to … Continue Reading
The House Subcommittee on Communications & Technology on Wednesday, May 24th unanimously advanced a bill to renew the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) authority to auction commercial airwaves and use the proceeds to pay for both next generation 911 and the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. The bipartisan 50-0 vote comes after the FCC’s … Continue Reading
June 1 Annual EEO Public Inspection File Report – Broadcasters with Station Employment Units comprised of radio and/or television stations with five or more full-time employees licensed to communities in Arizona, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wyoming must upload to the stations’ respective Online … Continue Reading
On the heels of the expiration of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, the FCC has announced that they too will be rescinding some pandemic-related relief measures. As of Monday, May 15th, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that, effective immediately, broadcasters will no longer be permitted to exclude free time that they provide … Continue Reading
The FCC announced today via Public Notice that mid-term EEO reviews for radio stations in DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia will begin on June 1. We discussed EEO mid-term reviews earlier this year in anticipation of this announcement. The Public Notice stated that “each television station that is part of an employment unit of … Continue Reading
We remind radio licensees that Spring marks the mid-point of the current license term for some. This mid-point is significant because it marks the beginning of the period during which the FCC will conduct mid-term reviews to determine compliance with EEO requirements for radio station employment units that employ 11 or more full-time employees. Even … Continue Reading
April 1, 2023 Delaware or Pennsylvania Television License Renewal Applications Due – Applications for renewal of FCC licenses for television stations licensed to Delaware or Pennsylvania must be filed in LMS, the FCC’s online filing system. Schedule 396 the Broadcast EEO Program Report must accompany these applications. EEO Public File Reports – All licensed full-service radio and television broadcast stations, … Continue Reading
On Friday, January 27, the FCC further extended the deadline for entities to complete certain required Online Public Inspection File (“OPIF”) uploads and certain Licensing and Management System (“LMS”) filings. The new due date for these uploads will be February 28, 2023. On January 6, 2023, following wide reports of technical challenges impacting licensee’s ability … Continue Reading
January 30, 2023 Children’s Television Programming Reports – Each commercial TV and Class A television station must electronically file its annual Children’s Television Programming Report, on FCC Form 2100 Schedule H, to report on programming aired by the station and other efforts in 2022 that were specifically designed to serve the educational and informational needs … Continue Reading
As many of you are aware – especially those subject to the looming January 10th issues/programs list upload deadline – the FCC’s online public file system has been painfully slow or nonfunctional since the beginning of this year. As a result, the FCC issued a public notice on Friday extending the time for uploading all … Continue Reading
The FCC advised December 15 that parties subject to the Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules (radio and television stations, wired and wireless cable television systems, digital broadcast systems, digital television broadcast stations, Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service, digital cable and digital audio broadcasting systems, and wireline video systems) must submit their annual Form One filings … Continue Reading
