The Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) was originally envisioned as a true people’s broadband radio service – one that would be either free or highly affordable for small, locally-based operations of limited breadth and duration. The paradigm was a conscious break from the Metropolitan Statistical Area – or- larger sized service areas with 10-year renewable … Continue Reading
Satellites – even small ones – need radio spectrum. Without radios to communicate, a satellite is just a hunk of metal and plastic in the sky. The first man-made satellite, the Russian Sputnik in 1957, carried nothing but a radio transmitter. It sent a sequence of beeps that said: I am here. Early communications satellites … Continue Reading
On Friday, March 23 President Trump signed a $1.3 trillion appropriations bill that will mean some significant changes to the broadcasting community. The 2,232-page omnibus bill not only includes an additional $1 billion for spectrum repack on top of the already $1.75 billion already allocated, but also changes how broadcasters are treated in terms of … Continue Reading
Satellites? What Satellites? Oh, Those Satellites! We all have our “Oops!” moments – locking ourselves out of the house, losing the passport, missing a stop sign with the police right there… so we know how the folks at Swarm Technologies may have felt after their launch partner put into orbit a multiple-satellite payload, including four … Continue Reading
The FCC voted today to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order looking toward issuing licenses for frequencies above 95 GHz. That’s GigaHertz, not MegaHertz – way up there, beyond the highest frequencies that are commonly used today, at least by the private sector. Historically, frequencies this high were not considered useful for communication … Continue Reading
Join us on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 from 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST for a political broadcasting rules refresher webinar! Presented in collaboration with the Colorado Broadcasters Association and Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, the webinar will be hosted by FHH’s all-star attorneys Frank Montero, Scott Johnson, and Dan Kirkpatrick. And, as an added bonus, … Continue Reading
Last week the FCC unanimously adopted a new member to the Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) family: the “Blue Alert.” Transmitted through the broadcast EAS and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) systems, the Blue Alert is a voluntary alert code that can be used by state and local authorities to alert the public of credible “threats to … Continue Reading
Florida Finds No Public Performance Right in Pre-1972 Sound Recordings If you have been following the ongoing saga regarding the attempts of pre-1972 (aka “oldies”) sound recording owners to collect royalties when those recordings are performed, you will know that some recent key court rulings have been issued near major holidays. For example, New … Continue Reading
Now that summer and beach season is over, the Commission has finally released the final listing of regulatory fees for 2017 and their due date. While it might not be as big of news as a Taylor Swift release, this is an important time for the Commission which has announced the final amounts due for … Continue Reading
We previously told you about the Christmas gift that New York’s highest state court had given to licensees that play “oldies” recordings by finding that the owners of those recordings had no right to demand payment when the recordings were publicly performed in New York. That ruling came in one of many lawsuits that Flo … Continue Reading
As we reported a few days ago, most large market radio stations are required to have their complete (but for a few exceptions) local public inspection files posted online by no later than Christmas Eve. Perhaps moved by the spirit of the holidays, the Commission has now granted a narrow exception to that requirement for … Continue Reading
A couple of weeks ago we reported on the FCC’s adoption of a new schedule of application fees. Since the new schedule ups fees across-the-board, anybody who was planning to file a fee-able application in the near term might want to file sooner rather than later, to take advantage of the outgoing fees before they, … Continue Reading
Normally non-controversial biennial action spiced up this year by partial dissent from Commissioner O’Rielly Thanks to Congress, the FCC has got to charge application fees and, also thanks to Congress, those fees have got to be adjusted every two years in light of changes in the Consumer Price Index. The last time the Commission tweaked … Continue Reading
We recently reported on the FCC’s announcement of the availability – for introductory test purposes – of the soon-to-be-mandatory Online Public Inspection File (OPIF) system that it has developed. The new test site, launched by the Commission as of May 12, is intended to let all newbies to the online public file world get familiar … Continue Reading
“Local” no more – as of June 24, new “OPIF” will be up and running … but a demo can – AND SHOULD – be checked out NOW Last January we reported on the FCC’s decision to expand its online public inspection file (now officially referred to as “OPIF”) requirement to include radio broadcasters, cable … Continue Reading
In connection with second-ever nationwide EAS test (now scheduled for September), FCC introduces new EAS Test Reporting System If you participate in the Emergency Alert System, it’s time to get out your calendars and circle Wednesday, September 28, 2016 – because we now know that that’s the day on which our friends at the Federal … Continue Reading
Concluding a proceeding begun a mere 18 months ago, the Commission has extended its online public file requirement well beyond the broadcast TV industry. To no one’s real surprise, the FCC has decided to expand its online public inspection file requirement – first imposed on television broadcasters in 2012 – to include radio broadcasters, cable … Continue Reading
You’ve got until February 4 to ante up to participate in any or all of the three. A lot of attention has been devoted to the Webcasting IV decision which the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) announced on December 16, 2015 (and then promptly revised on December 24). (Don’t be embarrassed if you’re not up to … Continue Reading
Fire up your computer, free up some space on your credit cards and get your FRN information ready – you’ve got until SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 to get your reg fees paid … but don’t count on paying between 6:00 p.m., September 2 and 8:00 a.m., September 8. And we thought last year – when the … Continue Reading
Unlike California and New York, the Florida sun doesn’t shine on Flo & Eddie’s claim of performance rights for pre-1972 sound recordings. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Flo & Eddie were suing Sirius XM in California and New York, so why not do the same in Florida? What could possibly … Continue Reading
Settlement wraps up record labels’ lawsuit re pre-1972 performance rights They’re rejoicing in the Home for Old Musicians (not to mention the Home for Companies That Own Old Musicians’ Performance Copyrights). Sirius XM and several major record labels have settled one of the “Pre-1972” lawsuits that we’ve written about in the past. The result: Sirius … Continue Reading
While the FCC is moving unusually fast on this, we probably shouldn't be surprised. But the Commission's proposal is not without its ironies.… Continue Reading
