Broadcast Deadlines: September 4, 2020 Improving Low Power FM Radio Rules – Comments are due in response to two petitions for reconsideration in MB Dockets 19-193 and 17-105, filed by Foundation for a Beautiful Life and Todd Urick et al. September 14, 2020 Improving Low Power FM Radio Rules – Reply Comments are due in … Continue Reading
Broadcast Deadlines: May 4, 2020 FM Boosters and Hyper-local Broadcasting – Comments are due with regard to a petition for rulemaking by GeoBroadcast Solutions LLC asking the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) to permit radio broadcasters to use single frequency network (SFN) technology to provide hyper-local programming, emergency alerting, and advertising.… Continue Reading
There are a number of upcoming FCC filing deadlines over the next three months that are relevant to broadcasters. You should review these carefully, as some are only applicable to certain licensees while others (the EEO-related and noncommercial ownership reports) are state-specific. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.… Continue Reading
A couple-three years ago, we warned readers that FCC staff were browsing the websites of broadcast stations, checking for compliance with the EEO rules. It appears that that practice continues.… Continue Reading
Here's an opportunity for the FCC to clean up at least one aspect of its EEO "Broadcast Mid-Term Report" (FCC Form 397) that seems oddly and unnecessarily confusing, if not flat-out inconsistent.… Continue Reading
The FCC has given us a glimpse of what EEO enforcement is likely to look like for the foreseeable future: continued emphasis on detailed record-keeping despite the absence of any indication that any unlawful employment discrimination has occurred.… Continue Reading
Last month, in a blog posting about apparent FCC monitoring of station websites (to see if stations’ Form 397s – the mid-term EEO report – are being posted on those websites), we indicated that Form 397 is required to be posted on the website of each station required to submit a Form 397. That was based … Continue Reading
By now all radio and TV licensees with "station employment units" (SEUs) having five or more full-time employees should be in the habit of preparing the annual EEO report that must be placed in the station’s local public inspection file each year on the anniversary of the due date for their renewal application. Those annual reports … Continue Reading