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
President Joe Biden has announced that he plans to nominate Anna Gomez to serve as an FCC Commissioner. Currently, Gomez is a Senior Advisor to the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. She previously served as the Deputy Administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and held a variety of roles … 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
On April 24, 2023 the FCC released its most recent list of broadcast stations that will be audited regarding their compliance with the FCC’s Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) rules. Licensees of the audited stations will have to upload their audit responses to their online public inspection files by June 8, 2023. Approximately twice per year, … Continue Reading
During her address today at the 2023 NAB Show, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared two developments in the Next Generation Television (“Next Gen TV” or “ATSC 3.0”) rulemaking. The Future of Television Initiative The Chairwoman introduced the Future of Television initiative (the “Initiative”), a private-public leadership group hosted by the NAB, dedicated to “develop[ing] a … Continue Reading
On March 30, 2023, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) seeking comment on the following proposed rules for a one-year filing window for eligible LPTV stations to apply for conversion to Class A designation: Eligibility Requirements The Commission proposes three eligibility requirements that LPTV stations must meet to apply for conversion to … Continue Reading
On March 9, 2023, the FCC’s spectrum auction authority expired for the first time since it was initially granted in 1993. The authority enabled the FCC to auction spectrum when it received conflicting applications for a frequency in the wireless or broadcast services. Under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the FCC’s spectrum auction authority … Continue Reading
At the FCC Commissioners’ meeting on March 16, the FCC imposed new STIR/SHAKEN and robocall mitigation requirements on all providers, including intermediate providers and regardless of their STIR/SHAKEN implementation status. All providers are now required to take “reasonable steps” to mitigate illegal robocall traffic and must submit a certification and mitigation plan to the Commission’s … Continue Reading
March 31 Supply Chain Annual Report – Providers of advanced communications services that purchased, rented, leased, or otherwise obtained covered communications equipment and services on the Covered List in 2022 must submit an annual report on or before March 31, 2023 covering information as of December 31, 2022. The current version of the Covered List … Continue Reading
On March 7, 2023, Gigi Sohn, President Biden’s nominee to the Federal Communications Commission, withdrew following a bitter 16-month lobbying battle which blocked her Senate confirmation. Ms. Sohn was first nominated on October 26, 2021, but failed to receive a confirmation vote in the Senate. The White House renominated Sohn on January 3, 2023. From 2013 … 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
After a drawn-out Senate battle last year which resulted in no confirmation, President Joe Biden has once again nominated Gigi Sohn for the fifth FCC Commissioner seat. Sohn, a former top FCC adviser, is also the co-founder of Public Knowledge, a non-profit advocating for copyright, telecommunications, and internet policies. If confirmed, Sohn would fill out … Continue Reading
In an order released on November 17, 2022, the FCC dictates in detail the specific words that an Internet service provider must use when communicating with its customers. The FCC has adopted new rules requiring specific information (referred to as the broadband consumer label) to be displayed at the point of sale when offering mass-market … Continue Reading
The FCC Launches Formal Review of How to Bring Non-IP Phone Networks into Caller ID Authentication Ecosystem to Protect Consumers On October 27, 2022, the FCC released a Notice of Inquiry which launches a formal review to consider ways to improve the accuracy of robocall blocking and consumer warning tools for phone networks that are … Continue Reading
December 1, 2022 Television License Renewal Applications Due – Applications for renewal of license for television stations located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island must be filed in LMS. These applications must be accompanied by Schedule 396, the Broadcast EEO Program Report, also filed in LMS, regardless of the number of … Continue Reading
Earlier this year, new FCC rules went into effect requiring radio and television stations to broadcast Sponsorship ID disclosures for programming provided by foreign governmental entities. Yesterday, the federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down one part of those requirements: the requirement for broadcasters to independently confirm the sponsor’s status by consulting … Continue Reading
Capitol Hill Although President Trump criticized the final $900 billion COVID-relief legislative package (containing both COVID-relief and an omnibus spending bill that averted a government shutdown) for providing too little financial relief to Americans and too much wasteful spending, on December 27 he signed the package into law.… Continue Reading
Back in August, we wrote about the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) decision to end the prohibition of commonly owned radio stations in the same service (AM or FM) that have 50% or more overlap of their primary service contours from duplicating more than 25% of their programming. Now that the decision is published in the Federal Register, it … Continue Reading
In correspondence with members of Congress, Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Chairman Ajit Pai had signaled that an application filing window for new Noncommercial Educational (“NCE”) stations would be opening sometime fairly soon. In a Public Notice (“PN”) released October 19, the FCC confirmed that a filing window will be coming. The specific dates of the … Continue Reading
The Federal Communications Commission recently released a Report and Order (“Order”) to promote the use of the STIR/SHAKEN framework (which we wrote a useful primer on) in combatting caller ID spoofing. The FCC is giving carriers until June 30, 2021 to implement STIR/SHAKEN. However, if a carrier wants to receive exemption from the Caller ID … Continue Reading
On August 31, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) released its Report and Order (Order) establishing new methodologies for calculating 2020 annual regulatory fees, which are due September 25, 2020. In the Order, the FCC flatly rejected arguments by the National Association of Broadcasters and others that the FCC’s new calculation methodology … Continue Reading
In a rare move this week, Commissioner Michael O’Rielly – a Republican – had his re-nomination to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rescinded by President Trump. O’Rielly’s re-nomination first stalled last week when Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, put it on hold over objections to an FCC decision allowing … Continue Reading
