The FCC has announced that the current freeze on major modification to Class A television, LPTV, and TV translator stations will be partially lifted to allow applications to change channels as of August 20, 2024, subject to certain limitations. Channel change applications will be permitted on a nationwide basis without geographic limitation. For the limited … Continue Reading
The FCC recently released a Notice of Apparent Liability (“NAL”) for a forfeiture of $8,000 that should be a cautionary tale for other broadcast licensees that conduct contests for listeners or viewers. This fine arose out of the station’s failure to conduct a contest in accordance with its announced terms, and specifically to make payment … Continue Reading
On December 21, 2023, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) proposing new reporting requirements for multichannel video programming distributors (“MVPDs”). The amendments to the FCC’s rules, if enacted, would give MVPDs 48 hours to notify the FCC when a blackout of 24 hours or more of a broadcast television station, or stations, … Continue Reading
On December 12, 2023, the FCC adopted a Report and Order (“R&O”) providing certain qualifying Low Power TV (“LPTV”) stations with a limited opportunity to convert to Class A status. The R&O came after the FCC circulated a draft last month and implements the requirements of the Low Power Protection Act (“LPPA”), which is intended … Continue Reading
All commercial, Class A, and Low Power television stations that provided feeable ancillary or supplemental services between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023 must file an Annual Ancillary/Supplemental Service Report by December 1, 2023. Reports are filed on a station-by-station basis in the FCC’s Licensing and Management System (LMS) on Form 317. “Ancillary or … Continue Reading
We remind parties with 12.7 – 13.25 GHz (“13 GHz”) Broadcast Auxiliary/Cable Relay licenses that you have until November 29, 2023 to make a filing at the FCC to protect those licenses, as the FCC moves towards repurposing some or all of that band for other uses. In a May 19, 2023 Notice of Proposed … Continue Reading
While it’s only July, TV station licensees should be mindful of an October 1st deadline for uploading to their station online public information file (“OPIF”), the station’s election of cable TV/satellite must-carry or retransmission consent status. Under the FCC’s rules, for full power and certain Class A/Low Power commercial TV stations, there is a three-year … Continue Reading
In a recently released Third Report and Order, the FCC has revised its Next Generation Broadcast Television (ATSC 3.0 or Next Gen TV) rules to enhance the transition from the current TV technology (ATSC 1.0). Among other things, the Order allows a Next Gen TV station to modify its license to include certain non-primary video … Continue Reading
One of the outcomes of the COVID-19 crisis – according to reports from many radio and televisions stations – has been a precipitous drop in spot sales and customers cancelling existing advertising contracts, leaving lots of airtime to fill. To fill that time, and to help other struggling businesses, some broadcasters have responded by offering … Continue Reading
Wondering how the federal government shutdown affects your broadcast station’s regulatory compliance obligations? Because some of the FCC’s online systems are up and running while others are not, it can be confusing as to what is still required of broadcasters. We have sorted through the confusion to help you understand what should still be prepared … Continue Reading
With the whirl of the holiday season upon us, most broadcasters rightly thought they could put off looking ahead to the next license renewal cycle until 2019. Au contraire, says the FCC, which began sending out blast emails to certain radio licensees on December 6, warning that FCC internal audits have revealed that many stations’ … Continue Reading
The FCC will vote this month on whether to consider adopting a set of rulings that would limit the authority of cable local franchise authorities (LFAs) in the franchising and regulation of cable systems in response to a recent court case that threatens to expand LFA authority over cable systems and their diverse service offerings. … Continue Reading
As we pack up our swimming trunks and beach umbrellas for the unofficial start of summer, the FCC this week issued its 2018 Regulatory Fee Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This NPRM puts in motion the process for payment of regulatory fees which will likely be due sometime in September. For the most part, the … Continue Reading
With primaries in some states happening as soon as March, the 2018 election cycle is certain to be contentious and hard-fought. Now is the time for broadcasters to review their systems to ensure that they will be in compliance with the FCC’s political advertising requirements. Now that all broadcast stations are required to place political … Continue Reading
Last Friday, the FCC published the December Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the national ownership cap in the Federal Register. As we wrote about back in December, the NPRM addresses the current prohibition on any entity owning or controlling television stations that reach more than 39 percent of US television households. The NPRM requests comment … Continue Reading
Effective Jan. 8, 2018, AM, FM, and television broadcast stations will no longer be required to maintain a main studio. The Commission voted back in October to eliminate the Main Studio Rule based on findings that the cost of maintaining a main studio outweighed the benefits. The Order was published in the Federal Register on … Continue Reading
It’s never too early to get a jump start on upcoming deadlines as the New Year approaches. Below is a list of upcoming FCC deadlines to keep on your radar. Note our list is not comprehensive. Other proceedings may apply to you. Please do not hesitate to contact FHH if you have any questions. January 10, 2018 … Continue Reading
New Opportunities for Next Gen Broadcasters and Simulcast “Host” Stations, but Controversies Remain. Yesterday, the FCC adopted a Report and Order authorizing television broadcasters to use the “Next Generation” broadcast television (Next Gen TV) transmission standard (also called “ATSC 3.0”) on a voluntary, market-driven basis. This Order may herald a revolutionary change in TV broadcasting, opening … Continue Reading
Believe it or not, the date by which all radio stations must have their complete public files online is now less than six months away. Television stations have been dealing with this reality for several years now, as have large stations in large markets for the past couple of years. Now, every radio station, both … Continue Reading
The Commission has acted to restore the UHF discount used to calculate audience reach in connection with determining compliance with television ownership limits. The national ownership cap currently limits the number of stations one owner may control to those which reach no more than 39 percent of national television households (with reach defined as the … Continue Reading
To spur participation in its incentive auction, the FCC early on adopted rules allowing full-power and Class A television licensees to share a single TV channel. That gave them an option to sell their spectrum to the Commission while also staying on the air. In 2015, the Commission expanded channel-sharing to low-power Television licensees and … Continue Reading
After teasing that such relief was coming, the FCC has confirmed a partial waiver of the limitations on communications for reverse auction participants. In other words, broadcasters who participated in the auction, regardless of whether they were successful bidders or will remain on the air, are now free to communicate with all parties about their … Continue Reading
On Friday, January 7, after the sun had set and the FCC’s doors were locked for the night, the agency released two decisions addressing complaints that a dozen TV stations did not provide sufficiently complete information about political advertising in their public inspection files during the 2016 Presidential campaign. That sounds kind of like a … Continue Reading
If you’re among the thousands about to be subjected to the FCC’s new Online Public Inspection File (OPIF) system, listen up. The Commission has announced that it will be presenting its webinar on how that system works on Monday, June 13, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. (ET). As we suggested last month when the FCC set … Continue Reading
