Several recent broadcast trade press articles summarized a Public Notice released this past week by the FCC’s Media Bureau.  The Notice deals with the processing of certain broadcast applications when a licensee has a pending “remedial” petition for declaratory ruling seeking to correct noncompliance with the Commission’s foreign ownership rules.  The articles suggest that the Public Notice would have wide impact, and that several pending applications would be held up by the FCC’s new processing policy.  In fact, this decision is limited in its application only to broadcasters who, through no fault of their own, find that they no longer comply with the foreign ownership limits set out in Section 310(b) of the Communications Act and ask in a “remedial petition” for what is essentially retroactive approval of the foreign ownership that exceeds the 25% limit imposed on aggregate foreign interests (voting or equity) in companies that control broadcast licensees. 

The Public Notice does not deal with companies who ask for permission to have foreign ownership in excess of 25% in advance of those owners acquiring their interests.  In cases where a controlling interest in the company is proposed to be held by foreign owners who have not previously been approved by the Commission, specific FCC approval is required for that acquisition to occur through a forward-looking petition for declaratory ruling.  That is not a “remedial petition.”  Similarly, the Public Notice has no impact on companies that filed Petitions seeking approval for future changes in ownership that would exceed the 25% ownership threshold but would not involve a change in control.  Where a company is seeking advance approval for a non-controlling foreign interest in excess of 25%, the processing of currently pending applications by the company should not be impacted. 

Continue Reading FCC Media Bureau Public Notice on Processing Applications When “Remedial” Foreign Ownership Petition Is Pending – What Is It All About?

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

  • The FCC announced that it will hold Auction 114, beginning on February 2, 2027, making available 132 channels on which new FM stations can be built.  This includes 33 construction permits that were offered but not sold in prior auctions.  The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) released a Public Notice proposing procedures for the auction.  The OEA seeks comment on its proposed procedures including the auction timeline, minimum bid amounts, bidding eligibility, and default payments.  A list of the vacant FM allotments to be offered for sale in Auction 114 can be found here.  Comments and reply comments responding to the OEA’s Public Notice are due June 9 and June 24, respectively. For more on Auction 114, see our discussion on our Broadcast Law Blog here.
    • To allow Auction 114 to occur, the FCC’s Media Bureau also released a Public Notice announcing a filing freeze on applications proposing modifications to any of the vacant FM allotments included in the auction.  The Bureau states that the freeze, which began on May 11, will continue until the day after the post-Auction 114 long-form construction permit applications are due.
  • The FCC announced that comments and reply comments are due June 15 and June 29, respectively, responding to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to amend the Audible Crawl Rule, which requires TV broadcasters to provide an audio description of visual, nontextual emergency information (radar maps or other graphics) displayed during non-newscast programming on a secondary audio stream (the SAP Channel).  The FCC proposes dropping the requirement if a station provides a textual crawl on screen with the same information as in the visual image and if audio of the text is aired on the SAP Channel (as already required for such textual alerts). 
  • State broadcast associations representing broadcasters in all 50 states plus those in DC and Puerto Rico issued a resolution asking that Congress reexamine the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to determine if the antitrust exemptions provided to sports leagues to negotiate collectively for rights to telecast their games still made sense given the radical change in the television marketplace and the migration of many sports to streaming and other pay services.  The NAB applauded that call for Congressional review.  These actions appear to be related to the recent FCC proceeding to review sports broadcasting and its relationship to the FCC’s obligation to regulate broadcasting in the public interest (see our article here). 
  • FCC Commissioner Gomez sent a letter to Disney/ABC regarding the FCC’s recent investigations of the company for alleged violations of the FCC’s rules.  Gomez asserts that the investigations were politically motivated attempts to put pressure on Disney to dictate its programming choices, which violated the company’s First Amendment right citing, among other things, that the FCC pursued investigating Disney on alleged equal time issues while ignoring other broadcasters’ activities subject to the same rule because the FCC was seeking protecting speech that it favors while punishing speech it opposes.  Gomez also claims that the Media Bureau’s January Public Notice (see our discussion here), which changed the common interpretation of a fundamental principle of political broadcasting law for the last thirty years that the “news interview” exception from the equal time rules was to be interpreted broadly, was issued specifically to create new exposure for broadcasters that the FCC wanted to target. 
  • The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology and the Media Bureau announced the release of Version 2.3.1 of TVStudy, which broadcasters use to perform TV station coverage and interference analysis for allotment petitions and modification applications.  More information on the changes can be found here.
  • The FCC announced that comments are due July 13 in response to the following radio station community of license change proposals: WJZA(AM), from Hapeville, Georgia, to North Decatur, Georgia; WNJE(AM), from Trenton, New Jersey, to Jobstown, New Jersey; WKTQ(FM), from Oakland, Maryland, to Chalkhill, Pennsylvania; KDFM(FM), from Falfurrias, Texas, to Premont, Texas; WKBC-FM, from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Stony Point, North Carolina; and WWZG(FM), from Tompkinsville, Kentucky, to Park City, Kentucky.
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued Notices of Violation against four Texas and Illinois LPFM and FM translator stations after the Bureau’s inspection of their stations revealed FCC rule violations.  The Bureau found a Texas FM translator failed to rebroadcast its designated primary station and failed to file a modification application to change its antenna.  A Texas FM translator and a Texas LPFM station were cited for failing to notify the FCC that they were silent after their equipment was removed from their transmitter sites.  An Illinois LPFM station was found to be operating at a location not authorized by its license, as was its studio transmitter link.  The stations must now explain to the Bureau how they will correct their rule violations and prevent future violations from occurring and, based on their responses, it will consider whether these stations will be subject to penalties for their alleged violations. 
  • The FCC submitted its semi-annual report to Congress on U.S.-based foreign media outlets.  The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA) requires U.S.-based foreign media outlets to register with the FCC.  These are entities that produce or distribute video programming transmitted, or intended for transmission, by multichannel video programming distributors in the United States and are agents of a foreign entity or government.  Under the NDAA, the FCC must update Congress every six months with a list of the U.S.-based foreign media outlets that registered with the FCC between October 12, 2025 and April 11, 2026.  As was the case with many past reports, the report stated that no foreign-based media outlets registered with the FCC.
  • The Media Bureau released an Order deleting vacant FM Channel 277C at Freeport, Texas from the FM Allotments Table because the allotment did not comply with the FCC’s minimum distance separation requirements.  The Bureau deleted the allotment after a staff engineering analysis determined that the vacant FM channel was short-spaced by 182 kilometers to vacant Channel 277C2 at Wharton, Texas, and there were no alternate channels available to resolve the short-spacing conflict.

The FCC this week proposed an auction for the rights to construct new FM stations on 132 FM channels – the first such auction of new FM stations since 2021.  The auction is proposed for February 2027, although interested parties will need to submit “short form” applications to participate in the auction at some point prior to that date.  The proposed procedures for the auction are set out in a Public Notice – and those procedures contain new wrinkles from those of past FM auctions. The list of available channels is in a separate document here,  That document also lists the proposed minimum bids for those channels.  The FCC also issued a Press Release about the auction and a Public Notice announcing an immediate freeze on any application or rulemaking petition that would affect any of the channels listed in the auction notice.

The channels available to be auctioned comprise a mix of channels available in previous auctions that were not sold in those auctions, plus new channels that have been allotted since the last auction, and a few channels where active licenses for operating stations had been cancelled.  Following the last auction, we wrote about the number of channels that had gone unsold, and suggested that the high minimum bids might have been one reason that some channels did not sell in that auction. The Commission seemed to take the same message from the number of unsold channels in the last auction, as the opening bids in this auction are substantially lower for some of the holdover channels.

Continue Reading FCC Proposes Auction for New FM Stations – 132 Channels to be Available in February 2027 Auction

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

  • Disney/ABC filed a Petition for Declaratory Ruling, at the order of the FCC’s Media Bureau, concerning the status of “The View” as a bona fide news interview program exempt from the FCC’s equal opportunity rules.  ABC contended that it was unprecedented for the Bureau to order a licensee to file a Petition for Declaratory Ruling, particularly as ABC received such a ruling from Bureau in 2002 concluding that the View is a bona fide news interview program.  As that 2002 ruling has never been modified or repealed, any new petition is unnecessary.  ABC’s petition also questions the validity of the Media Bureau’s January Public Notice (which we wrote about on our Broadcast Law Blog here), contending that the Bureau cannot change 40 years of prior FCC precedent that programs are exempt from the equal time rules as bona fide news interview programs exempt from equal time even without an explicit FCC declaratory ruling when, like “The View,” they are regularly scheduled and controlled by the program’s producers and where candidate appearances are chosen based on newsworthiness and not to benefit particular candidates.  Citing the FCC’s investigation of whether the February appearance of Democratic Texas Senatorial candidate James Talarico on the “The View” violated the equal time rules (see our note here), ABC also argues that any attempt by the FCC to find that the appearance was contrary to the rules would violate the First Amendment, and that such an action would be prohibited viewpoint discrimination based on the perceived political viewpoints expressed on the program, noting that no similar investigation has been taken against radio stations in Texas who had Republican candidates on the air before the recent Texas primaries.
  • FCC Commissioner Gomez called on the FCC to conduct a full review of the foreign ownership interests involved in the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.  Gomez stated that Paramount’s recent petition to exceed the Communications Act’s foreign ownership limits set out in Section 310(b) (see our note here) raised concerns about the involvement of wealth funds run by foreign governments which have “documented records of press suppression and a troubling willingness to silence journalists.”  Absent FCC approval, Section 310(b) prohibits foreign entities, individuals, and governments from holding ownership interests of more than 20% in an FCC licensee and more than 25% in a U.S. entity directly or indirectly controlling an FCC licensee.  Gomez asked the FCC to initiate a rigorous review of Paramount’s foreign interests by releasing all related investment agreements, allowing public comment, and coordinating with national security agencies—including CFIUS and the DOJ National Security Division—before ruling on the merger.  Gomez noted that multiple members of Congress have also requested that the FCC closely scrutinize Paramount’s proposed foreign interests before any action.
  • FCC Chairman Car responded to a letter from Senators Cruz (R-TX) and Cantwell (D-WA) expressing their concerns about the FCC delegating the approval of the Nexstar-TEGNA merger to the Media Bureau (see our note here), writing that the Media Bureau had full authority to approve the transaction.  He noted that the Bureau had previously approved similarly sized mergers, and that it had the authority to waive the national TV ownership cap.  Carr also stated that the Bureau’s decision was not a final agency action and that parties have already petitioned the full Commission for review of the Bureau’s decision.
    • In another ownership decision, the Media Bureau granted the assignments of several TV stations from SagamoreHill and Block Communications to Gray Media, resulting Gray owning 2 full-power TV stations in the Columbus, GA-Opelika, AL DMA and 3 full-power TV stations in the Lubbock, TX and Louisville, KY DMAs.  As with its recent approvals of similar TV station assignments (see our notes here, here, here, and here), the Bureau rejected claims that the applicants had to show that the public interest justified owning two stations in a market as no special showing is needed after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the restriction on owning two top-4 stations in any market (see our article here).  The Bureau waived the Local TV Ownership Rule to allow Gray to own 3 stations in the Lubbock and Louisville DMAs finding successful independent ownership of the third stations was unlikely given their low ratings and revenue, and Gray’s common ownership of multiple stations in each market would enhance those stations’ local programming offerings.  The Bureau also found that other arguments about the harms from the proposed assignments were speculative. 
  • The Media and Wireless Telecommunications Bureaus jointly announced the designated Broadcast Auxiliary Service frequency coordinator for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.  Frequency coordination periods at each World Cup venue will cover a 5-kilometer radius around the venue and will start 5 days before a venue’s initial match, ending one day after the venue’s last match.  The Bureaus will permit low-power auxiliary stations to operate near the venues at power levels not exceeding 1 watt, on TV channels at least 40 kilometers from a TV station on that channel.  These actions are like those adopted for other major events such as national political conventions, presidential inaugurations, the Olympic Games, and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

On our Broadcast Law Blog, we discussed the impact of the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to move medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III on broadcaster ability to advertise marijuana products.

The Trump administration recently announced that it was taking steps to legalize some marijuana use under federal law.  In a Press Release from the Department of Justice, much was made of the relaxation of the marijuana rules – and many headlines trumpeted the action as if all marijuana use that has been “legalized” by state governments was now legal under federal law.  But a close reading of the accompanying Order released by the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration reveals that the actions have only moved medical marijuana legalized in any state from Schedule I (those drugs with no approved uses that are not permitted to be sold or distributed in almost any circumstance), to Schedule III (drugs that have approved uses and can be distributed under rules set out by the FDA).  Non-medical marijuana, so-called “recreational marijuana” approved in many states, remains on Schedule I.  We have written many times (see, for instance, our articles here and here) about concerns with advertising marijuana on a federally-licensed broadcast station when marijuana was on Schedule I and its sale, possession and marketing, including broadcast and other advertising, constituted a felony under federal law even when “legal” under state law.  The recent action to legalize state-approved medical marijuana may, over time, lead to legal advertising, but it appears that there are still hurdles that remain.

Before looking at the steps that appear to be needed before legal advertising of marijuana is possible, there are a couple of things that readers should keep in mind.  First, we need to emphasize that the Trump administration’s actions affect only FDA-approved marijuana products (of which there are very few currently) and medical marijuana that is distributed and sold subject to a state medical marijuana license.  Recreational marijuana remains on Schedule I with no approved medical uses, and with advertising and distribution prohibited outside of some very limited, federally approved testing.  So, all of the concerns about advertising recreational marijuana continue – and are perhaps amplified by the decision to retain recreational marijuana on Schedule I.

Continue Reading Medical Marijuana Removed from Schedule I – Moving Closer to Broadcast and Online Advertising but Concerns Still Remain

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

  • The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing its fiscal year 2026 regulatory fees for its regulated entities, including broadcast stations.  The FCC proposes to continue to calculate full-power TV station fees using its population-based methodology and proposes a TV station fee factor of $0.006957 per population served—about a 4.2% increase from fiscal year 2025 ($0.006674).  The FCC proposes similar increases in full-power radio station fees, but proposes decreased fees for LPTV, Class A, TV/FM translators, FM boosters, and earth stations (transmit/receive and transmit only).  Comments and reply comments responding to the NPRM are due May 28 and June 12, respectively.
  • The FCC’s Media Bureau ordered Disney to file its ABC TV stations’ license renewal applications by May 28—years before its stations’ current license expiration dates.  While the FCC rules allow the Commission to order a broadcast station to file its license renewal early if review of the renewal application is “essential” to the investigation, the process has not been used in many decades.  The Bureau stated that while Disney responded to the FCC’s inquiries during its investigation of its stations’ possible violations of anti-DEI policies, “additional actions are appropriate” to continue its investigation and to decide if Disney was meeting its public interest obligations.  At the press conference following last week’s regular monthly FCC Open Meeting, Carr said that Disney’s renewals were called in early after the FCC found that Disney’s DEI inquiry responses were insufficient, and the decision was not related to Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue last week (see note below).  Commissioner Gomez called the decision “the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment.” The NAB issued a statement calling for the FCC to use its regular enforcement processes if it believes that there was a violation of its rules rather than taking this “nearly unprecedented” action that creates uncertainty and instability for the broadcast industry.  According to one publication, even Senator Cruz (R-Texas) condemned the action, claiming that the FCC should not be acting as the “speech police.”
    • The Bureau also ordered the licensee of numerous Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations to file its renewals by May 27.  The Bureau stated that while the licensee responded to the FCC’s inquiries in an investigation of possible unauthorized transfers of control, the renewals were ordered to be filed early because the FCC believed that “additional actions” by the FCC were warranted so it can conduct its inquiry and assess whether the licensee was operating in the public interest. 
    • In a third case, the Media Bureau issued a one-year short-term renewal modifying its April 1 order adopting a Consent Decree with a Mississippi AM station.  The Consent Decree had been entered into to resolve FCC rule violations revealed during the Bureau’s review of the station’s license renewal – including its failure to upload Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists to its Online Public Inspection File (OPIF).  While the Consent Decree planned to grant the station’s renewal for a full 8-year term after it paid a $1,000 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury, the grant was conditioned on there being no other issues preventing that grant.  But the Bureau learned that the station failed to upload its Q1 2026 Issues/Programs List to its OPIF by the April 10 deadline, only 10 days after the approval of the Consent Decree, which had been premised on the station’s future adherence to the rules.  Given this new violation so soon after licensee had pledged compliance, the Bureau concluded that a one-year renewal was appropriate.
  • National Religious Broadcasters filed a complaint with the FCC against Disney requesting that the FCC investigate and sanction Disney for the broadcast of ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue aired before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (where a gunman allegedly attempted to assassinate President Trump).  Kimmel had said: “Our first lady, Melania, is here.  Look at Melania, so beautiful.  Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of an expectant widow.”  NRB argues that Kimmel’s statement could have been an incitement of violence against the President and was thus not protected by the First Amendment.  However, after filing this complaint, the NRB released a second statement expressing its concern about the accelerated Disney renewals, stating that selective enforcement undermines confidence in the system and the clarity and consistency that all broadcasters, including religious broadcasters, need to carry on their operations. 
  • The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to amend the Audible Crawl Rule, which requires TV broadcasters to provide an audio description of visual, nontextual emergency information (radar maps or other graphics) displayed during non-newscast programming on a secondary audio stream (the SAP Channel).  The FCC proposes dropping the requirement if a station provides a textual crawl on screen with the same information as in the visual image and if the text is aired on the SAP Channel’s audio (as already required for such textual alerts). 
  • A number of former FCC chairs, commissioners, staff, and public interest groups jointly filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asking the Court to compel the FCC to act on their November 2025 petition seeking repeal of the FCC’s news distortion policy because the FCC improperly used it to suppress viewpoints critical of President Trump in violation of broadcasters’ First Amendment rights (see our note here).  The petitioners claim that FCC Chairman Carr’s post on X stating “How about no” in response to the proposed repeal shows that the FCC refuses to act on the petition.  While mandamus petitions are rarely granted and usually require an extraordinary delay in an agency’s action before a court will intervene, the Petitioners argue that this policy may be used to suppress political speech before the upcoming mid-term elections, thus requiring quick action. 
  • The FCC released a draft Third Report and Order, which if adopted at its May 20 Open Meeting, would streamline Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) filing obligations, which are voluntary for broadcasters.  Under FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel, the FCC proposed requiring TV and radio stations to report their operating status during disasters in the FCC’s DIRS database (see our note here).  The draft Order does not require broadcasters to file DIRS reports. It does adopt a “one-click” filing option to reduce filing burdens of voluntary DIRS participants including broadcasters. 
  • The Media Bureau announced that comments and reply comments are due May 27 and June 11, respectively, on Paramount’s petition to exceed the foreign ownership limits of Section 310(b) of the Communications Act – which, absent FCC approval, prohibits foreign entities, individuals, and governments from holding ownership interests of more than 20% in an FCC licensee and more than 25% in a U.S. entity directly or indirectly controlling an FCC licensee.  Paramount seeks approval for existing and future foreign investors to hold indirect interests in the company above the 25% statutory benchmark, specific investors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar to hold indirect interests more than 5%, and non-controlling future foreign investors to hold indirect interests up to 20%.  Paramount states that granting its petition would increase the company’s access to capital, allowing it to compete more effectively and improve its investments in local news and journalism. 
  • The Media Bureau granted Scripps/ION Television and Gray Media’s assignment applications proposing to swap several full-power TV, LPTV, and TV translator stations to reduce their national audience reach under the national TV ownership cap and to create top-4 station combinations in the Lansing, MI DMA for Gray, and in the Grand Junction-Montrose, CO; Colorado Springs-Pueblo, CO; and Twin Falls, ID DMAs for Scripps.  The Bureau also granted the assignment of Allen Media’s TV stations to Gray in the Huntsville-Decatur (Florence), AL; Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg, MS-IL; Evansville, IN; Lafayette, LA; Rockford, IL; Fort Wayne, IN; and Montgomery-Selma, AL DMAs, resulting in Gray owning two or more TV stations in each market.  DIRECTV and several cable and satellite associations argued that, although these applications complied with the Local Television Ownership Rule, the applicants still had to address the transactions’ public interest benefits and harms.  Citing its recent approvals of TV station assignment applications where similar arguments were raised (see our notes here, here, and here), the Bureau again found that a special public interest showing was not needed after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the top-4 restriction (see our article here) and that additional arguments about the transactions’ harms were speculative.
  • The Media Bureau denied (see here and here) requests to reinstate two new Alabama LPFM stations’ construction permit applications to correct their clerical errors causing their dismissals for violating the FCC’s LPFM application requirements.  The Bureau dismissed the applications because one violated the LPFM localism requirements by proposing a transmitter site 560 miles off the North Carolina coast, and the other one violated the LPFM minimum distance separation requirements by proposing the wrong channel.  The Bureau affirmed the applications’ dismissals, noting that the FCC’s policies prohibit LPFM applicants from filing curative amendments to correct such clerical errors. 

On our Broadcast Law Blog, we published our regular monthly look ahead at upcoming regulatory dates, highlighting dates and deadlines affecting broadcasters in May and early June. These include rulemaking comment deadlines, new lowest unit rate windows and, on June 1, the deadline for uploading Annual EEO Public Inspection File Reports to the online public files of stations in several states.

While May is one of those months that does not have any routine, scheduled FCC filing deadlines, there are still some regulatory dates and deadlines in May of which broadcasters should be aware.  As detailed below, this includes comment deadlines in an FCC proceeding concerning the state of competition in the video and audio marketplaces and an inquiry by the FCC’s Media Bureau regarding the status of the television programming ratings system.  There are also several political ad window openings in several states and the District of Columbia this May. 

One deadline, however, that will not occur this May is the Audible Crawl Rule compliance deadline.  The Audible Crawl Rule requires TV broadcasters to provide an audio description of visual, nontextual emergency information (such as radar maps or other graphics) that is displayed during non-newscast programming, on a secondary audio stream (the station’s “SAP Channel”).  As we noted here, the FCC’s Media Bureau extended the waiver of the Audible Crawl Rule—which was set to expire on May 27—to the earlier of November 29, 2027 or until the FCC rules on the NAB’s pending petition for rulemaking and waiver concerning the rule. Just this week, the FCC commenced a rulemaking proceeding to do away with that rule and allow TV stations to instead provide text accompanying a graphic to provide the gist of the emergency information – and that text would be provided on the SAP channel. 

Let’s look at other dates and deadlines that broadcasters will need to be aware of this May, and take a quick look ahead to the return of some routine compliance deadlines in early June:

May 21 is the deadline for comments responding to the FCC’s biannual call for comments on the State of Competition in the Communications Marketplace.  The FCC seeks comment on competition in the video and audio marketplaces, including the impact of digital competitors on radio and TV stations and the role that regulation plays in the competitive landscape.  The FCC uses these comments to prepare required reports to Congress on competition issues.  It also often references the reports in FCC proceedings dealing with competition issues, including FCC proceedings dealing with its ownership rules.  Reply comments are due June 22.

May 22 is the deadline for comments responding to the Media Bureau’s Public Notice requesting comment the status of the TV Parental Guidelines program ratings system.  In 1996, Congress determined that parents should be informed about the nature of video programming and be able to block programming they believe is harmful to their children.  TV industry representatives responded by creating the TV Parental Guidelines age ratings system, which is overseen by TV Oversight Management Board (TVOMB).  In 2019, the FCC submitted a report to Congress on the status of the TV Parental Guidelines system, which included suggestions on increasing the system’s accuracy, accessibility, and transparency to the public, and increasing awareness of the TVOMB’s role.  The Bureau now seeks comment on various issues related to the TV Parental Guidelines, including whether the industry has adopted its 2019 suggestions, the TVOMB’s effectiveness in administering the system, and the public’s awareness and understanding of the system.  It also asks if new ratings should be developed to identify programming dealing with gender identity issues.  Reply comments are due June 22.

Broadcasters located in Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia should also be aware of the opening of the following political windows tied to state and local elections occurring in June and July 2026—meaning that Lowest Unit Rates apply to sales to candidates and their authorized committees (see our article here on the basics of computing LUR):

STATE/TERRITORYLUR DATEELECTION DATEELECTION TYPE
MarylandMay 1, 2026June 30, 2026Municipal Election (Frederick)
District of ColumbiaMay 2, 2026June 16, 2026General Primary Elections
OklahomaMay 2, 2026June 16, 2026General and Special Primary Elections
VirginiaMay 2, 2026June 16, 2026General Primary Elections
DelawareMay 5, 2026July 4, 2026Municipal Election (Slaughter Beach)
MarylandMay 9, 2026June 23, 2026General Primary Elections
New YorkMay 9, 2026June 23, 2026General Primary Elections
UtahMay 9, 2026June 23, 2026General Primary Elections
LouisianaMay 13, 2026June 27, 2026Municipal General & 2nd Party Primary Elections
FloridaMay 15, 2026July 14, 2026Municipal Election (Freeport)
ColoradoMay 16, 2026June 30, 2026General Primary Elections
MarylandMay 16, 2026June 30, 2026Municipal Primary Election (Montgomery County)
AlabamaMay 20, 2026June 16, 2026Runoff Election (General Primary Elections on May 19, 2026)
GeorgiaMay 20, 2026June 16, 2026Runoff Elections (Nonpartisan and Federal/State Primary Elections Runoff Elections on May 19, 2026)

In our summary of regulatory dates in April, we identified other windows that are already open for LUR for elections occurring in May and early June. 

As a refresher, in the 45 days before a primary election, and 60 days before a general or special election, broadcasters must extend to legally qualified candidates their lowest unit rate and continue to follow all other applicable political broadcasting rules.  For a deeper dive on how to prepare for the 2026 elections, see our post here, which also includes a link to our comprehensive Political Broadcasting Guide.  Also, take a look at our 2026 Broadcasters’ Calendar to see if your state has any upcoming primary, general, or special election (and confirm that all dates for political windows, including those listed above, are accurate as some dates have changed since the calendar was prepared).

Looking forward to June, there are a few regulatory deadlines broadcasters should be aware of.  June 1 is the deadline for radio and TV station employment units in Arizona, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming with 5 or more full-time employees to upload their Annual EEO Public File Report to their stations’ Online Public Inspection Files (OPIFs).  A station employment unit is a station or cluster of commonly controlled stations serving the same general geographic area having at least one common employee.  For employment units with 5 or more full-time employees, the annual report covers hiring and employment outreach activities for the prior year.  A link to the uploaded report must also be included on the home page of each station’s website, if the station has a website.  Start the preparations now to get these reports into your public file on time, as even a single late report can lead to FCC fines (see our article here about a recent $26,000 fine for a single late EEO report).  June 1 is also the date on which Mid-Term EEO reviews begin for TV and Class A TV station employment units with 5 or more full-time employees in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.  The Mid-Term EEO Review analyzes the last two Annual Reports for compliance with the FCC’s EEO requirements (see our articles here and here).  Additionally, June 7 is the deadline for all commercial full power TV, Class A TV, and AM and FM radio stations to begin complying with the FCC’s new foreign sponsorship identification requirements (see our note here).

We’ll have more June regulatory dates at the end of May.  As always, consult your own legal and technical advisors for other dates of importance that might apply to your stations in the upcoming months.

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

  • The FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice requesting comment on the TV Parental Guidelines ratings system.  In 1996, Congress determined that parents should be informed about the nature of TV programming and be able to block programming they believe is harmful to their children.  TV industry representatives created the TV Parental Guidelines age ratings system, which is overseen by TV Oversight Management Board (TVOMB).  In 2019, the FCC submitted a report to Congress on the status of the TV Parental Guidelines system, which included suggestions on increasing the system’s accuracy, accessibility, and transparency to the public, and increasing awareness of the TVOMB’s role.  The Bureau seeks comments on various issues related to these Guidelines, including whether the industry has adopted the FCC’s 2019 suggestions, the TVOMB’s effectiveness in administering the system, and the public’s awareness and understanding of the system.  Notably, the Bureau asks if changes are needed to include specific disclosures for shows with transgender and gender non-binary content.  Comments and reply comments responding to the Public Notice are due May 22 and June 22, respectively. 
  • The U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration announced the rescheduling of state-regulated medical marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.  Schedule I drugs have no approved uses, while those on Schedule III can be distributed for medical purposes.  The DEA’s order did not address how medical marijuana can be advertised, as Schedule III drugs are still “controlled substances” whose marketing is regulated.  The DOJ also initiated an expedited administrative hearing process beginning June 29 to consider other changes to marijuana’s status under federal law.  Last December, we discussed how even after the rescheduling to Schedule III, marijuana advertising could remain restricted under federal law.  It is possible that the DOJ could address the legality of marijuana advertising in the upcoming June hearing.
  • At the NAB Show, FCC Commissioner Trusty made remarks regarding broadcasters and their public interest obligations.  Trusty referenced a 1998 speech made by former FCC Chairman Powell in which Powell stated that he hoped for a visit from “the angel of the public interest,” someone who might appear and offer guidance on how to apply and follow that standard.  Trusty noted that broadcasters’ public interest obligations were more than a set of discrete rules and instead were designed to bring out the very best in broadcasting.  Trusty stated that she believed broadcasters could be their own “angels of the public interest” in delivering trusted information, connection, and service to their local communities, but to do so, the FCC must ensure that broadcasters can compete on a level playing field in today’s media marketplace.  She also stated that the renewed emphasis under Chairman Carr on ensuring broadcasters meet their public interest obligations was a “reason for optimism” that broadcasters would meet these obligations – expressing that a “trust but verify” regime was more nimble in addressing issues than one that merely relies on blanket rules. 
  • The Media Bureau granted an application for the assignment of a Scranton, Pennsylvania TV station to Sinclair, which required a waiver of the Local TV Ownership Rule, which limits a broadcaster to owning two TV stations in any market, to allow Sinclair to own 3 TV stations in the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton-Hazelton, PA Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA).  The Bureau found that granting the waiver was in the public interest because Sinclair’s acquisition of the station would expand local news and programming offerings in the DMA, and concluded that it was unlikely that an out-of-market competitor could operate the station as a standalone station due to the station’s diminished revenue prospects as the second to last ranked station in the DMA.  The Bureau further found that Sinclair’s acquisition of the station would not harm competition in the market, but would instead bolster it through Sinclair’s expanded programming offerings enabled by the combined stations’ revenues. 
  • The Media Bureau released a Report and Order updating the FM Table of Allotments by allotting Channel 265C3 at Enterprise, Utah, as the community’s second local service, and changing KXUT’s community of license from Channel 227C2, Page, Arizona, to Channel 226C1, Orderville, Utah, and changing KXQX’s community of license from Channel 223A, Tusayan, Arizona, to Channel 223C2, Big Water, Utah, both as first local services.  The FCC will announce in the future when a filing window will open for applications to construct a new station on Channel 265C3 at Enterprise.
  • The Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director issued an Order to Pay or to Show Cause against the licensee of a current and a former Montana AM station and a former Montana FM translator station proposing to revoke its current station’s license unless, within 60 days, the licensee pays its delinquent regulatory fees and interest, administrative costs, and penalties, or shows that the debts are not owed or should be waived or deferred.  The licensee has an unpaid regulatory fee debt totaling $6,754.80 for fiscal years 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 for both its currently and formerly licensed stations.

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

  • FCC Chairman Carr stated in a cable news interview that the FCC could investigate broadcasters and their on-air personalities for failing to disclose conflicts of interests motivating their program content choices, specifically addressing choices made by late-night TV hosts.  Carr argued that such enforcement efforts are intended to create “more speech, not less” by providing more information regarding broadcasters’ motivations in selecting their programming.  It is unclear what conflict of interest obligations for broadcasters Carr is referring to.  Some have speculated that his reference is to the plugola rules, which require station employees to disclose their financial interests in commercial products or services that they promote on the air so that the public knows that the product is being pitched by someone who will financially benefit. 
  • A Petition for Rulemaking was filed by a company called Landover Saturn 5 LLC asking that the FCC authorize it to conduct an incentive auction to clear the top 9 UHF TV channels and auction those channels to wireless users.  The petition promises an auction that would proceed more quickly than the last incentive auction conducted by the FCC and would return $15 billion to the government after paying off broadcasters who voluntarily agreed to abandon their TV spectrum, with other proceeds to go to Landover Spectrum 5.
  • Reply comments were filed in response to the FCC Media Bureau’s Public Notice on the sports media marketplace.  As we discussed here, the Bureau sought comment on matters including streaming platforms’ impact on broadcasters’ ability to obtain sports programming rights, sports broadcasting rights contract provisions, and the FCC’s authority to ensure wide public access to live sports.  Broadcasters, the NAB, and other commenters argued that fragmentation of sports programming across broadcast, cable, and multiple streaming services creates confusion and increased costs for consumers.  Broadcasters stated that the availability of free broadcast sports programming is important for low-income, rural, and elderly viewers, and viewers without high-speed broadband access, and that revenue from sports programming enables broadcasters to invest in local journalism.  The Big Four broadcast network affiliate associations argued that the FCC has the authority to ensure that networks broadcast sports on their affiliates instead of routing it to their subscription streaming platforms and that local stations have the right to preempt network programming for local and regional sports content.  Some commenters further urged the FCC to eliminate or relax the broadcast ownership rules to allow broadcasters to achieve the scale necessary to financially compete for rights to sports programming.  Comments and reply comments filed in the proceeding can be found here.
    • Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced legislation that would require, among other things, that professional sports leagues make available a team’s games to all residents of the state in which the team plays, either on broadcast television or on an advertising supported, free streaming platform.  See her Press Release for details and a link to the proposed legislation. 
  • Opponents of Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA filed a reply pleading telling the FCC that it should grant their Application for Review asking the FCC reverse the Media Bureau’s approval of the acquisition (see our article here) or to designate the application for an evidentiary hearing to determine if it is in the public interest.  The merger opponents—a satellite TV provider, a cable news channel, and several cable associations and public interest groups—attempted to refute Nexstar’s arguments that the Bureau’s conclusion that the merger would not cause public interest harms and its granting the waivers of the 39% national TV ownership cap and the duopoly rule (limiting ownership to 2 full-power TV stations per market) were routine exercises of the Media Bureau’s authority.  The opponents argue that the FCC had never waived the national cap before this decision, and that Congress never gave the FCC such authority.  Moreover, they argue that the Bureau failed to analyze how the duopoly waivers served the FCC’s localism, viewpoint diversity, and competition goals in each of the 21 affected markets, and that the acquisition harms the public interest by causing higher retransmission consent fees. 
    • A US District Court Judge issued a preliminary injunction against Nexstar taking actions to consolidate its operations with those of TEGNA.  This injunction extends the restrictions the judge set out in a temporary restraining order last week attempting to preserve TEGNA as an independent business (see our note here on the TRO) while the Court considers antitrust claims brought against the transaction.  Commissioner Gomez, who issued a statement indicating her dissent from the Media Bureau order approving Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA, issued a statement applauding the Court’s actions. 
  • The Media Bureau announced pleading deadlines for the application proposing the assignment of 23 TV station licenses from INYO to Scripps’ subsidiary, ION Television.  As the assignment will result in Scripps exceeding the 39% national TV ownership cap and owning more than 2 full-power TV stations in 8 Nielsen Designated Market Areas, Scripps is seeking waivers of both the national cap and the local ownership rules.  Petitions to deny the application are due May 18, oppositions to any petitions to deny filed are due June 2, and replies to any oppositions filed are due June 12.

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

  • The FCC’s Media Bureau released a Memorandum Opinion and Order extending the waiver of the Audible Crawl Rule for another 18 months (through November 29, 2027) or until the FCC rules on the NAB’s pending petition for rulemaking and waiver – whichever is sooner.  The rule requires TV broadcasters to provide an audio description of visual, nontextual emergency information, such as radar maps or other graphics, that is displayed during non-newscast programming, on a secondary audio stream (the station’s “SAP Channel”).  Since the FCC adopted the rule over 10 years ago, the Media Bureau has granted 6 successive waiver requests based on the unavailability of any technical means to ensure compliance by converting visual information into audio for broadcast on the SAP channel.  The latest extension expires on May 27, 2026.
    • The Commission also announced that it will be considering at its regular monthly open meeting on April 30 a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to eliminate the requirement.  The FCC released a draft of the NPRM.  It proposes to drop the requirement if the station provides a textual crawl on screen conveying the same emergency information that is in the visual image and that text is converted to audio provided on the SAP channel (as already required for all such textual alerts). 
  • The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics issued the FCC’s biannual call for comments on the State of Competition in the Communications Marketplace.  The FCC seeks comments on a list of questions about competition in the video and audio marketplaces, including the impact of digital competitors on radio and TV stations and the role that regulation plays in the competitive landscape.  The FCC uses these comments to prepare required reports to Congress on competition issues and often references the reports in proceedings dealing with competition, including FCC proceedings dealing with its ownership rules. Comments are due May 21 and reply comments are due June 22. 
  • The Media Bureau ordered a North Carolina FM translator to suspend operations for apparently causing co-channel interference to a nearby full-power FM station.  The translator’s licensee had modified the station’s facilities to address earlier interference complaints, but the FM station’s licensee submitted new listener complaints showing that interference persisted.  The FCC’s translator interference rules require that a minimum of 6 listener complaints from separate locations be submitted to demonstrate that a translator is causing actual interference to a full-power station.  The Bureau rejected the argument that the listener complaints submitted by the full-power station’s licensee should be rejected since they all came from the same neighborhood, stating that although complaints cannot all come from the same building, in certain situations – such as a small zone of interference – listener complaints may be clustered in a small area, as was the case here.  The Bureau also cautioned the FM station’s licensee against using the FCC’s interference complaint process for private financial gain after the FM translator’s licensee alleged that the FM station’s licensee asked for $500,000 in return for settling the dispute.  The Bureau noted that any monetary settlements resulting from the voluntary dismissal of an interference complaint must be limited to reimbursement of the complaint’s expenses in pursuing the complaint. 
  • A US District Court issued an order extending for another seven days a Temporary Restraining Order blocking the full integration of the Nexstar and TEGNA television stations while the court considers if a longer pause should be adopted while it reviews antitrust objections to the combination.  Recognizing that Nexstar has already closed on its acquisition of TEGNA following FCC approval (see our Broadcast Law Blog article here), the court allowed Nexstar to take certain business, accounting, and legal actions for the TEGNA stations; but ordered that operational decisions, including those dealing with station contracts such as retransmission consent agreements, be conducted by independent persons not currently or recently associated with Nexstar.  The intent of these actions is to preserve the TEGNA stations as independent operations should the court order that the closing be undone. 
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued two Notices of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting against landowners in New York City and Jamacia, New York for allegedly allowing pirates to broadcast from their properties.  The Bureau warned the landowners that the FCC could issue fines of up to $2,453,218 under the PIRATE Radio Act if the landowners continue to permit pirate radio broadcasts from their properties.