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.

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 purporting to remind broadcasters about their lowest unit charge (LUC) obligations for political ads.  LUC requirements apply to ads sponsored by legally qualified candidates and their authorized committees.  In the Public Notice, the Bureau said for the first time that the LUC obligation extends to joint fundraising committees made up of a federal candidate’s principal campaign committee and other political committees.  The Notice also said that the obligation extends to “coordinated expenditures” between political parties and legally qualified federal candidates.  The determination that coordinated expenditures qualify for LUC contradicted a statement from the Solicitor General on behalf of the Department of Justice in a brief filed in February with the Supreme Court in a case that, if decided as urged by certain Republican party groups, could dramatically expand the ability of political parties to coordinate their spending with legally qualified federal candidates.  The FCC’s rules require that stations provide LUC in the 45 days before a primary election and in the 60 days before a general election. 
  • Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent FCC Chairman Carr a letter expressing their concerns about the FCC delegating to the Media Bureau the approval of the Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA (see our article here).  The Senators stated that the merger’s size – which created the largest TV station group in history – and the decisions to waive the local and national TV ownership rules, required a vote of the full Commission.  The Senators asked what mergers would require full Commission review if the approval of the novel issues involved in this decision could be delegated to the Media Bureau.  The Senators noted that Carr previously disagreed with the FCC’s delegation of authority to the Media Bureau to designate the proposed Standard General-TEGNA merger for hearing in 2023, which killed that deal (see our article here), and the Media Bureau’s approval of Audacy’s bankruptcy plan in 2024 (see our note here).  The Senators requested that Carr provide information on the decision to allow the Bureau to approve the Nexstar-TEGNA deal and how this situation differed from prior FCC delegations of authority which Carr opposed.
  • A Federal District Court enjoined the integration of TEGNA into Nexstar while it considered antitrust arguments raised by 8 state attorneys general arguing that the acquisition resulted in Nexstar acquiring too much market power.  Nexstar has argued against the continuation of the temporary restraining order claiming that it cannot operate TEGNA as a separate company given that it already closed its acquisition after that acquisition was approved by the FCC and the Department of Justice. 
  • A federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled that President Trump’s Executive Order forbidding federal agencies from providing any funding to NPR and PBS violated NPR and PBS’ First Amendment rights.  The judge found that the administration cannot deny funding to NPR and PBS simply because it disagrees with their viewpoints – which the EO characterized as “left-wing propaganda” – because such an action violates the First Amendment.  While the decision has been characterized in some headlines as restoring funding to NPR and PBS, because Congress eliminated that funding separate and apart from the EO, the real effect of this decision is limited to situations where government agencies may want to provide grants or other funding to these organizations out of funds other than those rejected by Congress.
  • The Media Bureau granted the assignment of a TV station in the Jacksonville, FL Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA) from Hoffman Communications to Cox Television, resulting in Cox owning two of the top-4 TV stations in the DMA.  As was the case last month when the Bureau approved Sinclair acquiring two of the top-4 ranked TV stations in multiple DMAs (see our notes here and here), the Bureau rejected claims by DIRECTV that Cox had to make a showing that the public interest justified the transaction.  The Bureau found that, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the top-4 restrictions (see our article here), no special showing was needed and that any arguments about other harms from the assignment, including increased retransmission consent fees, were speculative.
  • The FCC released a Forfeiture Order imposing a $60,000 fine against an individual for operating a pirate radio station in Miami Gardens, Florida.  The pirate broadcaster now has 30 days to pay the fine or the FCC may refer the case to the U.S. Department of Justice.  The FCC itself cannot sue to collect fines or take actions against individuals who ignore these fines so it must rely on the DOJ to enforce them in Court.
  • The Media Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a Mississippi AM station to resolve an investigation arising from an informal complaint, finding violations including that the station’s control changed without prior FCC approval when one of its three owners bought out the interests of the other two, the station failed to upload Quarterly Issues/Programs lists to its Online Public Inspection File (OPIF), the station failed to file several biennial ownership reports, and the station falsely certified its compliance with its OPIF and biennial ownership reporting requirements in its license renewal application.  The Consent Decree requires that the station pay a $1,000 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury and implement a compliance plan to ensure future compliance with the FCC’s rules. 

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.

  • Judicial appeals of the FCC’s Media Bureau approval of the transfer of control of TEGNA to Nexstar have been filed by representatives of conservative media outlets, public interest groups, multichannel video providers, and others.  The appeals make arguments including that the full Commission, not the Media Bureau, should have made the decision, and questioning whether the Bureau (or the Commission) has the authority to waive the 39% audience cap, as the cap was set by Congress.  Petitions to stay the effect of the FCC’s order have also been filed.  Nexstar has opposed these motions.  We wrote more about the significance of the Nexstar decision on our Broadcast Law Blog.
    • Commissioner Gomez objected to the refusal of the Media Bureau to attach her dissent to its approval of Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA.  A Commissioner would normally not dissent to a Media Bureau decision – Commissioners would weigh in when the Bureau decision is appealed to the full Commission.  Gomez argues that her dissent should be considered now so it can be reviewed in any court challenge to the decision as the Commissioners may never get to vote on any appeal and that the Bureau decision in this case has the same practical effect as a full Commission decision.
  • The FCC released two decisions as part of its Delete Delete Delete proceeding looking to abolish unnecessary rules and lighten the regulatory burden on broadcasters:
    • The FCC released a Report and Order updating and clarifying several broadcast rules, including conforming rules to current licensing systems (including replacing outdated CDBS application form references with those currently used in LMS); eliminating outdated and obsolete requirements (including post-incentive auction digital transition notification requirements, deleting the rule requiring a 20% increase in AM station power for processing a power increase application, and the rule restricting Special Temporary Authorizations for technical and equipment problems to 90 days when other STAs can be granted for up to 180 days); modifying its application signatory rules to allow corporate directors and duly authorized employees of corporations, partnerships, unincorporated associations, or government entities to certify applications; and revising several broadcast rules for clarity (including clarifying when stations’ local public notice obligations are triggered for their applications).  The rule changes will generally become effective 30 days after the item’s publication in the Federal Register.
    • The FCC also released a Direct Final Rule in which it deleted several of its rules as being unnecessary, including rules for the TV broadcast spectrum reverse auction which ended in 2017.  Comments responding to the Direct Final Rule are due 20 days after the item’s publication in the Federal Register.  As we noted here, the Direct Final Rule process allows the FCC to delete a rule without prior public comment, but allows for a 10- to 20-day comment period after the item’s publication in the Federal Register.  If substantive negative comments are filed against the deletions, the FCC will implement regular notice and comment procedures before the deletions take effect.
  • The Media Bureau granted applications proposing the assignment of Allen Media’s TV stations in Lafayette, Indiana, Terre Haute, Indiana, and Tupelo, Mississippi to Gray Television, resulting in Gray owning its first full-power TV stations in each of those markets.  Several cable and satellite associations and other groups filed objections against the applications.  The Media Bureau rejected the arguments, finding that the applications complied with the FCC rules and that there were no public interest harms caused by granting the applications. 
  • FCC Chairman Carr responded to Senator Blumenthal’s (D-CT) letter requesting information on the FCC’s recent investigation and alleged threats against broadcasters regarding violations of the equal time rule for political candidates, including in connection with the appearance of Texas U.S. candidate James Talarico on the ABC’s “The View” and CBS’ decision to block the broadcast of Talarico’s interview on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” (see our notes here and here).  Carr stated that the FCC’s alleged threats against broadcast networks not to air the Talarico interviews were “based on news stories that have proven to be nothing more than a series of hoaxes,” and that the Senator’s “letter repeats the false claim that the FCC censored a recent interview that a late-night TV host wanted to conduct with a legally qualified candidate for political office.”  Carr stated that TV stations are not prohibited from conducting interviews with political candidates in non-news programs but if they conduct interviews outside of exempt programs they must comply with the equal time rule. 
  • The Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director issued an Order to Pay or to Show Cause against the licensee of several current and former Texas FM stations and an LPTV 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 $18,499.29 for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for both its currently and formerly licensed stations.  
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued Notices of Violation against two broadcasters for violations of Commission rules on the lighting and marking of towers.  The Bureau issued a Notice of Violation against a New Jersey AM station after an inspection revealed violations including its towers not being properly painted and their lighting was not operating properly, the station failed to renew its Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) of the tower lightning outage after the Notice had expired, vegetation around the towers precluded access to the base of the tower, and the station did not maintain operational Emergency Alert Service equipment.  The Bureau also issued a Notice of Violation against a Texas broadcaster after an inspection of its tower revealed that the tower’s paint was not properly being maintained.  The broadcasters must now explain to the Bureau how they will correct their rule violations and prevent future violations from occurring.

On our Broadcast Law Blog, we looked at upcoming regulatory dates and deadlines affecting broadcasters this April.  Additionally, with April Fools’ Day right around the corner, we wrote about legal issues that can arise from on-air pranks under the FCC’s Hoax rule and even that suck pranks can give rise to civil liability.

With April showers come routine regulatory dates for broadcasters, including the requirement for posting Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists to the Online Public Inspection Files of all full-power radio and TV stations, and EEO Public File Reports for stations in a number of states.  Among the other dates in April is the reply comment deadline in the FCC’s inquiry on the sports broadcasting marketplace.  We also note lowest unit rate windows that open this month.  So here is a look at some of the most significant dates and deadlines for broadcasters in April. 

April 1 is the deadline for radio and television station employment units in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas with five 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 with at least one common employee.  For employment units with five 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.  Be timely getting these reports into your station’s OPIF, as even a single late report can lead to FCC fines (see our article here about a $26,000 fine for a single late EEO report).

The filing of the Annual EEO Public File Reports by radio station employment units with eleven more full-time employees or TV station employment units with five or more employees triggers a Mid-Term EEO Review that analyzes the last two Annual Reports for compliance with the FCC’s EEO requirements.  The Mid-Term EEO Review begins April 1 for these larger radio station employment units in Delaware and Pennsylvania.  TV station employment units in Texas are also subject to this review.  Additionally, radio stations located in Delaware and Pennsylvania that are part of station employment units with five or more full-time employees must also indicate in their OPIFs whether their employment unit has eleven more full-time employees, using a checkbox now included in the EEO folder of each station’s OPIF.  This allows the FCC to determine which station groups need a Mid-Term EEO Review.  See our articles here and here on radio stations’ Mid-Term EEO Review reporting requirements.

April 10 is the deadline for all full power and Class A television stations and commercial and noncommercial full power AM and FM radio stations to upload their Quarterly Issues/Program lists for the first quarter of 2026 to their OPIFs.  The lists should identify the issues of importance to the station’s community and the programs that the station aired between January 1 and March 31, 2026, that addressed those issues.  These lists must be timely uploaded to your station’s OPIF, as the untimely uploads of these documents probably have resulted in more fines in the last decade than for any other FCC rule violation.  As you finalize your lists, do so carefully and accurately, as they are the only official records of how your station is serving the public and addressing the needs and interests of its community.  See our article here for more on the importance of the Quarterly Issues/Programs list obligation.

April 10 is also the deadline for certain stations to upload to their online public file any of the following information from the period from January 1 to March 31, 2026, if a station has any such information:

  • documentation from noncommercial educational stations not affiliated with NPR or CPB of any on-air fundraising benefitting third parties that interrupted their normal programming (see our article here for a further explanation of this requirement),
  • documentation by Class A television of their continuing eligibility for Class A status, and
  • documentation from full power television, Class A television, and full power radio stations of any programming time that was leased by a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government or provided by a foreign entity for free in exchange for its airing (see our articles here and here for more information).

April 11 is the deadline for all U.S.-based foreign media outlets which would be classified as “an agent of a foreign government” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to notify the FCC of their relationship to, and whether the outlet receives any funding from, a foreign government or political party.  This requirement applies to companies providing video programming to cable and satellite television systems.  The FCC must report to Congress every six months on the operations of these U.S.-based foreign media outlets.

April 13 is the deadline for reply comments responding to the FCC Media Bureau’s Public Notice concerning the status of the sports broadcasting marketplace.  The Bureau seeks comments on the impact of sports programming marketplace changes on consumers and broadcasters, whether sports media contracts impact broadcasters’ ability to meet their public interest obligations, streaming platforms’ impact on broadcasters’ ability to obtain sports programming rights, specifics of agreements for the rights to cover sports, and the authority of the FCC to ensure continued viewer access to live sports.  See our article here for more on the Bureau’s request for comments.

Broadcasters located in Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee should also be aware of the opening of political windows tied to state and local elections occurring in April, May, and June 2026—meaning that Lowest Unit Rates apply to sales to candidates and their authorized committees.  As noted in our last two monthly updates (here and here), there are already LUR windows open in a number of states for elections in April and May. See our article here on the basics of computing LUR.  The windows opening in April are set out below:

STATE/ TERRITORYLUR DATEELECTION DATEELECTION TYPE
LouisianaApril 1, 2026May 16, 2026Municipal and Party Primary Elections
DelawareApril 3, 2026June 2, 2026Municipal Election (Bellafonte)
MississippiApril 3, 2026June 2, 2026Mississippi Levee Board General Election
TennesseeApril 3, 2026June 2, 2026Municipal Election (Livingston)
AlabamaApril 4, 2026May 19, 2026General Primary Elections
GeorgiaApril 4, 2026May 19, 2026General Primary Elections
IdahoApril 4, 2026May 19, 2026General Primary Elections
KentuckyApril 4, 2026May 19, 2026General Primary Elections
OregonApril 4, 2026May 19, 2026General Primary Elections
PennsylvaniaApril 4, 2026May 19, 2026General Primary Elections
TennesseeApril 5, 2026June 4, 2026Municipal Election (Parsons)
FloridaApril 8, 2026April 21, 2026Runoff Election (Municipal Election on April 7, 2026: Frostproof)
April 8, 2026May 5, 2026Runoff Elections (Municipal Elections on April 7, 2026: Bartow, Davenport, Dundee, Haines City, Lake Hamilton, and Mulberry)
April 8, 2026May 26, 2026Runoff Election (Municipal Election on April 7, 2026: Plant City)
April 10, 2026June 9, 2026Municipal Election (Greenwood)
DelawareApril 14, 2026June 13, 2026Municipal Election (Millsboro)
TennesseeApril 17, 2026June 16, 2026Municipal Election (Brownsville)
CaliforniaApril 18, 2026June 2, 2026General Primary Elections
IowaApril 18, 2026June 2, 2026General Primary Elections
MontanaApril 18, 2026June 2, 2026General Primary Elections
New JerseyApril 18, 2026June 2, 2026General Primary Elections
New MexicoApril 18, 2026June 2, 2026General Primary Elections
South DakotaApril 18, 2026June 2, 2026General Primary Elections
FloridaApril 22, 2026May 19, 2026Runoff Elections (Municipal Elections on April 21, 2026: Mexico Beach and Springfield)
TennesseeApril 24, 2026June 23, 2026Municipal Election (Maynardville)
MaineApril 25, 2026June 9, 2026General Primary Elections
NevadaApril 25, 2026June 9, 2026General Primary Elections
North DakotaApril 25, 2026June 9, 2026General Primary Elections
South CarolinaApril 25, 2026June 9, 2026General Primary Elections
TennesseeApril 26, 2026June 25, 2026Municipal Election (Plainview)
FloridaApril 29, 2026May 12, 2026Runoff Election (Municipal Election on April 28, 2026: Quincy)

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).

As always, consult your own legal and technical advisors for other dates of importance that might apply to your stations in the upcoming month.

Every year at about this time, with April Fools’ Day right around the corner, we need to play our role as attorneys and ruin any fun that you may be planning by repeating our reminder that broadcasters need to be careful with any on-air pranks, jokes or other on-air bits prepared especially for the day.  While a little fun is OK, remember that the FCC has a rule against on-air hoaxes, and there can be liability issues with false alerts that are run on a station.  Issues like these can arise at any time, but a broadcaster’s temptation to go over the line is probably highest on April 1.  This year, the warning takes on new urgency, as the Chairman of the FCC has placed renewed emphasis on broadcast stations serving the public interest, and specifically citing the hoax rule as one that stations should be particularly cognizant to avoid license renewal issues.  While some of these warnings came in the context of broadcasts not covered by traditional interpretations of the hoax rule, these warnings have nevertheless given more publicity to the existence of this rule. 

The FCC’s rule against broadcast hoaxes, Section 73.1217, prevents stations from running any information about a “crime or catastrophe” on the air, if the broadcaster (1) knows the information to be false, (2) it is reasonably foreseeable that the broadcast of the material will cause substantial public harm and (3) public harm is in fact caused.  Public harm is defined as “direct and actual damage to property or to the health or safety of the general public, or diversion of law enforcement or other public health and safety authorities from their duties.”  If you air a program that fits within this definition and causes a public harm, you should expect to be fined by the FCC.

Continue Reading With April Fools Day Almost Upon Us, Broadcasters Beware of the FCC Hoax Rule