Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from this 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 weekly list of items on circulation (those orders or rulemaking proposals that have been drafted and are currently circulating among the Commissioners for review and vote) removed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on AI-generated content in political advertising.  As we discussed here, FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel proposed in May to require broadcasters and cable and satellite TV operators to include disclosures identifying the use of AI-generated content in political ads.  This item has been controversial, as the Chair of the Federal Election Commission, FCC Commissioner Carr, and others have argued that the FCC does not have jurisdiction to require such labeling.  The removal of the draft NPRM from the list likely means that it has been voted on by the Commissioners and will be released soon – possibly in the next few days.
  • The Media Bureau announced that certain daytime-only AM stations may again request pre-sunrise and post-sunset authorizations – requests which have been suspended since 2007 due to issues in calculating local sunrise and sunset times after the expansion of daylight savings time.  The FCC’s rules allow certain daytime-only AM stations to operate during the two hours immediately preceding sunrise and the two hours following sunset.  Now that the calculation issues have been resolved, eligible AM stations may submit a request to the FCC to operate with pre-sunrise and post-sunset authority, providing information on the technical means that allow them to achieve the required power levels.  AM stations may commence such operations following receipt of their approved operating parameters from the FCC. 
  • Reply comments were due July 8 in two FCC proceedings:
    • Reply comments were due in response to the FCC’s biannual call for comments on the State of Competition in the Communications Marketplace, which the FCC uses to prepare a report to Congress on competition issues and which is sometimes referenced in proceedings concerning FCC ownership rules.  The ABC, CBS, FBC, and NBC Affiliates Associations urge the FCC to loosen its TV ownership rules (including the prohibition on the ownership of more than one top-4 TV station in the same market) due to TV station competition from digital platforms and to modernize its retransmission consent rules to address competition from virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors.  The National Association Broadcasters and a radio broadcaster similarly urge the FCC to loosen its radio ownership rules due to competition from digital audio platforms.  The NAB also urges the FCC to reject MVPDs’ claims of inflated broadcaster retransmission consent fees (see here and here).  The NAB further urges the FCC to ignore the music industry’s complaints (see here and here) that broadcasters have an unfair competitive advantage over other audio providers because broadcasters do not pay certain music royalty fees. 
    • Reply comments were also due in response to the FCC’s April NPRM proposing new rules to prohibit “most favored nation” clauses and clauses that limit alternative distribution methods in agreements between independent programmers and MVPDs (and broadcast companies).  Public Knowledge and independent programmers (see here, here, here, and here) state that these bans would promote wider distribution of independent programming, whereas MVPDs (see here and here) contend that these bans would reduce consumer access to independent programming.  The NAB states that retransmission consent negotiations do not hinder MVPDs from carrying independent programming and urges the FCC to refresh the record on the regulatory status of virtual MVPDs’ (online video providers that distribute multiple channels of programming) since otherwise any ban adopted in this proceeding would only extend to traditional MVPDs (cable and satellite providers).
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued thirteen Notices of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting to landowners in New Jersey and New York for allegedly allowing pirates to broadcast from their properties.  The Bureau warned the landowners that the FCC may issue fines of up to $2,391,097 under the PIRATE Radio Act if the FCC determines that the landowners continued to permit any pirate radio broadcasting from their properties.  The Notices can be viewed here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
  • The Media Bureau dismissed a Florida LPFM construction permit application because the applicant failed to meet the FCC’s LPFM licensee eligibility requirements as a “local” entity by either having its headquarters or 75% of its board members residing within ten miles of its proposed LPFM transmitter site.  After a challenge, the applicant attempted to amend its application with a new headquarters address within the ten-mile limit, which the Bureau rejected because that information was not in the applicant’s original application.  FCC procedures in processing LPFM applications require applicants to show their qualifications at the time of the filing of their applications, or those applications will be dismissed with no opportunity to correct any omission.