Noncommercial Broadcasting

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  • FCC Chairman Carr sent a letter to NPR and PBS announcing that he has asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to
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Yesterday, the new FCC Chairman Brendan Carr sent a letter to NPR and PBS announcing that he has asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to launch an investigation into their advertising practices – suggesting without specifics that these entities had gone beyond the permitted underwriting announcements by airing prohibited advertisements for commercial products and services (Commissioner Starks and Gomez issued statements questioning the basis for this investigation).  While the Chairman’s letter was vague on specifics, and unclear as to whether there were specific listener or viewer complaints that triggered the investigation (which is how the FCC typically initiates an investigation into a broadcaster’s regulatory compliance ), the letter does suggest that all noncommercial broadcast stations, including all LPFM stations and other full-power stations not affiliated with NPR or PBS, should examine their practices to ensure that they comply with the FCC’s underwriting policies. 

What do these rules require?  Noncommercial stations can air acknowledgments of those making financial contributions to stations, but the identification of such sponsors must be limited – you can give their name, a general description of what their business is and where they are located, but such information must be provided in an objective, non-promotional manner. FCC standards prohibit calls to action (e.g., “visit this store,” “come on down”), inducements to buy (e.g., “we have a two for one special,” “mention the station and you’ll get a discount on all that you buy”), price information (e.g., “tickets only $29.99” or “this week, we have our end-of-year sale” or “10% senior discounts”) or qualitative claims (“the best pizza in town,” “quality merchandise and a friendly staff”).  We have written many articles on these issues (see, for instance, articles here, here and here) and the fines that have arisen when the rules were not followed.  Continue Reading As FCC Chairman Announces an Investigation into Alleged PBS and NPR Advertising, a Look at the Underwriting Requirements for All Noncommercial Broadcast Stations

  • The FCC released an Order increasing by an average of more than 17% its application fees, including those for broadcast
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2025 has begun – and everyone is speculating as to what the New Year will bring, particularly given the upcoming change in administration in the White House and at the FCC.  Yesterday, we published an article looking at some of the regulatory issues that we expect the FCC will address this year.  And we promised…

As 2024 comes to an end, 2025 is beginning to come into focus – a new year that will likely bring big changes to the Washington broadcast regulation scene with the inauguration of a new President and installation of a new FCC chair who has already promised to move forward with policies very different than those of the current administration (see our discussion here and here).  But while we are waiting for the big changes that may occur, there are many more mundane dates and issues to which broadcasters need to pay attention.  Let’s look at what is coming up in the next month.

Broadcasters need to remember that January 10 is the deadline for all full power and Class A TV stations, and full power AM and FM radio stations, both commercial and noncommercial, to upload to their Online Public Inspection Files their Quarterly Issues/Program lists for the fourth quarter of 2024.  The lists should identify the issues of importance to the station’s community and the programs that the station aired between October 1 and December 31, 2024, 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.Continue Reading January 2025 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Children’s Television Programming Reporting, Expansion of Audio Description Requirements, Political Windows, and More

  • Congress failed to include the AM For Every Vehicle Act in their year-end omnibus spending legislation, meaning that the bill
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  • The FCC’s Media Bureau announced that comments and reply comments are due December 13 and 18, respectively, in response to
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With much of everyone’s focus on the outcome of the November 5 general election, broadcasters can’t forget the regulatory dates and deadlines in November and early December.  While the dates and deadlines in November are lighter than in many other months, many routine deadlines do fall in early December, and even the upcoming month does have dates worthy of note. 

The one broadly applicable deadline for AM stations that does fall early in the upcoming month is November 3, when Daylight Savings Time ends.  AM daytime-only radio stations, Am stations with different daytime and nighttime patterns, and those operating with pre-sunrise and/or post-sunset authority should check their sign-on and sign-off times on their current FCC authorizations to ensure continued compliance with the FCC’s rules.  Broadcasters need to note that all times listed in FCC licenses are stated in standard time, not daylight savings time even if it is in effect.

For television stations, there is a deadline later in the month. November 26 is the deadline for television stations to provide an aural description of visual but non-textual emergency information, such as maps or other graphic displays, conveyed outside of station newscasts.  This would include maps showing severe weather and other graphic depictions of emergency information during non-news programming.  Since 2013, stations must make textual information about emergency conditions that occur during non-newscast video programming (such as textual crawls about emergency conditions) audibly accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired through having the textual information presented aurally on the station’s SAP channel – the secondary audio channel.  The 2013 rules required that visual maps and other non-textual information also be described on SAP channels but, as we discussed in articles here, here, and here, the FCC has extended this deadline numerous times because of the unavailability of workable technology that can automatically perform the functions required by the rule.  By the November 26 deadline, stations will either need to provide aural information about non-textual emergency information that runs outside of a newscast, or avoid airing such graphical alerts during non-news programming, or hope that there are new requests for FCC relief before the looming deadline.Continue Reading November 2024 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: AM Stations Need to Adjust to the End of Daylight Savings Time, Deadline for Aural Description of Visual Emergency Alerts for TV, Final Rules for FM Zonecasting, and More