Programming Regulations

Subscribe to Programming Regulations via RSS
  • The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Communications & Technology Subcommittee held an FCC oversight hearing.  The hearing featured written
…
  • FCC Chairman Carr announced that the FCC will be considering two orders concerning foreign ownership requirements, including those for broadcasters,
…

It’s the start of another year, so it is time to dust off the crystal ball and look at what we expect to be the big regulatory and legislative issues facing broadcasters in the new year.  Looking back on our forecast for 2025 that came out just over a year ago, I was surprised to see that we had predicted that the new Commission would be interested in defining the public interest standard, reviewing network-affiliate relations, and looking at the political biases that broadcasters allegedly exhibited.  All of these were in fact issues that came up this year but, as no conclusions were reached on any of these matters, these same issues will no doubt continue to be on the FCC’s agenda in 2026.

Public Interest Standard

Throughout 2025, FCC Chairman Carr has been talking about the public interest standard in most of his many public discussions of media regulation, and those comments have prompted much legal analysis from all corners.  We expect that, in the coming year, there will continue to be discussions about what the public interest standard really means– and just how far that standard goes in authorizing the FCC to act to regulate broadcast operations.

Network-Affiliate Relations

The FCC has also received preliminary comments on the relationship between television networks and their affiliates.  As we noted last week, reply comments were due December 29, so the pleading cycle has now closed.  In the Public Notice asking for these comments, there was a statement that the comments would be used to inform the Commission as to whether a formal rulemaking proceeding was necessary to further review the issues.  With the comments in, we will be watching to see if the FCC moves forward with any additional proceedings. Continue Reading Crystal Ball Time – What Are the Regulatory and Policy Issues Broadcasters Should Be Expecting to Deal With in 2026?

2026 has begun, so it is time to look at the regulatory dates of importance to broadcasters in the new year.  Later this week, we will look ahead at some of the broadcast issues likely to be tackled by the FCC and Congress in this new year.  But today, we will look at dates and…

  • Several AM broadcasters filed a petition for rulemaking with the FCC seeking a new opportunity for licensees of AM
…

Today, we would normally publish our look back at the prior week’s regulatory activity of importance to broadcasters but, as we noted last week, we are taking this week off and will publish a summary of the regulatory activity during the two week holiday period next Sunday.  But, as the start of a new month is upon us, we instead offer our regular look ahead at regulatory dates and deadlines for January.   

With each New Year, there are a host of new regulatory deadlines to keep broadcasters busy.  In January, this includes some recurring FCC deadlines like Quarterly Issues/Programs lists for all full power broadcasters, and a host of other quarterly obligations that are not as widely applicable.  For TV broadcasters, the month brings obligations including the annual children’s television reports on educational and informational programming and a public file certification on commercial limits, as well as the extension to stations in 10 additional markets of the audio description requirements. 

In addition to comments in rulemaking proceedings described below, January brings some new obligations.  For commercial broadcasters streaming audio programming on the Internet, there are new SoundExchange royalties that cover performances made on and after January 1, and a requirement for a higher minimum fee due at the end of the month.  There is also a freeze that will be imposed on applications for major changes by existing LPTV stations and TV translators related to a window that will open in March, the first window in well over a decade for the filing of applications for new LPTV stations. 

Let’s look at some of the specific dates and deadlines for broadcasters in January, starting with the routine deadlines that come up every January, and then moving to some of new obligations for 2026.  After that we provide January deadlines for comments in rulemaking proceedings (including reply comments on proposed changes to the FCC’s ownership rules and initial comments on proposals to speed the ATSC 3.0 conversion), a look at lowest unit rate windows that open in January for 2026 elections, and finally a few deadlines in early February.Continue Reading January 2026 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Children’s Television Programming Reporting, New Webcasting Royalties, Expansion of Audio Description Requirements, Comment Deadlines, Political Windows, and More

  • President Trump this week issued an Executive Order instructing various government agencies to take steps to move marijuana from Schedule
…
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a public broadcaster to resolve an investigation into whether false
…

Using the EAS alert tones without a real emergency has led to several FCC fines in recent years – including many fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (see, for instance, our articles here, here, and here).  This week, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau released a Consent Decree with a noncommercial radio group (American Public Media Group, Minnesota Public Radio d/b/a American Public Media, and Southern California Public Radio)  to settle an investigation into the use of these tones in a BBC program about chasing tornadoes that ran on the group’s stations, and on other public broadcasting stations around the country to which the group syndicated the program.  As part of this decree, the group agreed to pay $86,400 to the government.  According to the decree, the program included two instances where EAS tones were used, and pieces of NOAA tornado warning alert audio were also aired.  In total, 46 stations associated with the group, and about 500 other stations that received the program from the group, ran these tones. 

The use of EAS tones without a real emergency (or in connection with an authorized test) violated Section 11.45 of the Commission’s rules.   As noted in the Consent Decree, the Commission believes that the use of simulated or actual EAS Tones for non-authorized purposes—such as commercial or entertainment purposes—can lead to dangerous “alert fatigue” where the public becomes desensitized to the alerts, questioning whether the alerts are for a real, imminent threat or some other cause. Moreover, the broadcast of these EAS Tones could result in false activations of the Emergency Alert System, as any stations that monitor a station that runs a false alert may have their own EAS equipment triggered – theoretically cascading the alert throughout the system.Continue Reading $86,400 Penalty on Noncommercial Broadcaster for Use of EAS Tones in Programming When No Emergency Existed

  • The FCC’s Media Bureau announced that the deadline for broadcasters to comply with the new foreign sponsorship identification requirements has
…