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.
Public Interest Obligations/Localism
June Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – EEO, Rulemaking Comments, AM Congressional Hearings, and More
Though school is out for many, the FCC does not take a summer recess. Instead, regulation continues. While the pace of new FCC regulatory issues for broadcasters has slowed, perhaps pending the confirmation of a new Commissioner and the return of the FCC to full strength, there are still regulatory matters in June worth watching. Some are routine, others look more to the future – but all are worth watching just the same.
One of the routine regulatory deadlines comes on June 1, as it is the deadline for Radio and Television Station Employment Units in Arizona, 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 to their online public inspection file their Annual EEO Public File Report. 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 a station’s website, if it has a website. …
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: May 22 to May 26, 2023
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 Biden Administration nominated Anna Gomez to be an FCC Commissioner. She will fill the open seat to which Gigi
Biden Administration Nominates Fifth FCC Commissioner, and Renominates Two Existing Commissioners – What Broadcast Issues Could a Full FCC Resolve?
This week brought the news that the Biden administration has nominated Anna Gomez for the open Democratic FCC seat that Gigi Sohn was to fill until she asked that her nomination be withdrawn in March, after a prolonged debate over her confirmation. Gomez is experienced in government circles, having worked at NTIA (a Department of…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: May 1 to May 5, 2023
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 continues to consider its Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on proposals to enhance the FCC’s requirements
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: April 24 to April 28, 2023
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 Enforcement Bureau issued the first of its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audit letters for 2023 to randomly selected
Fox-Dominion Settlement Focuses Light on Defamation Claims – Broadcasters Beware of Airing Untrue Political Ads
Last week’s announcement of the settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems certainly dominated the popular press and the discussions among most TV pundits, highlighting the law of defamation for anyone who follows the news. While the case illustrates the principles that we have written about many times on this blog (see, for instance, our articles here and here), the settlement illustrates for broadcasters and other media companies the real risks that exist when disseminating content that is false and could harm the reputation or business prospects of any recognizable individual or group.
Most particularly, the Fox case sends the message to media companies that defamation claims against public figures are alive and well and have the potential to result in substantial liability. While the bar to a party’s success in raising such a claim remains high, it is not insurmountable. On this blog, we’ve written less about issues arising from news coverage than those that arise in connection with political advertising. The same issues that arose in the Fox case can arise in cases where broadcasters run political ads knowing or with reason to believe that they are false. Thus, our past warnings regarding the need to be vigilant in assessing non-candidate attacks on other candidates or recognizable individuals remains more important today than ever, as the Fox case has highlighted the potential path to riches some attacked individuals may see when false attack ads run on broadcast stations or other media.…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: April 10 to April 14, 2023
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 has requested comments on NAB’s petition asking the Commission to grant a two-year extension of the May 26,
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: April 3 to April 7, 2023
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.
- Since the February 24 hearing designation order (HDO) from the FCC’s Media Bureau referring questions about Standard General Broadcasting’s proposed
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: March 27 to March 31, 2023
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 (“NPRM”) to implement the Low Power Protection Act (“LPPA”), which was signed