In recent months, SoundExchange has been reaching out to webcasters seeking to identify those who are delinquent in their royalty payments for music used on the Internet. Numerous broadcasters and webcasters have received calls or letters from SoundExchange seeking information about apparent underpayments or missing mandatory reports of royalty liability that should be filed regularly by
Revised Summary of Multiple Ownership Proceeding
As we noted last week, the Commission finally released the text of the multiple ownership rulemaking proceeding. Comments in the proceeding are due on September 22, with reply comments due on November 21. A revised summary of the issues raised in the proceeding is now available on our website.
FCC Releases Text of Multiple Ownership Rulemaking
Yesterday, the FCC released its text of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Multiple Ownership. The text summarizes the findings of the Commission in its 2003 multiple ownership proceeding, the questions about those decisions that were raised by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and then basically asks for public comments – without making
What is a Broadcaster to Do?
An article in Saturday’s NY Times once again highlights the broadcaster’s dilemma in deciding what can and cannot be said on over-the-air without triggering the wrath of the FCC for broadcast indecency. The article also highlights the self-censorship that broadcasters are engaged in to avoid even the potential of the $325,000 fines that Congress has recently authorized the FCC to impose in cases where a violation of the Commission’s standards are found.
The Times article talks about the issues now facing PBS in connection with a new documentary being produced by award-winning film maker Ken Burns. Mr. Burns’ new multi-part documentary is about World War II, and he has interviewed veterans about their experiences in the war. As might be expected, some of those interviews contain words that the FCC has determined to be actionably indecent whenever they are used on broadcast television. Thus, according to the article, new PBS guidelines would call not only for deletion of the words but, perhaps based on concerns about recent FCC interpretations that have fined stations based on implications of indecent actions even where the actions may not have been shown, pixilation of the mouths of the veterans so that the TV audience cannot lip-read to determine what words were being used.
To some, this legal advice may seem extreme, but with the FCC guidelines and precedent as confusing as it is, and the stakes so high with the new level of potential fines, perhaps this very conservative advice is all that can be given. Some may look at the proposed documentary as essentially identical to the airing of Saving Private Ryan, where the FCC held that the use of these otherwise prohibited words was permissible given the serious nature of the programming and the need to portray the soldiers in a realistic setting. So you would think that a documentary on exactly the same subject, dealing with the topics depicted in the movie, would be entitled to the same treatment. One would think – but then we have the case of PBS’ airing of The Blues, a serious documentary about blues singers which used some of the prohibited words to convey the realism of of the blues musicians being portrayed. The significant difference, and the reason for broadcasters’ concerns is that, unlike Private Ryan, The Blues drew a fine from the FCC for the use of the words. Our memo of April 2006 discusses some of these issues.Continue Reading What is a Broadcaster to Do?
Hurricane Season – Broadcasters Beware
As the second named tropical storm of this year makes its way up the East Coast, the FCC has warned video program distributors, including television stations and cable systems, to remember the Commission’s rules on the dissemination of emergency information. In a public notice issued today, the Commission summarized its rules regarding the
Danger Signs for On-Line Betting
Yesterday, according to press reports, Federal agents arrested the CEO of BetOnSports.com, an on-line sports gambling site. The reports state that others involved with this website were indicted, and those involved in companies which were in charge of promotion of this site were also arrested. Indications are that this may just be the beginning of a Federal
Will the President Get Broadcasters Fined?
Today, many broadcast stations covered the comments that President Bush made to British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the G-8 Summit. While discussing the Middle East before a microphone that the President did not realize was live, he used the "S Word" in discussing the problems in that part of the world. As the FCC recently declared
FCC Announces Regulatory Fees For 2006
Today, the FCC released an Order announcing the rules for the regulatory fees that will be due in September. The exact dates for filing will be announced in a subsequent public notice. But today’s Order sets out the amount of the fees that will be due for broadcasters and other services.
For AM stations, these fees will range from $400 to $7375, depending on the Class of Station and the population that the FCC estimates that the station serves. For FM stations, the rates range from $575 to $9750. UHF Television stations will owe between $1775 to $20,750, while VHF stations will pay between $3400 and $64,775. Satellite television stations, which simply rebroadcast the signals of other stations, need pay only $1150.
All fees are based on the status of the station as of October 1, 2005. So stations which have upgraded in the interim, or have gone from a construction permit to a licensed station after that date, will not have to pay for their new facilities until next year. However, even if there has been a change in ownership since October 1, 2005, the current licensee is responsible for the fee.
Still Waiting on DAB Rules
On Thursday, July 13, the FCC was supposed to consider the formal rules for digital radio. As I wrote on July 7, AM and FM stations operating digitally are currently doing so under temporary rules. The Commission was supposed to resolve the many issues surrounding digital radio at this meeting.
The meeting was to
HDTV – If you build it, will they come?
Yesterday was the day that virtually all television stations in the United States were supposed to be operating their digital facilities at substantially full power. For years, many stations have been operating their digital stations with temporary facilities at low power while waiting for the digital television audience to grow. Now, except for those license who have filed with the FCC a showing that financial or technical reasons justify their failure to be at full power, television stations should be reaching virtually their entire audience with a digital signal. This is one of the mileposts in the transition of the nation’s over-the-air television industry to digital operations, a process that Congress has mandated be complete by February 2009 – less than three years from now.
On our Digital Media Conference panel the week before last, one of the topics that we discussed was whether the process would really be complete by the February 2009 deadline. After turning on the Wimbledon women’s finals this morning, only to find that it was not being broadcast in HDTV, I really wonder if the transition can possibly be completed in less than three years. There is a real chicken and egg issue at play. Sports is clearly one of the big draws of digital television, as the HDTV coverage of a football or basketball is such an impressive sight that, once you get used to watching it in HDTV, you don’t want to go back to a standard definition viewing experience. But clearly, the expense and complication of broadcasting in HDTV, and the still small audience watching in HDTV, keep many programs in standard definition formats. Yet those of us lucky enough to be able to afford an HDTV television set remain frustrated when we encounter television programs not taking advantage of the new formats. Here in DC only one of the local newscasts in this major market is being done in HDTV. Little or no news or reality programming produced by the networks is yet in HDTV. If HDTV is not available, what will push the public rush to buy new sets to be ready for the February 2009 conversion deadline?Continue Reading HDTV – If you build it, will they come?