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 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the FCC’s decisions in the 2018 Quadrennial Review to retain the Top-4 Prohibition (prohibiting broadcasters from owning two of the top-4 affiliated TV stations in a DMA) and to close the “Note 11 loophole” to the TV ownership rule (adding LPTV stations and multicast streams to the prohibition on broadcasters acquiring another in-market station’s Top 4 network affiliation).  This action will mean that the Top 4 rule will be gone, unless the FCC can, within 90 days, find evidence that it previously overlooked to show that retention of the cap was reasonable.   The court upheld the FCC’s decision to retain its radio ownership caps and refused to change the rule limiting TV owners to two stations in any market.  FCC Chairman Carr issued a statement praising the court for vacating rules which “only made it harder for trusted and local sources of news and information to compete in today’s media environment.”  We further discussed the Court’s decision on our Broadcast Law Blog, and what actions the FCC may take next on broadcast ownership deregulation (particularly regarding radio) following the decision.
  • The FCC issued an Order approving, by a vote of 2-1, Skydance Media’s acquisition of control of Paramount.  In September 2024, Skydance and Paramount filed applications with the FCC proposing that Skydance’s principal David Ellison acquire a controlling stake in Paramount and become its Chairman and CEO (see our discussion here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).  The FCC dismissed concerns regarding the merger’s anticompetitive effects, and its alleged negative impact on localism, jobs, and national security.  The FCC also accepted Skydance’s “firm and definite” commitments to ensuring that CBS’ news and entertainment programming embodies a of viewpoint diversity across the political and ideological spectrum, and appointing an ombudsman to handle bias complaints against CBS.  The FCC further found that Paramount’s elimination of its DEI initiatives and its corresponding changes to its leadership structure, training, corporate sponsorships, supplier selection, hiring, career development resources, and public and internal messaging were in the public interest.  FCC Chairman Carr and Commissioner Trusty issued statements supporting the decision.  Commissioner Gomez dissented based on Paramount’s “baseless” settlement of the Trump lawsuit about the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 election and its other “troubling concessions” made to secure approval of the deal. 
  • At its July Open Meeting, the FCC adopted its first Direct Final Rule in the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding, eliminating 18 rules that the FCC deemed obsolete or outdated. The only rule that dealt with broadcasting was its closed captioning decoder requirements for analog TV receivers.  As we noted here, the direct final rule process allows the FCC to vote to delete a rule with no prior public comments, but allowing a 10-day comment period after the deletion order where, if substantive negative comments are filed, the FCC will then implement regular notice and comment procedures before the deletion becomes effective.  The final version of the FCC’s Order on the Direct Final Rule process and the 18 deletions has yet to be released, but comments will be due 10 days after its publication in the Federal Register.
  • The FCC’s Media Bureau announced that July 25 was the effective date of certain rules adopted in the November 2024 Order in which the FCC permitted FM broadcasters to originate limited amounts of programming on their FM boosters to allow for insertions of unique program material such as localized advertising or news breaks (see our discussion here).  These rules required Office of Management and Budget’s approval before taking effect, which has now been obtained. The rules include political file requirements for FM boosters that originate programming, Quarterly Issues/Programs lists requirements, interference protection and complaints procedures, and requirements to notify the FCC and state EAS plan administrators before a booster starts to originate programming.  Stations must now use FCC Form 336 to notify the FCC when they originate programming on FM boosters.
  • The Media Bureau also announced that more of the FCC’s actions eliminating or amending many of its cable rate regulations taken in a June Report and Order will become effective August 13 after they received OMB approval this week.  These rules became obsolete or unworkable due to the end of most rate regulation years ago.  
  • FCC Commissioner Trusty followed FCC Chairman Carr and Commissioner Gomez (see our notes here) by releasing her own statement regarding Congress’ rescission of $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (an action signed into law by the President this past week), thereby cutting funding to many NPR and PBS stations.  Trusty stated that since “Americans are increasingly skeptical of media institutions,” it was not “unreasonable for taxpayers to expect transparency, accountability, and balance from any outlet receiving federal support.”  Trusty also stated the funding rescission “does not signal the end of public media,” but instead it “presents an opportunity for innovation, partnerships, and more localized decision-making.”
  • Comments were filed responding to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to require certain FCC-regulated entities and auction applicants, including all broadcast licensees and permittees, to file a certification stating if they are owned or controlled by a foreign adversary (see our discussion here and here).  The NAB, the only major commenter addressing broadcaster issues raised in the NPRM, argues that these certifications are unnecessary, burdensome, and contrary to the FCC’s recent deregulatory initiatives, and therefore should be limited to entities with controlled by a foreign adversary.  The NAB also argues that the proposed streamlined license revocation procedures for entities failing to report ownership by foreign adversaries violate the Communications Act, which entitles broadcasters to a hearing before their stations’ licenses are revoked.  Instead, the NAB suggests that the FCC should revoke licenses only when an entity’s failure to comply is willful or presents national security concerns. 
  • The Media Bureau entered into three Consent Decrees with several TV stations to settle investigations of violations of the children’s programming commercialization limits:
    • The Media Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with Univision to settle an investigation into its TV stations’ ad limit violations during Pokémon and Pocoyo programs, as disclosed in its license renewal applications.  Univision reported that on several occasions, 41 of its stations aired a Pokémon program containing 3 minutes and 45 seconds of ads over the 12-minute per hour limit.  Univision also reported that on several occasions, 36 of its stations aired a Pocoyo program containing 40 seconds of ads over the limit, and displayed for three seconds a URL for a website where show-related products could be purchased, which the FCC’s rules also prohibit.  The Consent Decree requires Univision to make a $300,000 “voluntary contribution” to the U.S. Treasury and to implement a compliance plan. 
    • The Media Bureau entered into two Consent Decrees (here and here) with three TV stations to settle a September 2024 Forfeiture Order imposing $20,000 monetary penalties for their program length commercial violations during a Hot Wheels program (a decision we noted here).  Similar to the Consent Decrees that the Bureau entered into last week with other TV station owners (which we noted here), these Consent Decrees eliminate the licensees’ financial penalties, and required the licensees to implement compliance plans.  The Bureau also entered into a Consent Decree last month with Sinclair, which originated the Hot Wheels program that aired on these stations, to settle its $2.6 million penalty under the Forfeiture Order, along with other issues, through a $500,000 payment and a compliance plan (see our discussion here).
  • The Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director revoked a Kentucky AM station’s license for failure to pay its delinquent regulatory fees or show cause why payment should be waived or deferred.  In April, the station was issued an Order to Pay or Show Cause requiring the station, within 60 days, to either pay its delinquent regulatory fees or explain why the fees could not be paid.  The station’s license was revoked after it neither timely responded to the Order nor paid its delinquent fees.  The station currently has an unpaid regulatory fee debt totaling $9,261.41 for fiscal years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2022, and 2023. 
  • The Media Bureau dismissed a Florida LPFM construction permit application based on objections that the applicant failed to meet the FCC’s LPFM localism requirement.  The Bureau found that the multiple addresses submitted by the applicant that could be its headquarters were all located more than 10 miles from the proposed station’s transmitter site (the limit for LPFM applicants within one of the top 50 urban markets).  Following the application’s dismissal, the Bureau granted an objector’s mutually exclusive application.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision this week on the appeals of the FCC’s December 2023 decision following its 2018 Quadrennial Review (see our summary here) to leave the local radio and television ownership rules largely unchanged.  The Court’s decision was a victory for television owners, declaring the restrictions on the ownership of two of the Top 4 TV stations in any market to be contrary to the record and ending that restriction unless, within 90 days, the FCC can show that there was in fact record evidence supporting the restriction.  The Court also provided a more sweeping victory to the industry, concluding that the Quadrennial Review proceeding was inherently a deregulatory one.  In the Quadrennial Review process, the FCC can retain the rules that it has or relax them based on the effects of competition.  It cannot tighten them, leading the Court to throw out the one new aspect of the 2023 decision – expanding the prohibition on a company acquiring a second TV network affiliation and moving it to a digital subchannel or an LPTV station (when the rule had previously applied only to moving that affiliation to a full-power station.)

While this decision gives the TV industry much to celebrate, the decision was not a total victory for the broadcast industry.  The radio rules remain unchanged, as do the TV limits that do not allow an interest in more than 2 TV stations in any market.  The Court had been urged to find that these rules were no longer supportable in light of competition from digital media.  The Court looked at the statutory requirement that the Commission review these rules every 4 years in light of competition, and decided to defer to the FCC’s policy judgment that the proper scope of competition to be analyzed at this time was the competition within the broadcast industry itself.  The Court deferred to the FCC’s findings that broadcasting’s unique local nature and its broad-based advertising reach (as opposed to the individually-targeted ads of digital competitors) made it different from digital media.  Therefore, the Court upheld the FCC’s findings that broadcasting was still a unique marketplace where the public interest required limits on how many stations one party can own in a market.  Certainly, most broadcasters, particularly in radio, would be surprised to know that they do not compete with digital – but that was the effect of the Court’s decision.

Continue Reading Court of Appeals Throws Out TV Top 4 Ownership Prohibition – What is Next for Radio and Other Local TV Ownership Rules?

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.

  • FCC Chairman Carr announced the agenda for the Commission’s regular monthly open meeting scheduled for August 7, and it contains several items relevant to broadcasters.  In anticipation of the meeting, the Commission released drafts of the decisions that will be considered:
    • The FCC released a draft Final Rule, that if adopted, would repeal 98 broadcast rules identified by the FCC through the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding as obsolete, outdated, or unnecessary.  The broadcast rules slated for repeal include procedures for applying for approval for over-the-air subscription TV systems (single channel linear pay TV services using an over-the-air TV channel – used in many markets prior to the turn of the century when many current pay TV options did not exist), the requirement that radio and TV stations be equipped with specific instruments for determining station power levels, technical provisions related to international broadcast stations, a rule describing how to calculate operating power, and rules containing references to FCC policies (the proposal is to delete a set of references to the policies set out in the rules, references that have no independent effect and which are in many cases are incomplete or outdated – the underlying policies will remain effective).  As we noted in last week’s update here, the FCC is using its “direct final rule” process to expeditiously delete clearly outdated or overturned rules.  The Commission votes to delete the rule, but there is a 10-day period in which the public can object to the deletion.  If significant comments are filed arguing that the rule should not be deleted, the deletion can be held in abeyance while the FCC proceeds with a traditional notice and comment process, allowing comments and reply comments, before finally acting to delete the rule.
    • The FCC released a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that, if adopted, will reexamine the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the Wireless Emergency Alerts system. For EAS, the FCC seeks comment on what goals EAS should aim to achieve, whether EAS is currently effective at achieving these goals, whether there are any additional EAS transmission capabilities necessary to achieve these goals, what steps the FCC should take to modernize EAS, which entities should be allowed to send alerts via EAS, how well EAS is currently working in practice, and whether other changes should be made to better serve the public. 
    • The FCC released a draft NPRM, which, if adopted, could lead to significant revisions to the FCC’s rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).  The FCC’s NEPA and NHPA rules determine if the construction of communications facilities, including broadcast towers, will affect the environment and historical sites.  The FCC seeks comment on ways to streamline its NEPA and NHPA review procedures following President Trump’s January Executive Order directing federal agencies to streamline such regulations.
    • The FCC released a draft Second Report and Order, which if adopted, would streamline and expedite earth station application processing.  The changes include allowing earth station operators to receive a license without identifying a specific point from which they will operate (so that they can operate wherever they find customers), adopting streamlined processes for adding or removing points of communication, expanding the types of license modifications that do not require prior authorization, expanding timeframes to file license renewal applications, and adopting a 30-day “shot clock” in which the FCC will process earth station renewal applications.
    • The FCC released a draft Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order on Reconsideration, that if adopted, would streamline Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) filing obligations, which are currently voluntary for broadcasters.  As we noted here and here, under FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel, the FCC proposed in a January 2024 NPRM to require TV and radio stations to report their operating status during disasters in the FCC’s DIRS database. This item, however, does not address whether the FCC still intends to extend this reporting obligation to broadcasters. 
  • Congress passed a bill rescinding $1.1 billion in funding that had previously been appropriated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, cutting funds that were to be allocated to many NPR and PBS stations.  FCC Commissioner Gomez issued a statement describing the bill’s passage as “a key step in a coordinated campaign to silence public media, and the latest attempt by this Administration to censor and control speech” and otherwise decrying this action.   Both Chairman Carr and President Trump applauded the action on social media, suggesting that the cuts were appropriate as these services had lost the trust of the American people and no longer merited government support. 
  • The FCC’s Media Bureau entered into five Consent Decrees (see here, here, here, here, and here) with several TV stations to settle a September 2024 Forfeiture Order imposing monetary penalties on their licensees ranging from $20,000 to an aggregate $120,000 for exceeding the limits on commercialization in programming directed to children ages 12 or under.  The stations had broadcast “program-length commercials” (Hot Wheels programs in which an ad for a Hot Wheels product was run which, under FCC policy, turns the whole program into one big commercial).  We noted the FCC’s 2024 decision here.  The Consent Decrees eliminate the financial penalties on the licensees, but they do require that the stations implement compliance plans to ensure that future violations of the FCC’s commercial limits rule do not occur.  As we noted last month, here, the Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with Sinclair, which provided the program, to settle its $2.6 million penalty under the Forfeiture Order, along with other issues particular to Sinclair’s stations, through a $500,000 financial penalty and a compliance plan. 
  • The Media Bureau entered into Consent Decrees with a Puerto Rico AM station and with a New York AM station to resolve its investigations into the stations’ unauthorized transfers of control.  In each case, controlling interests in the station licensee were sold without filing transfer of control applications seeking FCC approval.  The Puerto Rico station’s Consent Decree requires that the station pay a $5,000 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury for a single unauthorized transfer, while the New York station (which actually had two transfers, first of 50% negative control, and later of the remaining 50%, both without prior FCC approval) requires a $10,000 voluntary contribution.
  • The FCC’s Media Bureau announced that some of the FCC’s actions on cable rate regulations taken in a Report and Order released last month will become effective August 13.  The actions eliminated or amended many of the FCC’s cable rate regulations, which became obsolete or unworkable due to the end of most rate regulation years ago.  Some of the amended rules, however, require approval of the Office of Management and Budget before becoming effective.  The FCC will announce when those amended rules take effect. 
  • The FCC announced that comments and reply comments are due August 18 and September 2, respectively, responding to the Media Bureau’s NPRM seeking comment on a petitioner’s proposed substitution of Channel 24 for Channel 4 at Jacksonville, Oregon due to the inferior quality of VHF channel signals. 
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting to a Quinault, Washington landowner for allegedly allowing a pirate to broadcast from its property.  The Bureau warned the landowner that the FCC may issue a fine of up to $2,453,218 under the PIRATE Radio Act if the landowner continues to permit pirate radio broadcasting from the property.
  • The Media Bureau dismissed a California LPFM construction permit application based on an objection claiming that the applicant failed to meet the FCC’s LPFM localism requirement.  The Bureau found that the applicant’s possible headquarters (it was unclear to the Bureau whether either applicant’s main studio and “principal office” addresses listed in the application were for its headquarters) and all of its directors’ residences were located more than 10 miles from the proposed station’s transmitter site (the limit for LPFM applicants within one of the top 50 urban markets).  Following the application’s dismissal, the Bureau granted the objector’s mutually exclusive application.

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 announced that comments and reply comments are due August 4 and August 22, respectively, responding to its Public Notice released last month seeking to refresh the record in the National Television Multiple Ownership Rule proceeding.  In December 2017, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on whether to retain, modify, or eliminate the national television ownership cap (prohibiting attributable ownership interests in broadcast TV stations that reach more than 39% of the TV households nationwide), and the UHF discount (a 50% discount for UHF stations in calculating compliance with the 39% cap).  On our Broadcast Law Blog, we took a closer look at the Public Notice and how it related to other potential changes to the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules.
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with TEGNA to resolve its investigation into the broadcast of indecent material on its Spokane, Washington TV station.  The investigation started because of a complaint that a “pornographic video” aired during a weather report on the station’s 6:00 p.m. news in October 2021.  TEGNA confirmed the video aired during on a monitor behind the weatherperson for 13 seconds.  TEGNA determined that an unknown party accessed the monitor’s screencasting feature through the station’s unsecured local wireless network.  After the incident, TEGNA directed all of its stations to disable all screencasting features, deactivated the station’s wireless network, removed all of the station’s smart TVs and monitors’ wireless components, and required the station to only use monitors lacking wireless connectivity going forward.  The Consent Decree requires TEGNA to pay a $222,500 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury and to implement a compliance plan at all of its stations to prevent future violations of the FCC’s indecency rules.  On our Broadcast Law Blog, we further discussed the Consent Decree, the need for broadcasters to secure their transmission chain, and how the FCC enforces its indecency rules against broadcasters.
  • FCC Chairman Carr released a statement congratulating Congress for passing the One Bill Beautiful Bill, which reauthorized the FCC’s spectrum auction authority that lapsed in 2023.  The bill extends the FCC’s auction authority through September 30, 2034. A few months ago, we wrote on our Blog that the lack of auction authority has kept the FCC from opening windows for the filing of applications for new broadcast stations and noted that the FCC, in anticipation of the authority being renewed, earlier this year budgeted for an FM auction in the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. 
  • President Trump posted on Truth Social urging Senate Republicans to support the Administration’s Recissions Bill, which formalizes the DOGE cuts and includes a $1.1 billion claw back in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, stripping NPR and PBS of federal funding.  Trump threatened not to endorse any Republican who did not support the bill.  As we noted here, the bill was passed by the House last month.  Senator Cantwell (D-WA) posted a video on X stating that the proposed recission of CPB funding “isn’t just an attack on NPR and PBS – it’s a reckless endangerment of 13 million Americans who depend on these stations for lifesaving emergency information.”  FCC Chairman Carr posted an image on X from a Kansas PBS affiliate asking viewers to tell their senators to vote no on the Recissions Bill, and stated that he directed the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to investigate whether the station violated the FCC’s rules prohibiting noncommercial stations from accepting money in exchange for airing political issue ads.  Seemingly in response to the Recissions Bill, Carr also encouraged “PBS & NPR to focus more on how they managed to lose America’s trust.  That is their problem, not Congress’s work to ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
  • The Enforcement Bureau also entered into a Consent Decree with a Massachusetts pirate radio broadcaster to resolve its investigation of the individual’s illegal broadcasting activities.  As the result of a sweep of the Boston area (and other parts of Massachusetts) for pirate broadcasting, the FCC proposed a $597,775 fine in April 2024 against the individual for pirate broadcasting.  Due to the individual’s inability to pay the proposed fine and because he ceased pirate broadcasting, the Consent Decree reduced the fine to $10,000, but the Decree requires that the individual pay a further penalty of $587,775 if he engages or assists anyone else in pirate broadcasting during the Consent Decree’s 20-year term.
  • There was continued advocacy on the NAB’s proposal to mandate a hard date for an ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) conversion (see our notes on this proposal here and here). Representatives of the electronics, cable, and LPTV industries and a public interest group met with the FCC to urge, for separate reasons, that no mandate be issued (see a summary of those meetings here).  NAB’s Chief Legal Officer Rick Kaplan responded in an article on the NAB’s blog addressing each group’s arguments and contending that they were not protecting the public but instead “protecting their turf.”  Former FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly released a statement opposing such technological mandates, while groups advocating for the hard date also met with the FCC (see the FCC filings of Pearl TV LLC and Sinclair Inc. and EdgeBeam Wireless).  The FCC has taken comments on whether to proceed with a rulemaking on the NAB proposal (which we noted here and here).  The current debate is whether the FCC should move forward with a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to set a hard date for the ATSC 3.0 conversion. 
  • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the FTC’s “Click to Cancel Rule” which amended its existing “Negative Option Rule” by requiring sellers to allow consumers to easily cancel their enrollments in subscriptions and services with “negative options.”  As we noted here and here, the amended rule included various consumer protections including requiring sellers to provide a means to cancel a subscription as easy to use as the means of enrolling in the seller’s service.  The court found that the FTC made procedural errors prior to adopting the amended rule, principally by not conducting a statutorily mandated “preliminary” analysis of alternatives to the rule.  These errors required that the rule be rejected, even though the Court was seemingly sympathetic to the FTC’s goals.
  • The FCC released its quarterly Broadcast Station Totals.  The release shows that, compared to the same release from a year ago, there are 53 fewer AM stations and 18 fewer commercial FM stations, but 333 more noncommercial stations.  There were also 11 more commercial UHF TV stations but 11 fewer VHF TV stations; and 2 more noncommercial UHF TV stations with 1 fewer noncommercial VHF TV stations.
  • The FCC’s Media Bureau issued two decisions reflecting the superiority of UHF channels for the transmission of digital TV signals.  The Bureau granted a TV station’s petition proposing the substitution of UHF Channel 23 for VHF Channel 2 at Las Vegas, Nevada.  The Bureau found that granting the channel substitution was in the public interest due to the Las Vegas area’s topography and the petition’s inclusion of over 200 viewer complaints of the station’s VHF reception issues (which the Bureau found likely to be due to significant interference from outdoor lighting in Las Vegas), even though some viewers would lose reception of the station due to the channel change.  The Bureau also released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on a petitioner’s proposed substitution of Channel 24 for Channel 4 at Jacksonville, Oregon due to the inferior quality of VHF channel signals, especially in indoor areas. 
  • The Media Bureau reinstated the following channels in the FM Table of Allotments as vacant due to either the cancellation of the associated station authorizations or the dismissal of the associated long-form auction applications: Channel 264C3 at Crosbyton, Texas; Channel 259A at Encinal, Texas; Channels 263A and 297C3 at Junction, Texas; Channel 297A at Knox City, Texas; Channel 286A at Sanderson, Texas; Channel 244A at Turkey, Texas; and Channel 234C2 at Wells, Texas.  The FCC will announce if and when it will open windows for the filing of applications for these vacant allotments.    

The FCC this week announced a Consent Decree with a TEGNA subsidiary to settle an indecency complaint against a Spokane television station.  The FCC received a complaint about a “pornographic video” which the station admitted had run on a TV screen behind the station’s weathercaster that was visible to the home viewer for approximately 13 seconds during a weather report in 2021.  TEGNA agreed to make a $222,500 “voluntary contribution” to the U.S. Treasury as part of the settlement and to set up a 3-year compliance plan to ensure that the conduct was not repeated.

These penalties were imposed even though, from the description of the incident in the Consent Decree, it appeared that neither the station nor its employees were responsible for the objectionable content that ran on the visible TV screen.  According to the description of the incident, the objectionable video did not pass through the normal transmission chain at the station and did not come from any of its equipment.  Instead, it appeared that someone was able to use an unsecured wireless network at the station to “cast” the video from an outside device to the video monitor behind the weathercaster.  Apparently, the controls on that video monitor were set to permit this wireless access.  This case appears to teach broadcasters several lessons.

First, and most obviously, security of the broadcast chain is paramount.  Following the incident, TEGNA disabled the unsecured network and access to all video monitors so no wireless access outside the normal broadcast chain could occur.  In the past, there have been other incidents where broadcast transmissions were captured by outside parties through unsecured parts of the transmission path.  In one case, access was allowed through unsecured internet access to the Studio Transmitter link of several radio stations around the country, allowing non-station content to be inserted into the chain leading to the transmitter and cutting off the station’s own programming (see our article here about a subsequent government warning about these vulnerabilities).  In another case, access was obtained through the EAS system of several television stations allowing the broadcast of fake alerts warning of a zombie attack.  The FCC itself is looking at requiring all stations to report regularly to the FCC about how its systems are protected so as to secure emergency broadcast channels but, even without such a mandate, incidents like these highlight the importance of security of the transmission chain for every broadcast station.

 Second, this case seems to reinforce the notion that, at the current time, indecency enforcement seems to be reserved for the most egregious cases.  In this case, there is no indication that TEGNA contested the indecent nature of the material broadcast.  In the last major case in recent years where a similarly substantial penalty was imposed ($325,000 – see our article here), the indecent nature of the content was not challenged (though, that case, there were arguments about the fleeting nature of the content – less than 3 seconds – and the fact that the improper images were not prominent on most television sets).  Many will remember the FCC’s indecency enforcement regime earlier this century when a wide array of programming was under scrutiny by the FCC (see, for instance, our articles here, here, and here).  That came to an end with the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision not to review a decision in the Janet Jackson case, where the Court of Appeals found that the FCC’s indecency standard was too unclear to be enforced (see our article here, and our article here about a prior Supreme Court case finding that the FCC had not given proper notice of its decision to fine stations for “fleeting expletives”) .  While the FCC in 2013 asked for comments on how to adopt clearer standards to define indecency, no resolution of those issues was ever reached (see our articles here, here and here).  Given the ambiguity in the lines drawn about what is permitted and what is prohibited, it appears that, for now, most indecency enforcement is confined to instances where, no matter where the line is drawn, the content would be impermissible – in other words, a continuation of the “egregious cases” policy that has been in place since 2013.

But this case shows that indecency is still a concern – and it is a concern no matter the politics of the FCC that may be faced with a complaint.  Broadcasters need to be aware of this decision, and they need to take steps to secure their systems to avoid any recurrence of this situation at their stations. 

Only three weeks ago, we published an article on the FCC’s request for public comment to update the record in the 2018 proceeding looking at whether to change the 39% national cap on the ownership of television stations. That request for comments was published in the Federal Register yesterday, setting the deadline for comments. Comments are due August 4, 2025 and reply comments are to be filed by August 22. Although we published our look at the issues in this proceeding only a few weeks ago, we thought that we would republish it for those who may have missed it. Here is what we said on June 26:

Last week, the FCC released a Public Notice requesting comments to refresh the record compiled in 2018 in a proceeding that proposed to review the TV national ownership cap.  That cap limits any company from having attributable interests in full-power TV stations that reach more than 39% of the nationwide TV audience.  That 2018 proceeding was begun (with a late December 2017 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)  to assess whether the FCC should raise the cap, and also to explore whether it has the power to do so (see our article here).  This week’s Public Notice, released by the FCC’s Media Bureau, not only seeks information about the questions raised in 2018, but it also poses a number of new issues reflecting the concerns of the current Commission. 

The Public Notice is not seeking comment on the local broadcast ownership rules that govern how many TV (and radio) stations one owner can have in any market.  Those issues are separately considered in the FCC’s Congressionally-mandated Quadrennial Reviews, where every four years the FCC must justify that the local ownership rules remain necessary in the public interest as a result of competition.  The Commission should be considering the local rules this year, as it is in the fourth and final year of the Quadrennial Review cycle for 2022, and also possibly because of the results of the pending appeal of the 2018 Quadrennial Review (see our article here) – a decision in that appeal could be released at any time.  The 39% national TV ownership cap was adopted by Congress and is not specifically subject to the Quadrennial review – hence the questions that were raised in the 2018 proceeding about the FCC’s authority to review these rules.

Continue Reading Comment Dates Set on the FCC Request to Update the Record on the 39% National TV Ownership Cap

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.

  • Paramount/CBS settled its lawsuit with President Trump for $16 million.  Last Fall, President Trump sued CBS for its supposed deceptive editing of the 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Harris which, as we noted here, here, and here, is also the basis of a pending news distortion complaint at the FCC.  As part of the settlement, Paramount/CBS agreed to release written transcripts of future 60 Minutes interviews with presidential candidates.  FCC Commissioner Gomez released a statement stating that the settlement “should alarm anyone who values a free and independent press,” and “now casts a long shadow over the integrity of the transaction pending before the FCC.”  Gomez called again for the FCC to bring the Paramount-Skydance transfer applications before the full Commission for a vote given the public’s interest in the deal and the need for transparency.  As we noted here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, the applications propose Skydance principal David Ellison acquire a controlling stake in Paramount and become its Chairman and CEO.
  • The FCC released a draft Direct Final Rule in its Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding that, if adopted at its July 24 Open Meeting, would eliminate 18 rules that are now obsolete or outdated due to technological, marketplace, and other changes since the rules were implemented.  This is the first batch of rules that the FCC has slated for deletion in the proceeding.  For broadcasters, among the rules to be deleted is the FCC’s closed captioning decoder requirements for analog television receivers – technology obsolete after the completion of the DTV transition over a decade ago.  What is perhaps most important about this action is not the decision itself to delete an obsolete rule, but the process that the FCC is using to delete it.  Instead of the usual notice and comment rulemaking proceeding (releasing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking telling the public what it planned to do and asking for comments), the FCC is electing to proceed by the new “direct final rule” process.  This process announces that the rule is to be deleted and allows for a 10-day period in which the public can comment on the proposed deletion.  If significant comments are filed arguing that the rule should not be deleted, the FCC would proceed with a notice and comment process before acting.  If not, the deletion stands.  If adopted at the July 24 meeting, comments on the proposed rule elimination will be due 10 days after the item’s publication in the Federal Register, and unless the FCC determines that notice and comment procedures are necessary, the rule deletion will take effect 60 days after the Federal Register publication.    
  • The FCC’s Media Bureau granted a series of assignment applications permitting a broadcaster to acquire from subsidiaries of Sinclair, Inc. four TV stations, including stations with two top-4 network affiliations on separate multicast streams in both the Qunicy-Hannibal-Keokuk, IA-IL-MO and Ottumwa-Kirksville, IA-MO DMAs.  The assignee also requested a continuing TV satellite waiver of the FCC’s Local Television Ownership Rule for Sinclair’s two TV stations in the Champaign-Urbana and Springfield-Decatur, IL DMA.  The Bureau rejected a petition to deny against the applications which claimed that Sinclair lacked the required character qualifications to be an FCC licensee because it set up “sidecar” entities to evade the FCC’s TV ownership limitations in certain markets, finding that the FCC had previously considered and rejected arguments about these sidecar entities and that these concerns were unrelated to the present transaction.  As for the present applications, the Bureau found that the assignee made the required public interest showing to justify an exception to the FCC’s Top-4 Prohibition (which prohibits broadcasters from owning two of the top-4 affiliated TV stations in a DMA) to allow it to continue to have two network affiliations in each market, concluding that, without the action, viewers in the markets would lose access to network over-the-air programming as the DMAs could not support another independently owned network-affiliated station.  The Bureau also granted the request for a continuing satellite waiver, finding that the grounds that initially justified the Champaign station’s operation as a satellite of the Springfield station remained unchanged. 
  • The Media Bureau also granted the license renewal applications for three Maryland TV stations over a petition to deny claiming that Sinclair, the licensee of one of the stations, controlled the other two stations and that Sinclair has repeatedly violated the FCC’s sponsorship identification rules, has failed to negotiate with multichannel video programming distributors in good faith, and has failed to maintain its online public inspection files.  Many of these issues were resolved in a Consent Decree, which we noted last week.  The petitioner passed away after filing the petition, and the Bureau rejected attempts to substitute an unrelated party as the petitioner, leading the Bureau to grant the renewal applications as there was no party left to prosecute the petition.
  • The US Supreme Court agreed to hear in its next term a First Amendment challenge by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to restrictions on the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for federal office, potentially setting the stage to give candidates access to additional party funds for advertising and other campaign expenses. 
  • The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued two Notices of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting against a Bronx, New York landowner and a Sweet Home, Oregon landowner for allegedly allowing pirates to broadcast from their properties.  The Bureau warned the landowners that the FCC may issue fines of up to $2,453,218 under the PIRATE Radio Act if the landowners continue to permit pirate radio broadcasting from their properties.

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.

  • Olivia Trusty was sworn in as an FCC Commissioner, restoring the Commission’s quorum just before its regular monthly Open Meeting.  With there now being a 2-1 Republican majority, many believe that the Commission will move forward with Chairman Carr’s deregulatory agenda.  In the Press Conference following Thursday’s open meeting, Carr promised that the FCC would have a very busy July and August.  The release of a request to refresh the record on the television national ownership caps the day after Trusty was confirmed (an FCC release which we wrote about on our Broadcast Law Blog this week) may signal the start of proceedings impacting broadcasters.
  • The NAB announced that a majority of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate are now co-sponsoring the AM for Every Vehicle Act (see our article here for more details on that Act).  While a majority of Congress has now committed to vote for the legislation protecting AM radio in cars, Congressional leadership must schedule the bill for debate and a vote before the requirements can become law. 
  • The FCC’s Enforcement and Media Bureaus entered into a Consent Decree with Sinclair Broadcast Group to resolve investigations arising from the Media Bureau’s review of its stations’ license renewal applications, including whether some of its stations failed to timely upload Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists and commercial limits certifications to their Online Public Inspection Files and whether it failed to timely file the renewal for one of its TV translators.  Also resolved were claims that one of Sinclair’s TV stations failed to comply with the FCC’s closed captioning rules.  In addition, the Consent Decree settled a September 2024 Forfeiture Order initially imposing a $2,652,000 penalty against Sinclair as well as penalties against several other broadcasters (who were not a party to the Consent Decree and remain subject to the order) for exceeding the limits on commercialization in programming directed to children ages 12 or under (a decision we noted here).  While the Consent Decree does not require Sinclair to admit that it violated the FCC rules, Sinclair must pay a $500,000 civil penalty and enter into a compliance plan to ensure that future FCC rule violations do not occur.
  • The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an Opinion rejecting a claim that the FCC had erred in concluding that only Low Power Television stations in DMAs with fewer than 95,000 households were eligible to file for Class A status under the Low Power Protection Act passed by Congress in 2023 (we noted the FCC decision on the limits of the Act here).  Class A status gives an LPTV station protection against interference from new or improved full-power stations and from any future repacking of the TV spectrum.  The Court rejected arguments of the petitioner, including the argument that the household limit was meant to apply to an LPTV station’s community of license not its DMA, finding that the FCC’s reading of the statutory language was the correct one. 
  • The FCC announced that comments and reply comments are due July 23 and August 22, respectively, in response to its April Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing updates to its foreign ownership rules adopted under Section 310(b) of the Communications Act and applicable to many FCC licensees, including broadcasters.  Section 310(b) prohibits foreign entities, individuals, and governments from holding ownership interests of more than 20% in an FCC licensee and ownership interests of more than 25% in a U.S. entity that directly or indirectly controls an FCC licensee.  FCC licensees, however, can ask the FCC to approve foreign ownership interests above the 25% threshold.  The NPRM proposes the adoption of rules detailing many of the policies that the FCC has adopted for dealing with such requests.  We initially noted the adoption of the NPRM here. 
  • Twenty-three state attorneys general filed a joint amicus brief supporting PBS and NPR’s lawsuit challenging President Trump’s Executive Order ending federal subsidies for NPR and PBS provided through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).  The attorneys general note that Congress established the CPB through the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, for the express purpose of maintaining a public broadcasting system free from government influence and intrusion, and they argue that the Executive Order is unconstitutional for violating the First Amendment and conflicting with Congress’ authority to decide whether and how to fund public media through its power of the purse.  They further note the importance of NPR and PBS’s services to their local communities, including their provision of emergency and public announcements and educational programming.  They conclude by stating that losing public media would erode public trust and leave many American communities in the dark.
  • At its Open Meeting, the FCC adopted a Report and Order proposing to streamline its cable rate regulations, many of which are now obsolete or unworkable due to the end of most cable rate regulation years ago.  The full text of the decision of the FCC is available here. 
  • The Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting to an owner and a property manager of a property in the Bronx, New York for allegedly allowing a pirate to broadcast from the property.  The Bureau warned the landowner and the property manager that the FCC may issue a fine of up to $2,453,218 under the PIRATE Radio Act if either of them continue to permit pirate radio broadcasting from the property.
  • The FCC released a Small Entity Compliance Guide regarding compliance with its amended rules permitting digital FM radio broadcast stations to initiate asymmetric sideband operations.  As we noted here, the FCC released a Report and Order in September 2024 permitting digital FM radio stations to operate at different power levels on their upper and lower digital sidebands.  In that Order, the FCC said that to initiate operations with asymmetric sidebands, a notification of digital FM operations would have to be made using the Form 335-FM.  As we noted here, FCC’s Media Bureau announced that May 23 was the effective date of the FCC’s rules adopted in the Order, and the Form 335-FM could now be filed as its use had been approved by the Office of Management and Budget.
  • The Media Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a South Carolina LPTV station which, due to an administrative oversight, failed to timely file a license application before its construction permit expired and then operated without a valid authorization for nearly four years.  The Consent Decree requires that the station pay a civil penalty of $13,000.

On our Broadcast Law Blog, we discussed upcoming regulatory deadlines in July affecting broadcasters.  These include Quarterly Issues Programs lists for all full-power stations, due in public inspection files by July 10, as well as comments in several FCC proceedings. 

As next week is a short week, given the July 4th Holiday on Friday, depending on the activity that takes place, we may take next weekend off.  So, if you don’t see an update next weekend, we will be back with a summary of the regulatory activity in the intervening two weeks on July 13. 

Last week, the FCC released a Public Notice requesting comments to refresh the record compiled in 2018 in a proceeding that proposed to review the TV national ownership cap.  That cap limits any company from having attributable interests in full-power TV stations that reach more than 39% of the nationwide TV audience.  That 2018 proceeding was begun (with a late December 2017 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)  to assess whether the FCC should raise the cap, and also to explore whether it has the power to do so (see our article here).  This week’s Public Notice, released by the FCC’s Media Bureau, not only seeks information about the questions raised in 2018, but it also poses a number of new issues reflecting the concerns of the current Commission. 

The Public Notice is not seeking comment on the local broadcast ownership rules that govern how many TV (and radio) stations one owner can have in any market.  Those issues are separately considered in the FCC’s Congressionally-mandated Quadrennial Reviews, where every four years the FCC must justify that the local ownership rules remain necessary in the public interest as a result of competition.  The Commission should be considering the local rules this year, as it is in the fourth and final year of the Quadrennial Review cycle for 2022, and also possibly because of the results of the pending appeal of the 2018 Quadrennial Review (see our article here) – a decision in that appeal could be released at any time.  The 39% national TV ownership cap was adopted by Congress and is not specifically subject to the Quadrennial review – hence the questions that were raised in the 2018 proceeding about the FCC’s authority to review these rules.

Continue Reading FCC Asks for Public Comment on Proposal to Update the 39% National Ownership Cap for Television

The lazy days of summer provide little respite from the regulatory actions of importance to broadcasters.  July brings quarterly requirements, including most importantly, the obligation to upload Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists to a station’s online public file.  There are comment deadlines in July in three FCC proceedings: on regulatory fees, on a proposal for LPTV stations to operate under the 5G Broadcast transmission standard, and in the FCC’s proposal to expand foreign ownership disclosure requirements for FCC-issued licensees, including broadcasters.  Political file windows are also opening in a few states.  So, even if the beach chair is calling, remember to keep an eye on dates that can affect your stations.

The one date that affects all full-power broadcasters, including Class A TV stations, is July 10 -the deadline for all full power and Class A television stations and full power AM and FM radio stations, both commercial and noncommercial, to upload their Quarterly Issues/Program lists for the second quarter of 2025 to their OPIFs.  The lists should identify the issues of importance to the station’s service area and the programs that the station aired between April 1 and June 30, 2025, 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.

July 10 is the deadline for a number of other online public file obligations that apply to certain stations.  The following obligations apply to stations if they have any of the information listed below:

  • documentation from noncommercial educational stations not affiliated with NPR or CPB of any on-air fundraising benefitting third parties that interrupted their normal programming (see our article here for a further explanation of this requirement),
  • documentation by Class A television of their continuing eligibility for Class A status, and
  • documentation from full power television, Class A television, and full power radio stations of any programming time that was leased by a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government or provided by a foreign entity for free in exchange for its airing (see our articles here and here for more information).

There are also deadlines for public comment in a number of FCC proceedings. July 1 is the deadline for reply comments responding to comments filed in early June on HC2 Broadcasting Holdings, Inc.’s petition for rulemaking proposing that LPTV stations be permitted to operate using the 5G Broadcast transmission standard as an alternative to the ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 transmission standards.  According to the petition, this standard can be received by compatible mobile devices and can offer services including enhanced programming, datacasting, and other digital connectivity.  The petition proposes requiring 5G Broadcast LPTV stations to provide at least one free-to-air video signal. 

July 7 is the deadline for comments responding to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing its fiscal year 2025 regulatory fees for broadcasters and for operational earth stations.  The FCC proposes to continue calculating each full-power TV station’s regulatory fee using the population-based methodology in use since 2020, using a factor of $0.006379 per population served for the full-power TV station regulatory fee.  This represents roughly a 3% decrease from the prior year ($0.006598).  Radio fees are proposed to change very little from those paid last year.  The FCC is also proposing an earth station fee of $2,840 for fiscal year 2025, which will be assessed under its new fee methodology adopted this month (see our discussion here).  Reply comments are due July 21.

July 9 is the comment deadline on the FCC’s proposal to close numerous “dormant” rulemaking proceedings. Numerous Media Bureau proceedings are proposed to be deleted.  These go from station-specific items to those that affect numerous stations in which there has been little recent activity including, for instance, portions of the proceeding to revitalize AM radio.   Broadcasters should carefully review the list of proceedings proposed for termination to see if any were inadvertently included that affect your station. Reply comments on the proposals are due by July 24. 

July 21 is the deadline for comments responding to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to require certain FCC-regulated entities and auction applicants, including all broadcast licensees and permittees, to file a certification stating if they are owned or controlled by a foreign adversary.  As we discussed here and here, the FCC proposes to define foreign adversaries as the Peoples’ Republic of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela.  Entities certifying yes would then need to disclose all ownership interests held by a foreign adversary (including interests held by their citizens or companies organized under their laws) of 5% or greater and describe the nature of the foreign adversary’s control.  The FCC also proposes to revoke FCC authorizations for entities filing false or incomplete certifications or for failing to file certifications when required.  For broadcasters, the FCC seeks comment on whether to use the broadcast ownership rules’ attribution criteria to determine a foreign adversary’s attribution to a broadcaster, and whether to make any changes to the existing foreign sponsorship identification rules to require disclosures for programming provided by foreign adversaries.  Reply comments are due August 19.

In past monthly updates, we have noted certain Lowest Unit Rate windows that opened in June for elections in July.  There are additional LUR Windows that open in July.  There are special Congressional elections in Virginia and in Arizona to fill vacant seats in the US House of Representatives.  In Virginia’s 11th District, an election to fill the vacant seat will be held on September 9, so stations serving that District have an LUR Window that opens on July 11th.  In the Arizona 7th District, the special election to fill the seat will be held on September 23, meaning that the Window will open on July 25th.  Additional LUR windows for broadcasters located in Delaware, Oklahoma, and Tennessee open this month tied to state and local elections occurring in August and September – meaning that Lowest Unit Rates apply to sales to candidates and their authorized committees (see our article here on the basics of computing LUR):

LUR DATESTATEELECTION DATEELECTION TYPE
July 1, 2025DelawareAugust 30, 2025Municipal Election – Henlopen Acres
July 8, 2025DelawareSeptember 6, 2025Municipal Election – Bethany Beach
July 11, 2025OklahomaSeptember 9, 2025Special Election
July 13, 2025TennesseeSeptember 11, 2025Municipal Election – Lexington
July 22, 2025DelawareSeptember 20, 2025Municipal Election – Dewey
July 27, 2025TennesseeSeptember 25, 2025Municipal Election – Dickson

As a refresher, in the 45 days before a primary election, and 60 days before a general or special election, broadcasters must extend to legally qualified candidates their lowest unit rate and continue to follow all other applicable political broadcasting rules.  For a deeper dive on how to prepare for the 2025 elections, see our post here, which also includes a link to our comprehensive Political Broadcasting Guide.  Also, take a look at our 2025 Broadcasters’ Calendar to see if your state has any upcoming primary, general, or special election (though confirm these dates locally as some dates have changed since the calendar was prepared).

Looking ahead to August, Annual EEO Public File Reports are due August 1 for radio and television station employment units with five or more full-time employees located in California, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.  Mid-Term EEO Reviews also commence August 1 for radio station employment units in California with eleven or more full-time employees and for television station employment units in Illinois and Wisconsin with five or more employees.  We’ll have more August regulatory dates at the end of July.  

As always, consult your own legal and technical advisors for other dates of importance that might apply to your stations in the upcoming month.