Discussion of FCC, copyright, advertising and other legal issues of importance to radio and television broadcasters and other media companies
Principal Editor: David O’Connor
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
…
The FCC this week released a Public Notice (that we mentioned in our update on regulatory dates for May) announcing that, on May 17, many new applications and other filings will be migrating to the FCC’s newer LMS filing platform. These include many of the documents that had been until recently filed in the FCC’s old CDBS platform. These applications had, since CDBS was closed for new filings, been submitted through emails to the FCC (see our articles here and here).
Most notably, the new LMS filings will include requests for Special Temporary Authority – and future requests for extensions of STAs. The FCC notes that for STAs that had originally been filed in CDBS, rather than filing an extension request for such STAs, applicants should initially file for a new STA in LMS and indicate in an exhibit that the request is for an extension of an existing STA that was filed in CDBS (or by email in the interim processing period). The full list of applications that will, as of May 17, be filed in LMS is as follows:
Continue Reading More FCC Broadcast Applications Moving to LMS – Including Requests for STAs
May is one of the few months on the calendar where there are not routine FCC regulatory deadlines. Yet there are still a number of important dates and deadlines this month (and early next) that broadcasters should note. Some of those dates and deadlines are below.
On March 17, the migration of applications and forms from the FCC’s legacy filing portal CDBS to its newer portal LMS will continue. The FCC has announced the transition of many of the forms that had been filed in CDBS, but are now filed by email, to LMS. Perhaps most significantly, this includes filings for Special Temporary Authority (and extensions to such authority and notices of the resumption of authorized operations. See the FCC’s Public Notice on the transition for a complete list of the transitioning forms, notes on the procedures to be used for extensions of applications previously filed in CDBS, and other details.
Throughout May, broadcasters in several states should be aware of the opening of political windows tied to June and early July primary elections. As a refresher, in the forty-five days before a primary election, broadcasters must extend to legally qualified candidates their lowest unit rate and continue to follow all other applicable political broadcasting rules. So the lowest unit rate period will be in effect at some point this month for stations serving states that have primary elections in June and early July (and is already open for states with May primaries). For a deeper dive on how to prepare for the political primary election season, see our post, here, which also includes a link to our comprehensive Political Broadcasting Guide. Take a look at our 2022 Broadcasters’ Calendar to see if your state has an upcoming primary election (though confirm these dates locally as some dates have changed since the calendar was prepared – for instance, just this week, a court ordered the congressional primaries in New York state be postponed from June until August).
Continue Reading May Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: LMS Migration of FCC Forms, Lowest Unit Rate Windows, EEO Audits, TV Auction, FM Antenna Rulemaking, and More
As we noted two weeks ago, the FCC has stopped accepting new filings through its CDBS database. This week, the FCC released a Public Notice which provides further details on how filings that were made in CDBS should now be submitted. As we noted when the announcement of the end of submissions to the…
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
…
2022 has begun – and we are all wondering what will lie ahead in the New Year. Each year, at about this time, we put together a look at highlights of the regulatory dates ahead for broadcasters. This year is no different – and we offer for your review our Broadcaster’s Regulatory Calendar for 2022…
Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
…
While much of the world was focused on election results, the FCC announced its transition of a few more of its applications from the CDBS database that it has used for several decades to its newer LMS database. The FCC’s Public Notice released earlier this week announced that assignments and transfer applications (both long-form…
If you have a commercial or noncommercial FM radio station, an LPFM or an FM translator, and are looking to file an FCC application to seek a construction permit to authorize technical changes to your station, or to file a license to cover changes that were previously authorized (or which need no prior authorization),…
The FCC today released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asking for public comment on its proposed Regulatory Fees for 2008. These fees are paid annually by most commercial entities that are regulated by the FCC for the privilege of being regulated. Noncommercial broadcasters are exempt from the fees. The fees are normally paid in August or September, during a period of several days that will be established by the Commission after receiving comments on this proposed fee schedule. The fees for broadcasters are, as they seemingly always do, increasing. The Commission is also asking for comment on one specific change in how broadcast fees are collected, asking if it should collect fees from AM station licensees who have expanded band stations for both the expanded band station and the in-core channel, if the licensee is still operating both. Currently, fees are only paid once by expanded band licensees.
Broadcast fees are based on Class of Service and the population covered by a station. For AM stations, the proposed fees are to increase from $400 per station for the least powerful stations in the smallest market to $450, and from $7275 for high-powered stations in the largest markets to $7925. For FM stations, the least powerful stations in the smallest markets are proposed to increase from $575 to $600. For high power stations in big markets, the increase is from $9125 to $10,200. For TV stations, the fees range from $1875 for a UHF station in the smallest markets, up to $69,400 for a VHF station in the largest markets, up from $1750 and $64,300 last year. Continue Reading FCC Proposes 2008 Regulatory Fee Schedule
