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In a very cryptic announcement, the Chairs of the House and Senate commerce committees, and the Chairs of the subcommittees dealing specifically with communications matters, have announced that they are beginning the process of rewriting the Communications Act of 1934, the Act which governs regulation of broadcasters as well as telecommunications, satellite and mobile communications entities.  The announcement, from Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Senator John F. Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, and Rep. Rick Boucher, the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, merely states that they will "will invite stakeholders to participate in a series of bipartisan, issue-focused meetings beginning in June" to address the issues that would be involved in such a rewrite.  The announcement then says that more details will be forthcoming.

What does this mean for broadcasters?  At this point, until more details are released, the issues to be addressed are anyone’s guess.  Much has been made in recent years of the changing nature of the media and communications industry, particularly in light of the development of the Internet.  In a recent decision, the Courts have said that the FCC is limited in its ability to regulate the provision of Internet services, and the initial impetus for this rewrite proposal may well come from that decision.  But these processes, once begun, often take on a life of their own, with new proposals covering issues not necessarily anticipated at the outset of the proceeding arising as the process goes on.  While there are minor amendments to the Act almost every year, the last comprehensive rewrite of the Act took place in 1996.  There, while much of the debate focused on telecommunications issues (which will likely be the case here as well, as there are far more dollars at stake than in the broadcast world), broadcast ownership reform emerged at the last minute – abolishing numerical caps on television ownership and all caps on radio ownership nationally, and raising the local limits on radio ownership from the 4 stations (2 AMs and 2 FMs) previously allowed to be owned in one market by any party, to the current cap allowing ownership of as many as 8 radio stations in the largest markets.Continue Reading Congress to Rewrite the Communications Act – What Could It Mean For Broadcasters?

The FCC Form 323 Biennial Ownership Report — temporarily off-lined in December for revisions — has been reworked and is now back.  The FCC has announced that the revised Form 323 is now available in its CDBS electronic filing system, and that all commercial broadcast stations must file their biennial ownership reports by July 8, 2010. …

David Oxenford, Bob Corn-Revere, David Silverman, Brendan Holland, and others from Davis Wright Tremaine’s media and communications practice will be in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 10-15 for the 2010 NAB Show.  The NAB convention is an annual event and a focal point for engineering, legal, and business issues for the broadcasting and greater media worlds.  Bob Corn-Revere will be speaking at the American Bar Association Conference, Representing Your Local Broadcaster, on April 11, on a panel on new technology and the dangers it poses for journalists reporting from disaster areas or other scenes where immediate verification of information is not possible – the panel is called:  "Clear and Present Danger, Guiding Journalists Through the Catastrophic Perils."  David Oxenford, on the morning of April 12, will be speaking at the NAB Show on a panel called, "Copyright Licensing: Seeking a Bridge Over Troubled Waters", a panel dealing with the proposed broadcast performance royalty, streaming fees, the current ASCAP and BMI negotiations, and other copyright issues that arise in day-to-day operation of a broadcast station.  Dave will also be moderating a panel at the Radio and Internet Newsletter’s RAIN Internet Radio Summit, to be held in conjunction with the NAB Show, at the Renaissance Hotel on April 12.  Be sure to join us at these and other events in Las Vegas.

To help you attend the Show, we have been offered some discounts and free admissions for our readers.  The RAIN Summit, Internet Radio’s main event, has offered readers of the Broadcast Law Blog a 30% discount on admission to the conference.  That conference includes a full day of discussion of Internet radio topics, and will feature many of the industry’s biggest names.  From past experience, this always a great event with much great information, important for anyone with any interest in Internet radio and digital media.  The Summit features great networking opportunities, with a box lunch and post-conference reception.  An Exhibit Hall pass to the NAB Show is also included for RAIN attendees

For those not interested in Internet radio, we can still get you into the NAB Show’s Exhibit Hall – for free!  The NAB has offered our readers free access to the Exhibit Hall at the show. This free Exhibits-Only pass includes:

  • Access to the Exhibit Hall at the Show
  • Access to the Opening Keynote and State of the Industry Address
  • Access to Info Sessions on the Convention floor
  • Content Theater and Destination Broadband Theater

To find out how to register for these discounted offers, click on the Continue Reading link below.Continue Reading DWT Going to Las Vegas for the 2010 NAB Show – Discounts for RAIN Internet Radio Summit and Free Passes to NAB Exhibits and Keynote Available for Our Readers

Incomplete public inspection files were the largest source of fines during the last license renewal cycle.  We wrote last week about two noncommercial broadcasters whose renewal applications filed many years ago have just now led to consent decrees and voluntary contributions to the US treasury in lieu of fines.  To help commercial broadcasters avoid these…

When someone "lobbies" the FCC on issues pending in a rulemaking proceeding or other contested case, the Commission requires that there be a certain amount of disclosure of the communications made to Commission decision-making personnel.  The rules governing the communications with the FCC’s decision-making personnel in such cases are called the "ex parte" rules.  These…

On February, 18, 2010, David Oxenford conducted a seminar for the Utah Broadcasters Association on legal issues that affect radio and television broadcasters.  First, David summarized the various broadcasting legal and policy issues pending before the FCC and Congress.  David’s PowerPoint presentation is available here.  Broadcasters interested in Washington issues that may affect them this year may…

The FCC has proposed amending its rules governing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in order to test and improve the effectiveness of the system.  In particular, the Commission has proposed that all EAS participants be required to join in a nationwide test — to be scheduled by the FCC in consultation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — to ensure that the system will function properly to inform the public in the event of a national crisis.  The FCC proposes to implement the national test on a yearly basis and seeks comment on the specific language of the proposed rule.  A copy of the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) was recently published in the Federal Register establishing the deadline for Comments on the proposed rules as March 1, 2010, with Reply Comments due on or before March 30, 2010.

In issuing its NPRM, available here, the Commission acknowledged the shortcomings of the current rules and its belief that a national test — and the data gathered from such a test — is critical to ensuring consistency and reliability in a system that has actually never been used to deliver a national Presidential alert.  Under the current system, an EAS message is initiated, which is then passed via specially encoded messages to a broadcast-based transmission network, and then on to broadcast stations, cable operators, and other EAS participants in a daisy-chain distribution to the final end users, i.e., the public who is listening, watching, or reading, on radio, television, cable, or other services.  This daisy-chain structure leaves the system, in the Commission’s estimation, vulnerable to a significant failure if the message distribution is severed or delayed at any one point.  By proposing an annual national test, the Commission seeks to test the system in an organized, controlled manner, gather data from the EAS participants, and apply what is learned.  Under the Commission’s proposed rule, the annual test would replace one of the required monthly tests and participants would have at least two months advance notice of the nationwide test.  EAS participants would be required to log the test results of the test and provide information on the results to the Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau within 30 days of the test.  The Commission seeks input on the proposed rule, including whether once a year is sufficient, and what the costs would be attendant to the testing and reporting.Continue Reading FCC Proposes National Test of EAS – Emergency Alert System; Comments on Proposed Rules due March 1

A reminder that by February 1 noncommercial radio stations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New York, and noncommercial television stations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma must prepare and file electronically a biennial Ownership Report with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) using the current noncommercial FCC Form 323-E.

Please note, this filing date…