- FCC Commissioner Simington and his Chief of Staff, Gavin Wax, published an article advocating for DOGE-style reform of the FCC.
quarterly issues programs lists
March 2025 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters – Daylight Savings Time, Comment Deadlines, FCC Ownership Rules in Court, Political Windows, and more
While there are only a few regulatory deadlines scheduled for broadcasters this March, with more coming in April, as has occurred so many times in the last few years, we need to remind you that even the FCC deadlines in late March and early April could be postponed if there is a federal government shutdown, as the federal government is funded only through March 14. As we have discussed here with respect to previous potential shutdowns, the FCC and other government agencies may have to cease all but critical functions if they do not have any residual funds to continue operations during a shutdown. Thus, some deadlines could shift if this new administration follows the precedent for shutdowns followed in the past.
Before any potential shutdown, comments are due March 7 responding to the reinstated Center for American Rights’ complaint against a CBS-owned TV station alleging news distortion in its broadcast of a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. CAR’s compliant was originally dismissed as one of the FCC’s last major actions under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, but was reinstated one week later under FCC Chairman Carr further investigation (see our discussion here, here, and here). At the FCC’s request, CBS provided the FCC with an unedited transcript and video of the 60 Minutes interview. The FCC also released additional video of the interview that was posted on YouTube. The FCC stated that it wanted to open the proceeding to public participation given the value of transparency and the degree of public interest in the matter. Reply comments are due March 24. Continue Reading March 2025 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters – Daylight Savings Time, Comment Deadlines, FCC Ownership Rules in Court, Political Windows, and more
The Past Two Weeks in Regulation for Broadcasters: December 23, 2024 to January 3, 2025
- The Commission released a Report and Order
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: December 9, 2024 to December 13, 2024
- At its December regular monthly Open Meeting, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to update several broadcast
December 2024 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters -Annual DTV Ancillary/Supplementary Services Report, EEO Deadlines, NCE TV Filing Window and Related Filing Freezes, Comment Deadlines, and More
Even with the holidays upon us, regulation never stops. There are several yearly deadlines in December which broadcasters need to review, particularly those in certain states with EEO requirements at the beginning of the month. There is a short freeze on TV applications while applications in a window for new noncommercial TV stations are filed. And, despite the transition to a Republican-led FCC next year (see our discussion here) and the “pencils-down” requests issued to the FCC by some Republican politicians (see our discussion here), the FCC will be voting on some changes to its broadcast rules at its December 11 open meeting. What follows are some of the upcoming deadlines that you should be watching.
December 2 is the deadline for the filing of the Annual DTV Ancillary/Supplementary Services Report for the 12-Month Period Ending on September 30, 2024, and the submission of any payments that are due. This applies to commercial and noncommercial full-power TV stations, Class A TV stations, and LPTV stations (including those operating on Channel 6) that have fee-based, non-broadcast revenues from their digital transmission capabilities. This means that if TV stations earned fees for data transmission or other non-broadcast services, they must file the report and pay the fees. If they did not, the report is not required.Continue Reading December 2024 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters -Annual DTV Ancillary/Supplementary Services Report, EEO Deadlines, NCE TV Filing Window and Related Filing Freezes, Comment Deadlines, and More
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: October 14, 2024 to October 18, 2024
- The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau released its second EEO audit notice for 2024. Audited stations and their station employment units (commonly
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: September 30, 2024 to October 4, 2024
- The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau announced that the deadline for EAS Participants to file their annual Emergency
October 2024 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists, Annual EEO Public File Reports, ETRS Form One, Comment Deadlines, and More
October is, on paper, another busy month of regulatory deadlines for broadcasters. But there is again the looming possibility of a federal government shutdown beginning October 1 if Congress fails to fund the government for the coming year (or pass a “continuing resolution” to allow government agencies to function at their current levels). While as of today there are reports of a plan to extend funding through December, until a continuing resolution is passed, the threat remains. If a shutdown does occur, the FCC, the FTC, and the Copyright Office may have to pause their operations which may result in some of the regulatory deadlines discussed below being delayed. However, in some cases agencies have leftover funding to keep them functioning for a few extra days. Stay tuned to see if any of the dates below have to be rescheduled. [Update – 9/26/2024, 9:00 AM – a continuing resolution extending government funding through December 20 was passed late yesterday by both the House and the Senate averting, for now, the shutdown about which we were concerned. Thus, the deadlines listed below are in effect as scheduled]
Assuming this recurring issue is resolved, let’s look at some of the October dates and deadlines, starting with the routine dates of importance to broadcasters. October 1 is the deadline for radio and television station employment units in Alaska, American Samoa, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington with five or more full-time employees to upload their Annual EEO Public File Report to their stations’ Online Public Inspection Files. 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 five 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 each station’s website, if the station has a website. Be timely getting these reports into your station’s OPIF, as even a single late report can lead to FCC fines (see our article here about a recent $26,000 fine for a single late EEO report).Continue Reading October 2024 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists, Annual EEO Public File Reports, ETRS Form One, Comment Deadlines, and More
September 2024 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – FCC Regulatory Fees, LUC Window for the General Election, Comment Deadlines on AI in Political Advertising and More
It is time for our update on the coming month’s regulatory dates and deadlines to which broadcasters should be paying attention – and the deadline that probably is most important to all commercial broadcasters is not yet known. That, of course, is the deadline for the payment of annual regulatory fees – which must be made before the federal government’s October 1 start of the new fiscal year. We expect an announcement of the final decision on the amount of those fees for various broadcasters, and the deadlines for payment, in the next few days. Keep on the alert for that announcement.
A second big date for all commercial broadcasters is September 6, when the lowest unit rate period for political candidate advertising – the “political window” – opens for the November 5 general election. During this 60-day period prior to the general election, legally qualified candidates buying advertising on a broadcast station get the lowest rate for a spot that is then running on the station within the same class of advertising time and in the same daypart (see our article here on the basics of computing LUR). Candidates also get the benefit of all volume discounts without having to buy in volume – i.e., the candidate gets the same rate for buying one spot as the station’s most favored advertiser gets for buying hundreds of spots of the same class. For a deeper dive on how to prepare for the November general election, see our post, here, which also includes a link to our comprehensive Political Broadcasting Guide. Continue Reading September 2024 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – FCC Regulatory Fees, LUC Window for the General Election, Comment Deadlines on AI in Political Advertising and More
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: August 5, 2024 to August 9, 2024
- The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau announced that October 4 is the deadline for EAS Participants to file