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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.

  • On Tuesday, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing, “Listen Here:
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Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past two weeks, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

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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.

  • Two Federal Register notices set dates for changes to the FCC’s EAS rules. We wrote about these issues here and

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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 adopted revisions to certain EAS rules. Among other actions, the new rules (1) will change the

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Earlier this month, the FCC proposed changes to its Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules and initiated an inquiry as to whether EAS should be expanded to require streaming services to carry local emergency alerts (see our article here on those proposals).  These proposals have now been published in the Federal Register, starting the public…

At its March 17 monthly Open Meeting, the FCC will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to modify certain aspects of the Emergency Alert System used by many of those regulated by the FCC including broadcasters, cable companies, and wireless communications devices such as mobile phones.  The FCC is reviewing these issues as required by the National Defense Authorization Act, passed by Congress at the end of 2020.  As part of its mandate, Congress also asked that the FCC review whether it would be possible to require “streaming services” to become EAS participants.  A Notice of Inquiry asking that question is included with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, asking specific questions about the feasibility of that extension of EAS requirements.  A draft of the proposals to be considered by the FCC at the March meeting is available here (the draft is subject to change before the meeting).

The proposed changes include some that may be relevant to broadcasters.  These include the requirement that State Emergency Communications Committees meet at least yearly to review state EAS plans and certify to the FCC each year that they have in fact met.  The FCC will consider and approve all changes to state EAS plans but will no longer make those plans public on the FCC website, as there is a fear that publication of these plans could be used to subvert the emergency alerts.
Continue Reading FCC To Consider Emergency Alert System Changes and Evaluate the Ability of Streaming Services to Participate in EAS

Earlier this year, the FCC decided not to adopt a proposal that would have required at least one broadcast station in each community to provide emergency alerts to local listeners who do not speak English. The FCC decision deciding to not mandate multilingual EAS alerts is here, and our article on the initial proposal…