September 2009 The next Children’s Television Programming Report must be filed with the FCC and placed in stations’ local Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2009, reflecting programming aired during the months of July, August and September 2009. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements As a result of the Children’s Television Act…

September 2009 This Broadcast Station EEO Advisory is directed to radio and television stations licensed to communities in: Iowa, Missouri, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Guam, American Samoa, Marianas Islands, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and highlights the upcoming deadlines for compliance with the FCC’s EEO Rule. Introduction October…

September 2009 Federal Communications Commission has announced that full payment of all applicable Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2009 must be received no later than September 22, 2009. The price of missing the deadline is a 25% up-charge. On August 21, 2009, the Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice…

September 2009 As previously reported, the FCC released an Order on May 29, 2009, suspending the biennial ownership reporting requirement for commercial radio and television broadcast stations that would otherwise have been required to file their reports by June 1, August 1 or October 1, 2009. Accordingly, commercial radio stations…

9/10/2009 On September 8, 2009, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the Department Treasury and the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) of the Department of Commerce issued final rules in the Federal Register amending the Cuba Sanctions program and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to increase the…

August 2009 The volatile combination of broadcast employees concerned about their income and job security, and cash-strapped businesses looking for cheap and effective ways to promote themselves in difficult economic times, creates an unusually fertile ground for payola and plugola violations. Complicating matters are state efforts to prohibit “payola” activities…

August 2009 In its assessment letters to regulatees, the Commission has announced that full payment of all applicable Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2009 must be received no later than September 22, 2009. On August 11, 2009, the final FY 2009 Annual Regulatory Fee Schedule was published in the Federal…

Recent Settlements and Court Rulings Bring Clarity to Royalty Landscape 8/18/2009 The long-running battle over royalties owed by webcasters–companies that broadcast music over the Internet–took several significant leaps towards conclusion last month with important developments both inside and outside of the courtroom. Spurred by the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009,…

August 2009 The FCC has released its final schedule of Annual Regulatory Fees for FY 2009. It is expected that those fees will become due and payable sometime in September. We will issue a further Client Advisory as soon as the Commission issues a Public Notice announcing the applicable deadline.…

8/4/2009 Practitioner comment on T-Mobile USA, Inc. v. City of Anacortes (No 08-35493, slip op. (9th Cir. July 20, 2009), available at 2009 WL 2138980). The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (“TCA”) was enacted with goals that were at once complementary and contradictory–to increase competition and facilitate rapid deployment of new…