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Articles Posted by Scott R. Flick

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November 9, 2011 Announced as First National EAS Test Date

As I wrote back in February, the federal government has decided to conduct the first-ever national test of the Emergency Alert System. Today, FEMA and the FCC announced that the test will occur on November 9, 2011, at 2pm Eastern Standard Time. On that date, the public will hear a…

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FCC Freezes TV Station Channel Changes in Preparation for Spectrum Repacking

The FCC today announced a freeze on the acceptance of any petitions for rulemaking seeking to change a station’s assigned channel in the Post-Transition Table of DTV Allotments. While application freezes were once relatively rare at the FCC, they became quite common as a planning mechanism during the years when…

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FCC Enforcement Monitor

Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: FCC Fines FM Broadcaster for Excessive Power and RF Radiation Levels Forfeiture More Than Triples After Consent Decree Default Missing…

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Will Marijuana Ads Make License Renewals Go Up in Smoke?

Broadcasters don’t know it yet, but recent actions by the Department of Justice suggest that the federal government may be moving closer to raining on their upcoming license renewals. The reason? Medical marijuana advertising. While it seems like a recent phenomenon, the first state laws permitting medical marijuana go back…

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FCC Enforcement Monitor

Headlines: FCC Begins to Move on Pending Video News Release Complaints Failure to Monitor Tower Lighting Results in $12,000 Penalty Video News Releases Garner $4,000 Fines for Two Television Broadcasters After a flurry of complaints from advocacy groups a few years ago raised the issue at the FCC, the Commission…

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The FCC Takes Its Indecency Case to the Supreme Court, But Without Enthusiasm

Caught between a rock and the Second Circuit, the FCC hesitantly took the defense of its indecency policy to the Supreme Court today. The FCC filed a petition seeking the Court’s review of the Second Circuit’s decisions in indecency cases involving Fox and ABC programs. Last year, the Second Circuit…

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FCC to Advertisers: Don’t Discriminate or We’ll Punish the Broadcasters

I wrote last week about the FCC’s announcement that broadcasters must certify in their license renewal applications that their advertising contracts have, since March 14, 2011, had a nondiscrimination clause in them. Specifically, broadcasters must certify that their “advertising sales agreements do not discriminate on the basis of race or…

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FCC Enforcement Monitor

Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: Florida FM Translator Fined $13,000 for Unauthorized Operations Latest Public Inspection File Violation Nets Upwardly Adjusted Fine Failure to Monitor…

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2011 First Quarter Issues/Programs List Advisory for Broadcast Stations

The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ local public inspection files by April 10, 2011, reflecting information for the months of January, February and March, 2011. Content of the Quarterly List The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive…