8/28/2007 On Tuesday, August 21, SoundExchange–the organization representing copyright owners in connection with statutory licenses for broadcasting music on the Internet–began sending formal offers of discounted royalty rates through the year 2010 to qualified small webcasters. These are generally those webcasters earning $1.25 million or less in gross revenues. A…
Obligation to Provide Emergency Information to Persons with Hearing Disabilities August 2007 Mindful of Hurricane Dean, and with three months left in this year’s hurricane season, it is imperative that television station broadcasters ensure they have adequate policies in place and reliable procedures tested to insure that persons with hearing…
June 2007 Topics include: FCC Fines Radio Station $4,200 for Lack of Effective Tower Fences FCC Fines Television Station After Discovering Deserted Main Studio FCC Fines Radio Station for Airing Prank Phone Call FCC Officially Increases Maximum Fine for Indecency and Profanity A PDF version of this entire article can…
4/13/2007 The FCC today released four Orders adopting Consent Decrees with CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting Corporation (“Citadel”), Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (“Clear Channel”), and Entercom Communications Corp. (“Entercom”). Pursuant to the Consent Decrees, the broadcasters agreed to pay a combined $12.5 million to close investigations into possible violations of the…
May 2006 The FCC recently fined a television licensee $4,000 for violations that occurred during a contest run by the station in 2004. The FCC determined that the station failed to conduct the contest substantially as announced and advertised, a violation of Section 73.1216 of the Commission’s Rules. It was…
February 2006 Notwithstanding the fact that it has been over 35 years since Congress banned cigarette ads from the airwaves, broadcasters continue to ask for advice on whether they may air certain types of tobacco-related advertisements. In fact, questions in this area of law appear to be on the increase.…