Not only broadcast stations, but churches, schools, concert venues, live theater, film productions, business presenters, sporting events, and motivational speakers will have to change the way they operate, starting this weekend. As we wrote in a Client Advisory back in January, the FCC set June 12th, 2010–the anniversary of the…
If you are a Fox affiliate, your fax machine (if you still have one) probably has a message on it from the FCC waiting for you, courtesy of the latest struggle between Fox and the FCC over indecency enforcement. In a Notice of Apparent Liability released today, the FCC states…
I wrote a while back about the Downside of Downsizing, in which I noted an increasing number of calls from broadcasters who had trimmed their staffs to the bare minimum, only to belatedly discover that the remaining employees lacked either the experience or the time to ensure the station’s compliance…
For those tired of having their dinner conversations interrupted by others’ cell phone calls, or watching movies in a theater by the light coming off the screens of nearby texters, technology has provided a solution. Unfortunately it is illegal. In a recent decision, the FCC fined a company called Phonejammer.com…
Like many other FCC license holders, broadcast stations constantly navigate numerous laws and regulations while filing a multitude of reports and applications by required deadlines. Many of these are required quarterly, but some are annual, biennial, quadrennial, or octennial (once every eight years, and the only time I’ll get to…
Topics include: FCC Imposes a Reduced $17,500 Fine on Wyoming Commercial AM/FM Station Combo for Multiple Violations Pennsylvania TV Station Fined $32,000 for Violating FCC’s Sponsorship ID Rule Licensee Fined $13,000 for Antenna Structure Violations FCC Fines California Noncommercial FM Station $9,000 for Failure to Properly Maintain a Public Inspection…
March 2009 FCC Fines a Michigan Radio Station for Broadcasting a Telephone Conversation Without Prior Notice. FCC Fines Pennsylvania Noncommercial Educational Television Station $2,500 for Airing Advertisements. FCC Fines AM Radio Station $6,000 for Conducting a Contest Without Describing All Material Terms. A PDF version of this entire article can…
January 2009 In late December 2008, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a series of six Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture against broadcasters asserting violations of the FCC’s Equal Employment Opportunity rule (“EEO rule”). In a joint statement appended to each of the six cases, FCC Commissioners Michael J.…
December 2008 Topics include: FCC Fines Mississippi Radio Station $13,000 for Failure to Inform Federal Aviation Administration of Antenna Structure Lighting Malfunction and Failure to Maintain a Public Inspection File Commission Fines Nevada Radio Licensee $5,600 for Failing to Enclose Tower With an Effective Locked Fence FCC Fines New Mexico…
November 2008 Topics include: FCC Upholds $9,000 Fine for Noncommercial FM Radio Station Airing Advertisements FCC Fines New York AM Radio Station $12,800 for Failing to Sign Off at Sunset, Failing to Maintain Daytime Operating Power, Failing to Maintain an Operational Emergency Alert System, and Failing to Maintain a Complete…