The U.S. Supreme Court today announced that it is declining to hear Cablevision’s challenge to the must-carry rules, letting stand a Second Circuit ruling upholding the validity of the 1992 rules. Approximately 40% of broadcast stations rely on must-carry to ensure carriage on their local cable systems, with the remainder…
Given that low power television (LPTV) stations have been trying unsuccessfully for many years to obtain must-carry rights comparable to those enjoyed by full-power stations, it is often overlooked that some LPTVs do, in fact, have carriage rights. However, these must-carry rights are available only to a select few LPTV…
Last week, we listened to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski speak at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. One topic he made a point to discuss was the recent Petition filed by cable and satellite companies arguing that the retransmission consent process is unfair, and asking the government…
January 2010 Items of Note in 2010 Biennial Ownership Report Filing Requirements for Commercial Stations: The biennial ownership filing requirement for commercial stations has been stayed indefinitely as of the date of this publication. This stay arose out of difficulties implementing a new version of FCC Form 323 for use…
On Wednesday, February 4th, Pillsbury’s Communications practice participated in a Webinar session entitled “Retrans Agreements: What the Other Side Knows…That You May Not.” Retransmission agreements are growing more complex and retransmission fees are becoming a bigger share of broadcast revenue. As business approaches and technology evolve, broadcasters are packing more…
January 2009 The following deadlines are based on information known by us as of the date hereof, may or may not apply to a particular broadcaster, are for general informational purposes only, and should be double-checked for currency close to each pertinent date/deadline. Actions by the FCC, Congress, or the…
September 2008 The FCC released a Declaratory Order on Friday, September 26, 2008, making it clear that the television station cable carriage elections that must be made by October 1, 2008 will determine a station’s carriage rights throughout the entire 2009-2011 carriage election cycle. A PDF version of this entire…
7/25/2008 July 31, 2008 is the deadline by which television stations are required to file claims for copyright royalties with the Copyright Office. FCC rules require television stations to make signal carriage elections by October 1, 2008 for the period 2009-2012. The upcoming termination of analog broadcasts makes this year’s…
January 2008 The following deadlines are based on information known by us as of the date hereof, may or may not apply to a particular broadcaster, are for general informational purposes only, and should be double-checked for currency close to each pertinent date/deadline. The reason is that actions by the…
September 2007 At a late-night meeting on September 11, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted a “viewability” rule that will govern cable carriage of must-carry stations after analog broadcasting terminates in 2009. The rule requires cable operators to deliver the primary digital stream of a must-carry television station in…