In a decision long awaited by webcasters, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has released its new webcasting royalty rates. These royalties are paid by non-interactive streaming services on which listeners cannot choose the specific songs they listen to, such as Pandora and radio stations that stream their programming. The royalties are paid to SoundExchange, a…
October has come and gone, and now the season is upon us—filing season, that is! Though winter is coming, December will be a hot month for radio and television FCC filings. Failure to meet any of these filing deadlines could result in fines or lost opportunities, putting a real damper…
October 2015 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: Time Brokerage Agreement Costs Station and Broker/Buyer $10,000 Telecom Provider Agrees to Pay $620,500 to Resolve Investigation of…
While relief won’t come as soon as radio broadcasters had hoped, the FCC gave AM stations a shot in the arm with the release of an Order designed to provide assistance to the struggling AM radio service. The Order, released on October 23, 2015, comes a full two years after…
September 2015 The next Children’s Television Programming Report must be filed with the FCC and placed in stations’ public inspection files by October 10, 2015, reflecting programming aired during the months of July, August, and September 2015. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements As a result of the Children’s Television Act of…
September 2015 The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ public inspection files by October 10, 2015, reflecting information for the months of July, August, and September 2015. Content of the Quarterly List The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming…
September 2015 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 Admonishes TV Station Licensees for Violating Commercial Limits in Children’s Programming Telecommunications Provider Agrees to $1.175 Million…
We tend to focus on regulatory and legislative issues here at CommLawCenter, as that is the common ground for many of our media clients. However, the truth is that—just like our clients—we spend more time working on business issues than regulatory ones. Whether it’s mergers and acquisitions informed by regulatory…
[UPDATE: The FCC just released its Report and Order defining the requirements for stations wishing to meet their contest disclosure obligations by posting their contest rules online. The revised FCC rule requires a licensee to (i) broadcast the relevant website address periodically with information making it easy for a consumer to…
As we wrote last month, the agenda for the FCC’s September open meeting included consideration of its proposal to modernize the 40-year-old broadcast contest rule. Today, after more than three and a half years of (unopposed) anticipation, the FCC adopted rules that “allow broadcasters to disclose contest rules online as…