March 2012 This Broadcast Station EEO Advisory is directed to radio and television stations licensed to communities in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas, and highlights the upcoming deadlines for compliance with the FCC’s EEO Rule. Introduction April 1, 2012 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities…
March 2012 The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ local inspection files by April 10, 2012, reflecting information for the months of January, February, and March 2012. Content of the Quarterly List The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming…
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: Inadequate Sponsorship ID Ends with $44,000 Fine Unattended Main Studio Fine Warrants Upward Adjustment $16,000 Consent Decree Seems Like a…
According to the The Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s second Sherlock Holmes novel, Holmes preferred a seven-percent solution (a reference that would serve as the basis for another Holmes novel and movie some seventy years later). The FCC, on the other hand, has shown a regulatory fondness for…
Last Thursday, the FCC’s Media Bureau issued a Letter Decision involving two disputed coordinate correction applications for a station’s main and auxiliary antennas that, at least on paper, proposed to increase the short spacing to another radio station. In the Letter Decision, the Media Bureau spelled out the circumstances under which a…
As a follow up to my earlier post today, the FCC has just released a decision rejecting a political advertising complaint filed by Randall Terry against WMAQ-TV in Chicago. The FCC ruled that Terry failed to meet his burden to demonstrate to the station that he is a bona fide…
If you are a television broadcaster, count yourself fortunate if you have not heard from the ad agency for Randall Terry. In a self-proclaimed effort to exploit the laws requiring broadcasters to give federal candidates guaranteed access to airtime as well as their lowest ad rates, Terry has announced he…
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: Failure to Refresh Tower Paint Garners $8,000 Fine FCC Levies $25,000 Fine for Failure to Respond $85,000 Consent Decree Terminates…
The Comment and Reply Comment dates have been set for the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Congressionally-mandated Quadrennial Regulatory Review of the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules. Comments are due on March 5, 2012 and Reply Comments are due on April 3, 2012. As discussed in more detail in…
By Lauren Lynch Flick and Lauren A. Birzon Certain stations must also file proxy paperwork and additional fee to avoid usage reporting for the year. As January comes to a close, don’t forget that annual minimum copyright royalty fees for webcasting and internet simulcasting of radio programming, along with the…