One of the intriguing aspects of posting on CommLawCenter is the level of interest a particular post generates. Posts announcing something of vital importance to broadcasters will sometimes make hardly a ripple, while more mundane posts attract surprising interest. Indeed, one of CommLawCenter’s most-read posts in its early years was…
This Pillsbury Broadcast Station Advisory is directed to radio and television stations in the areas noted above, and highlights upcoming deadlines for compliance with the FCC’s EEO Rule. *A Note About the Government Shutdown Due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, the online Public Inspection File database is not currently…
Sometimes it seems the world really is out to get you. Being in a highly regulated business, broadcasters are quite dedicated to meeting regulatory obligations. More specifically, being subject to fines (or worse) for every shortcoming makes the average broadcaster not just diligent, but justifiably paranoid in ensuring that every…
Proving once again that nature abhors a vacuum, we’ve just learned of another bit of fallout for broadcasters from the federal shutdown—scammers are apparently calling broadcast stations pretending to be calling on behalf of the FCC and seeking to collect “FCC fees” over the telephone. The first of these calls…
Broadcasters were spared some of the uncertainty related to the December 22, 2018 government shutdown because the FCC was able to independently fund its operations until January 3, 2019. Yesterday, those funds ran out, and under the Antideficiency Act, FCC employees are prohibited from continuing to work until funds are…
The next Children’s Television Programming Report must be filed with the FCC and placed in stations’ public inspection files by January 10, 2019, reflecting programming aired during the months of October, November, and December 2018. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements As a result of the Children’s Television Act of 1990 (“Act”) and…
Each full power and Class A TV station being repacked must file its next Transition Progress Report with the FCC by January 10, 2019. The Report must detail the progress a station has made in constructing facilities on its newly-assigned channel and in terminating operations on its current channel during the…
The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ public inspection files by January 10, 2019, reflecting information for the months of October, November, and December 2018. Content of the Quarterly List The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive to significant…
As 2018 moves into the rear view mirror, 2019 promises to be a consequential year for broadcasters. In accordance with a Pillsbury holiday tradition that goes back farther than any of us can remember, earlier this month we published our annual calendar of upcoming regulatory deadlines for broadcasters–a compendium of…
This Pillsbury Broadcast Station Advisory is directed to radio and television stations in the areas noted above, and highlights upcoming deadlines for compliance with the FCC’s EEO Rule. December 1, 2018 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New…