The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ public inspection files by January 10, 2017, reflecting information for the months of October, November, and December 2016. Content of the Quarterly List The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive to…
Being close observers of the FCC, Congress, and the federal government in general, we get a lot of questions about what the next year will likely bring in DC. While changes in administrations tend to increase the number of questions like that, rarely have I been as deluged with such…
Noncommercial stations caught a break today. For many years, broadcast stations filed annual ownership reports on the anniversary date of their license renewal deadline. Since those deadlines varied from state to state (and even between radio and TV in the same state), determining whether a station had filed its reports…
At the end of Stage 2 of the Spectrum Auction, I wrote about bidder fatigue and the hope that the FCC would drop its spectrum clearing target a couple of notches for Stage 3 to expedite the conclusion of a now seemingly interminable auction. Unfortunately, the FCC held fast to…
November 2016 This Broadcast Station Advisory is directed to radio and television stations in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont, and highlights the upcoming deadlines for compliance with the FCC’s EEO Rule. December 1, 2016 is the deadline…
November 2016 The staggered deadlines for noncommercial radio and television stations to file Biennial Ownership Reports remain in effect and are tied to each station’s respective license renewal filing deadline. Noncommercial radio stations licensed to communities in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota and noncommercial television stations licensed…
November 2016 All commercial and noncommercial educational digital television broadcast station licensees and permittees must file FCC Form 2100 – Schedule G by December 1, 2016. The FCC requires all digital television stations, including all commercial and noncommercial educational full power television stations, digital low power television stations, digital translator…
With great anticipation, the Stage 2 Forward Auction commenced at 10am this morning. It officially ended at 12:14pm, when the FCC announced: Bidding in the forward auction has concluded for Stage 2 without meeting the final stage rule and without meeting the conditions to trigger an extended round. The incentive…
The FCC has announced the conclusion of the Stage 2 Reverse Auction, moving the spotlight from the broadcasters willing to relinquish 114 MHz of their spectrum to the bidders in the forward auction hoping to buy it. Unfortunately for those wishing to see a speedy conclusion to the Spectrum Incentive…
The era of newsgathering drones is upon us. Since new Federal Aviation Administration rules allowing limited commercial operation of drones (also known as unmanned aircraft systems or UAS) weighing 55 lbs. or less took effect a little over a month ago, media organizations have moved quickly to utilize the technology.…