September 2007
This Broadcast Station EEO Advisory is directed to radio and television stations licensed to communities in: Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and highlights the upcoming deadlines for compliance with the FCC’s EEO rule.
September 2007
Content of the Quarterly List
The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ local Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2007, reflecting information for the months of July, August, and September.
September 2007
Radio stations licensed to communities in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Florida, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico must file their Biennial Ownership Reports with the FCC by October 1, 2007. Reports for Television stations licensed to communities in Iowa and Missouri must also file their Biennial Ownership Reports by the same date.
8/28/2007
On Tuesday, August 21, SoundExchange–the organization representing copyright owners in connection with statutory licenses for broadcasting music on the Internet–began sending formal offers of discounted royalty rates through the year 2010 to qualified small webcasters. These are generally those webcasters earning $1.25 million or less in gross revenues.
June 2007
Topics include:
December 2006
The digital world can seem confusing and intimidating to those who want to “broadcast” music over the Internet, but moving into cyberspace also presents exciting new opportunities. There are myriad ways that music is used on the Internet. There are companies that operate Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) licensed radio stations that “stream” their over-the-air programming simultaneously on the Internet. There are also companies that deliver their program material directly on the Internet. For purposes of this discussion, both types of Internet users are called “webcasters.”
November 2006
This Advisory provides a review of political broadcasting rules of the FCC.
In this Advisory, of particular note are new regulations imposed on political broadcasting by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (“BCRA”) of 2002, popularly known as “McCain-Feingold.” BCRA contains several provisions that affect the way stations handle their political advertising. On December 10, 2003, the Supreme Court reviewed BCRA, and left intact all of the provisions of the law that apply to broadcasters.
November 2006
On November 20, 2002, the FCC released a Second Report and Order and Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “Second R&O”) in which it adopted new equal employment opportunity rules and policies for broadcasters and for multi-channel video programming distributors (the “new EEO Rule”). A complete copy of the new EEO Rule as it relates to broadcasters is attached.
November 2006
In an effort to reduce the risk of reversal by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the FCC successfully persuaded the Court to allow it to pull back and review four indecency decisions. Earlier this week, the FCC announced the outcome of that review. The “F-word” is still very problematic. A five-second delay mechanism may not be enough to establish a legal defense. There is a tip-of-the-hat toward the First Amendment in the context of news programs but only that. And the procedural hurdle that the FCC has thrown up against blanket indecency complaints is probably only a temporary setback for national organizations intent upon “cleaning up the airwaves.”
By Kathryn R. Schmeltzer and Jarrett S. Taubman
November 2006
Sample questions include:
Comm Law Center