The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the FCC have announced that a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) will take place on September 27, 2017, at 2:20 PM EDT. As a precursor to this test, all EAS Participants (which includes most broadcast stations and cable and DBS operators) must file a “Form 1”...… Continue Reading
As Egon said in Ghosbusters, “print is dead.” Okay, that may be a bit of an overstatement. But at least as to many broadcast stations’ local public inspection files, it is essentially true as of today. Back in January, the FCC voted to do away with the requirement that commercial broadcast stations retain in their...… Continue Reading
Continuing its historical hard line on misuse of EAS tones, the FCC announced on May 30 that it had settled an investigation with WTLV, a TEGNA-owned television station in Jacksonville, Florida regarding unauthorized EAS tones appearing in an ad for the Jacksonville Jaguars (the local NFL team). As part of the settlement, TEGNA entered into...… Continue Reading
Last month, the FCC launched a new proceeding with an extremely broad goal of modernizing its media regulations. The very brief (less than three page) Public Notice launching the proceeding, which Chairman Pai previewed in his speech at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, asks for comment on almost any media regulation considered “outdated, unnecessary,...… Continue Reading
Last Monday, during his monologue on the Late Show, Stephen Colbert made a number of jokes at President Donald Trump’s expense, including lobbing a series of insults at the President. (The full monologue is available here; check around 11:15 for the portion that has gotten folks talking). One of these insults, which included a joking...… Continue Reading
The 2015 elections are now in the books, but the 2016 election season, featuring federal campaigns (Presidential, Vice Presidential, Congressional) galore, is already upon us. Now’s a good time to be sure you’ve got a handle on the rules. The 2016 elections are a year away, but the race for presidential nominations is already heating … Continue Reading
STELAR-mandated changes permit market modifications for satellite carriage; some cable matters tweaked, too The market modification process is about to get, um, modified, and thanks to Congress, it will be more inclusive as a result. In fact, the FCC has already signed off on the changes and some, but not all, of them are set … Continue Reading
Here’s your chance to let the FCC know how to assess the “good faith” of parties to a retrans negotiation. While many (if not most) television licensees are likely trying to sift through the several hundreds of pages of FCC materials laying out the fast-approaching incentive auction process, it’s important not to lose sight of … Continue Reading
Terse compliance plan does the trick, although Pandora still has some hoops to jump through. The good folks of Box Elder, South Dakota can breathe a little easier now. Soon they should be able to listen to their local radio station and not have to worr...