David Oxenford, Author at Tennessee Association of Broadcasters

January Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Children’s Television Annual Report, EEO, License Renewal, Political Rate Windows, FM Auction Dates and More

By David Oxenford|2019-12-19T10:24:06-06:00December 19th, 2019|Legal News|

With many Americans using the holiday season to rest and recharge, broadcasters should do the same but not forget that January is a busy month for complying with several important regulatory deadlines for broadcast stations. These include dates that regularly occur for broadcasters, as well as some unique to this month. In fact, with the... Continue Reading…

Election Season in High Gear for Broadcasters – Lowest Unit Rate Windows to Begin in Iowa This Week, New Hampshire Next and Other States Soon to Follow

By David Oxenford|2019-12-18T09:45:59-06:00December 18th, 2019|Legal News|

While political broadcasting never seems to be totally off the airwaves, the 2020 election season is about to click into high gear, with the window for lowest unit rates to begin on December 20 for advertising sales in connection with the January Iowa caucuses. That means that when broadcasters sell time to candidates for ads... Continue Reading…

FCC Adopts Changes to Rules for New Noncommercial FM and LPFM Stations – Changing Application Processing Procedures and Holding Periods

By David Oxenford|2019-12-17T11:13:00-06:00December 17th, 2019|Legal News|

Last week, the FCC adopted an order making numerous changes to its processes for selecting winning applicants among mutually-exclusive applicants for new noncommercial broadcast stations, including noncommercial, reserved band full power FM stations and LPFMs. Applicants are “mutually exclusive” when their technical proposals are in conflict – meaning that if one is granted it would... Continue Reading…

FCC Announces Deadlines for the Next Auction for New FM Channels – And a Filing Freeze

By David Oxenford|2019-12-16T11:21:07-06:00December 16th, 2019|Legal News|

On Friday, the FCC released a Public Notice setting out the rules for the auction for new FM channels, which will being in April. We wrote about that auction when it was first announced here. The Public Notice sets out the bidding process for the auction, and the dates for pre-auction filing deadlines necessary to... Continue Reading…

FCC Proposes Fines of Over $600,000 to Two Boston-Area Pirate Radio Operators

By David Oxenford|2019-12-13T08:53:48-06:00December 13th, 2019|Legal News|

The FCC yesterday issued Notices of Apparent Liability to two pirate radio operators that totaled over $600,000, the largest fines ever issued for those operating radio stations without an FCC-issued license. Both operated in the Boston area. One was fined $151,005 for operating one station (press release here, a link to the full Notice of... Continue Reading…

Court of Appeals Finds Maryland Law Imposing Political Disclosure Obligations on Online Platforms to be Unconstitutional – Finding Different Treatment of Broadcasters is Justified

By David Oxenford|2019-12-11T10:51:45-06:00December 11th, 2019|Legal News|

Late last week, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a decision in a case called Washington Post v. David J. McManus, upholding the ruling of the US District Court finding that the State of Maryland’s attempts to impose political advertising reporting obligations on online platforms to be an unconstitutional abridgment of these... Continue Reading…

Many More Warning Letters Sent by FDA to CBD Companies – More Issues for Advertisers

By David Oxenford|2019-12-10T11:20:44-06:00December 10th, 2019|Legal News|

We have written many times about the concerns regarding the marketing of CBD products on broadcast stations. As we wrote here, here, and here, the FDA and FTC have repeatedly warned makers of these products that they cannot make specific health claims about the products and cannot market products that are intended to be ingested.... Continue Reading…

$2000 Fine Proposed for Translator That Failed to Inform FCC of Its Primary Station and Seek Approval for Serving Same Area as Another Commonly Programmed Station

By David Oxenford|2019-12-09T10:43:48-06:00December 9th, 2019|Legal News|

With more and more stations relying on FM translators to provide local service, a decision released last week emphasizes the importance of following the rules about the operations of these stations. In the decision, the FCC’s Audio Division proposed to issue a $2,000 fine for an FM translator owner that failed to advise the FCC... Continue Reading…

Franken FMs – The FCC Asks if It Should Continue to Allow Channel 6 LPTV Stations to Operate as FM Broadcasters

By David Oxenford|2019-12-06T09:57:48-06:00December 6th, 2019|Legal News|

The audio from analog channel 6 TV stations can be heard on the FM dial at 87.7 – which is below the lowest official point on the standard FM band in the US (which ends at 88.1) but is nevertheless tunable on most FM radios. Over the last decade, many LPTV stations on channel 6,... Continue Reading…

About David Oxenford