On Wednesday, January 29th, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth’s Frank Montero, Dan Kirkpatrick, and Seth Williams presented a webinar that got “into the weeds” of CBD and marijuana advertising. New questions have been raised since the US Department of Agriculture in 2019 published their interim rules on the “Establishment of Domestic Hemp Projects”. To address broadcasters...… Continue Reading
Broadcast Deadlines: January 31, 2020 Biennial Ownership Reports – All licensees and entities holding an attributable interest in a licensee of one or more AM, FM, TV, Class A television, and/or Low Power TV (LPTV) stations must file a biennial ownership report reflecting information as of October 1, 2019. Please recall that not only corporations...… Continue Reading
On November 26, 2019, we wrote about rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to help locate callers in terms of not only the street address but also a caller’s vertical location within a multi-story building, asking “Which Door Should First Responders Kick In?” The new rules were published in the Federal Register on...… Continue Reading
On January 7, 2020, we wrote about a proposal by the FCC to establish “988” as a nationwide abbreviated telephone dialing code to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis hotline. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has now been published in the Federal Register, establishing the deadlines for comments and replies. Initial Comments...… Continue Reading
In an order released this week, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced that Scripps Broadcasting Holdings had agreed to a $1.13 Million settlement with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to resolve violations of tower lighting monitoring rules. What makes this case especially interesting is that the party who is paying the fine and instituting a years-long...… Continue Reading
We are proud to announce that Davina Sashkin’s CommLawBlog article “Shutdown Uncertainty: What Broadcasters Should Do Now” was awarded 1st runner up for the Best Breaking News Post of 2019 by LexBlog, the leading blog platform for the legal community. This award is given “for outstanding same-day or second-day reporting of a legal news development”....… Continue Reading
On January 2, 2020, we wrote about an FCC proposal to modify the present requirement for cable TV systems to give 30 days’ notice to subscribers when a program channel may be removed because of failure to agree on retransmission consent terms. The deadlines for Comments and Reply Comments have now been announced. Initial Comments...… Continue Reading
Washington-area based telecommunications, media, and technology law firm Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, P.L.C. is pleased to announce that Thomas F. Urban II has joined the firm as Of Counsel. Tom has experience representing clients in everything from business disputes and class action cases to RICO actions and complex mortgage fraud cases. When it comes to...… Continue Reading
On December 4, 2019, we wrote that the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has invited a new round of comments on the fate of analog Low Power Television (“LPTV”) stations that transmit on Channel 6 and target their audio channel to FM radio receivers. A notice in the Federal Register has announced that the deadline for...… Continue Reading