In the last few days, two defamation cases filed against media companies by the Trump campaign have been dismissed – one on the merits and one by agreement of the parties. This includes the suit filed by the campaign against Northland Television, the licensee of a rural Wisconsin television station. That station was perhaps the... Continue Reading…
Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. On November 12, the notice was published in the Federal Register of the lifting of the filing freeze for certain... Continue Reading…
The following is a message from the Federal Communications Bar Association (“FCBA”): It’s that time again – on Tuesday, November 10, 2020, the FCBA Young Lawyers Committee and the FCBA Foundation will hold their 31st Annual FCBA Charity Auction virtually this year. While the event is still free and open to the public, unlike prior...… Continue Reading
While last Tuesday’s elections may well affect broadcast regulation in the future, there were several regulatory developments in the last week of immediate significance to broadcasters. Here is a summary of some of those developments, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.... Continue Reading…
Earlier this week, we wrote that the FCC issued a public notice stating that Lowest Unit Charges (or lowest unit rates as they are often called) do not apply to post-election political ads (e.g. ads that urge ballots to be counted in any particular manner). One important caveat to that advice is that LUC does... Continue Reading…
The FCC’s request for comments on the number of applications for new noncommercial FM stations in which one party can have an interest in the upcoming filing window was published in the Federal Register this week. We wrote about the FCC proposal to limit applicants to having an interest in no more than 10 applications... Continue Reading…
The FCC’s request for comments on the number of applications for new noncommercial FM stations in which one party can have an interest in the upcoming filing window was published in the Federal Register this week. We wrote about the FCC proposal to limit applicants to having an interest in no more than 10 applications... Continue Reading…
Capitol Hill On November 4, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated he is willing to resume negotiations on COVID-19 relief legislation before the end of the year (he had previously indicated no legislation is possible before the end of the year). Whether this would be standalone legislation or part of a necessary government funding package...… Continue Reading
Back in August, we wrote about the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) decision to end the prohibition of commonly owned radio stations in the same service (AM or FM) that have 50% or more overlap of their primary service contours from duplicating more than 25% of their programming. Now that the decision is published in the Federal Register, it...… Continue Reading