News – Page 321 – Tennessee Association of Broadcasters

February Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – TV Renewals, EEO Reports, Lots of TV Incentive Auction Activity, OTT MVPD and Contest Comments, and Last-Minute January Deadlines for Webcasting

By David Oxenford|2015-01-28T10:05:28-06:00January 28th, 2015|Legal News|

As in any month, February has many impending deadlines for broadcasters and media companies – many routine regulatory obligations as well as some that are specific to certain proceedings. First, let’s look at some of the routine filing deadlines. On February 2, license renewal applications in the second-to-last filing window of this renewal cycle are … Continue Reading

Update: More New AWS-3 Rules Now In Effect

By FHH Law|2015-01-28T03:48:29-06:00January 28th, 2015|Legal News|

Last year we reported on the adoption of new service rules governing AWS-3 spectrum use. And as we also reported a couple of months later, those rules took effect in July, 2014, except for a handful of provisions that had to be run through the Paperwor...

FCC Standards for Comparing Service by Mutually Exclusive Applicants for New Noncommercial Radio Stations Clarified by Court of Appeals

By David Oxenford|2015-01-27T10:19:40-06:00January 27th, 2015|Legal News|

Yesterday, we wrote about a case involving an applicant for a new commercial FM station, where the FCC clarified its policies on reasonable assurance of transmitter site availability – holding that an applicant in an auction process can amend to a new site if it is found that its originally specified site is not available … Continue Reading

More Big Penalties for Use of EAS Tones in Non-Emergency Programming

By David Oxenford|2015-01-26T10:22:10-06:00January 26th, 2015|Legal News|

The FCC seems to be making another statement – releasing one decision upholding two very large fines against major cable programmers for improper use of EAS tones in ads for a movie, while just two days later releasing another decision approving a consent decree with a broadcaster imposing a penalty and monitoring conditions for using … Continue Reading

Two Decisions Clarifying the Processing of FCC Applications for New Commercial and Noncommercial Broadcast Stations – Auction Applications and Reasonable Assurance of Transmitter Site Availability

By David Oxenford|2015-01-26T10:18:46-06:00January 26th, 2015|Legal News|

Last week, there were two decisions that clarified FCC processing policies for new broadcast stations – one dealing with applications for commercial stations, and the other with applications for noncommercial FM stations. The commercial case made clear that an applicant for a new FM station in the auction process need not have reasonable assurance of … Continue Reading

Annual Webcaster Wake-Up Call! SoundExchange Reports and Payments Due Soon

By Kevin Goldberg|2015-01-23T12:06:22-06:00January 23rd, 2015|Legal News|

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose - If you’re a webcaster, you’ve got until February 2 to wrap up your annual SoundExchange homework. Sigh. Every year brings us another year closer to death. It sure feels tha...

Reminder – Political Broadcasting Rules Apply Even to State and Local Elections

By David Oxenford|2015-01-23T11:21:14-06:00January 23rd, 2015|Legal News|

In odd numbered years like 2015, most broadcast stations don’t think about the FCC’s political broadcasting rules. But they should – and we have been receiving many calls from clients about the perhaps surprising number of elections that are taking place this year. These include many races for state and local political offices, everything from school … Continue Reading

FHH Lawyer Gets Ink, Yet Again!

By FHH Law|2015-01-22T13:47:16-06:00January 22nd, 2015|Legal News|

Demonstrating that “mostly retired” clearly doesn’t mean “completely inactive”, our colleague Mitchell Lazarus has published yet another article in IEEE Spectrum magazine. (Regular readers will recall that articles by Mitc...

Five in a Row! FHH Again Tops in Repping Media Deals

By FHH Law|2015-01-22T12:51:28-06:00January 22nd, 2015|Legal News|

According to SNL Kagan, recognized as one of the preeminent sources of financial analysis in the media business, in 2014 Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth served as legal adviser in more media/entertainment/new media transactions than any other law firm &nd...