Recently we posted a blog alerting that the FCC was updating aspects of its political programming and recordkeeping rules. That FCC Order revised the definition of “legally qualified candidate for public office”, and also amended the political file rules. The revised rules are effective 30 days after publication of a summary of the order in...… Continue Reading
Last week, we discussed the controversy started by Neil Young removing his music from Spotify because of its carriage of Joe Rogan’s podcast. In that article, we looked at the relationship between music royalties and the decision of Spotify and other music services to emphasize podcasts and other talk programming over music. Today, we will... Continue Reading…
Ads planned to run in yesterday’s Super Bowl by Republican candidates in primaries to select candidates for 2022 senate elections drew comments and controversy even before the game, with some calls to block the ads from the air. Ads for a candidate in Pennsylvania used the “Let’s Go Brandon” language generally acknowledged to be an... Continue Reading…
Ads planned to run in yesterday’s Super Bowl by Republican candidates in primaries to select candidates for 2022 senate elections drew comments and controversy even before the game, with some calls to block the ads from the air. Ads for a candidate in Pennsylvania used the “Let’s Go Brandon” language generally acknowledged to be an... Continue Reading…
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. Global Music Rights (GMR) and the Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC) announced that enough broadcasters had agreed to GMR licensing... Continue Reading…
The FCC announced this week that Auction 112, an auction of 27 construction permits for full power TV stations, is set to begin on June 7, 2022. The auction procedures were set forth in a Public Notice, and participation will require certification that “the applicant has read the public notice adopting procedures for the auction...… Continue Reading
The Federal Communications Commission is cracking down on stations that are off the air for a majority of its license term. In June of 2021, Snake River Radio, LLC, applied to renew the license of KPCQ (AM) in Chubbuck, Idaho. However, the FCC’s review of the application and station records found that the station had...… Continue Reading
The last two weeks have been filled with stories about Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and other artists pulling their music from Spotify in protest of its carriage of the Joe Rogan podcast. While the political statements made by these actions generate the news, there are rights and royalty issues behind the story that are worth... Continue Reading…
On February 2, 2022, FCC nominee Gigi Sohn was to attend a nomination hearing, but after Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico suffered a stroke, the Senate Commerce Committee rescheduled Sohn’s hearing. The rescheduled nomination hearing will be on February 9, 2022, and will likely address concerns over Sohn’s former position on the...… Continue Reading