We kicked off our summary of last week’s regulatory actions for broadcasters with the news of several millions of dollars in fines imposed on over 100 television stations for apparent “program-length commercials” in children’s programming. Last week’s Notice of Apparent Liability, a unanimous decision by all four FCC Commissioners, stemmed from a Hot Wheels Super... Continue Reading…
With so much focus on the upcoming regulatory fee deadline, broadcasters may well overlook another more imminent deadline – Thursday, September 15 is the deadline for broadcasters to have assured themselves that no buyer of program time on their stations is a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government. As we wrote here,... Continue Reading…
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC announced that regulatory fees must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on September 28. In addition, the... Continue Reading…
As summer begins to wind down, just like the rest of the world, the FCC and other government agencies seem to pick up speed on long delayed actions. Broadcasters can anticipate increased regulatory activity in the coming months. For September, there are a few dates to which all broadcasters should pay attention, and a few... Continue Reading…
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. Revisions to the pending Journalism Competition and Preservation Act were released to the public this week (revised draft bill). The... Continue Reading…
Facebook will disable “new” political ads the week before this year’s November mid-term election (see its post on this policy here), just as many broadcast stations will be struggling with commercial inventory issues, trying to get last minute political ads on the air without having to dump all of their regular commercial advertisers who will... Continue Reading…
We have been receiving numerous calls from broadcasters about “franking” ads from Congressional representatives running for reelection. Congress each year allows its members to spend certain amounts of money to communicate with their constituents. This was traditionally done through mailings, which Congressional representatives could send through the US mail without any postage charges (hence the... Continue Reading…
Last week, the FCC entered into a consent decree with the operator of a low power TV station, where the broadcaster admitted to violating FCC rules by selling advertising packages that included guaranteed appearances of the advertiser on a local news and information program, without any notice to viewers that the programming was sponsored. The... Continue Reading…
Last week, the FCC entered into a consent decree with the operator of a low power TV station, where the broadcaster admitted to violating FCC rules by selling advertising packages that included guaranteed appearances of the advertiser on a local news and information program, without any notice to viewers that the programming was sponsored. The... Continue Reading…