Communications Act

FCC Waives Sponsorship Identification for Sponsored COVID-19 PSA’s

By Peter Tannenwald|2020-04-08T09:47:37-05:00April 8th, 2020|Legal News|

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has announced a waiver of broadcast sponsorship identification requirements concerning air time donated by commercial advertisers for public service announcements (“PSAs”) provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and other government agencies addressing the COVID-19 emergency. Sections 317(a) of the Communications Act and 73.1212(a) of FCC’s Rules...… Continue Reading

The FCC’s Political File Rules: Is Your Station in Full Compliance?

By Paul J. Feldman and Davina Sashkin|2020-02-19T12:53:45-06:00February 19th, 2020|Legal News|

Super Tuesday is less than two weeks away, Michael Bloomberg is spending a king’s ransom on political advertisements, and the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) is actively engaged in investigating stations’ compliance with the political file rules. Now is the time to make sure your station staff understands the FCC’s political file requirements and implements any...… Continue Reading

Who Should Say What to Whom When Cable TV Retransmission Consent Negotiations Fail?

By Peter Tannenwald|2020-01-02T15:00:55-06:00January 2nd, 2020|Legal News|

Retransmission consent negotiations have been coming down to the wire more and more in recent years, as broadcasters have sought to recoup more of the value they feel their signals have, and cable operators have resisted increases in their expenses. Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rules currently require cable operators to notify both subscribers and the...… Continue Reading

Picking NCE and LPFM Winners Simplified: NCE and LPFM Station Transfer Rules Relaxed

By Peter Tannenwald|2019-12-30T15:29:18-06:00December 30th, 2019|Legal News|

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has changed in its rules for selecting winners from groups of mutually exclusive (“MX”) noncommercial educational full-power radio (“NCE”) and Low Power FM (“LPFM”) applicants and has made it easier for MX applicants to negotiate voluntary time-sharing agreements. In the FCC’s Report and Order, it has also shortened the minimum...… Continue Reading

Possible Ramifications for TCPA After FCC Reclassification of Text Messages

By Seth Williams|2019-01-11T14:12:42-06:00January 11th, 2019|Legal News|

On December 12, the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or “Commission”) three Republican Commissioners were in a self-congratulatory mood for standing with consumers against unwanted robotexts by classifying text messaging as a Title I service, but did the Commission’s classification decision really mark a major TCPA victory for consumers? Probably not. As Sekoia Rogers detailed on...… Continue Reading

FCC Classifies Texting as an Information Service

By Sekoia Rogers|2019-01-10T14:00:29-06:00January 10th, 2019|Legal News|

On December 12, 2018, the FCC (“FCC” or “Commission”) adopted a Declaratory Ruling that finds Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) are “information services” under the Communications Act and that these services are not “telecommunications services” or “commercial mobile services”. As a result, SMS/MMS won’t be subjected to the regulatory burdens that...… Continue Reading

FCC Adopts Uniform Formal Complaint Procedural Rules

By Helena Okolicsanyi|2018-07-26T15:53:55-05:00July 26th, 2018|Legal News|

After decades of handling formal complaints using no less than three different sets of rules, the FCC has finally adopted uniform procedures that generally apply to all formal complaints filed with the Commission. Alongside Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr praised the measure to get formal complaints all under one roof. However,...… Continue Reading

Comment Deadline Set on ‘Leased’ Access Channels

By Peter Tannenwald|2018-06-29T15:28:46-05:00June 29th, 2018|Legal News|

As we wrote on June 15, the FCC’s rules for leasing channels on cable television systems have never brought about an active leasing marketplace. The FCC is now taking another look at the situation, issuing a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in an old 2007 docket and inviting comments on whether to make adjustments in...… Continue Reading

‘Leased’ Access or ‘Least’ Access? FCC Chucks 2008 Order and Asks What It Should Do Next

By Peter Tannenwald|2018-06-15T07:30:43-05:00June 15th, 2018|Legal News|

Requirements that cable television systems make a certain amount of channel capacity available for leasing to non-affiliated programmers have been in place since the time when George Orwell predicted that “Big Brother” would control the world – 1984. The leasing rules have never brought about an active leasing marketplace. The FCC is now taking another...… Continue Reading