The unusual story of the sale of TEGNA Inc. has seemingly (more on that below) come to an end after a four-year FCC review process, encompassing two attempted purchases, two administrative actions involving multiple rule waivers and novel questions of law, but no rulings by the Commissioners themselves. On Thursday, the FCC’s Media Bureau issued... Continue Reading…
It’s the start of another year, so it is time to dust off the crystal ball and look at what we expect to be the big regulatory and legislative issues facing broadcasters in the new year. Looking back on our forecast for 2025 that came out just over a year ago, I was surprised to... Continue Reading…
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past two weeks, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. On our Broadcast Law Blog, in addition to the articles on regulatory fees and the LPTV/TV translator windows mentioned... Continue Reading…
Although many, including Congress, take the last of their summer vacations in August, there are still many dates to which broadcasters should be paying attention this month. One deadline that most commercial broadcasters should be anticipating is the FCC’s order that will set the amount of their Annual Regulatory Fees, which will be paid sometime... Continue Reading…
Only three weeks ago, we published an article on the FCC’s request for public comment to update the record in the 2018 proceeding looking at whether to change the 39% national cap on the ownership of television stations. That request for comments was published in the Federal Register yesterday, setting the deadline for comments. Comments... 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. On our Broadcast Law Blog, we discussed broadcasters’ obligations under the FCC’s modified broadcast foreign sponsorship identification rules, which became... Continue Reading…
On Feb. 12, the Commission announced that it would extend the comment deadline for a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding potential changes to the national television ownership cap. Comments are now due by March 19 and reply comments will be due by April 18. The NPRM was adopted on Dec. 14 beginning the FCC’s “comprehensive...… Continue Reading
When Ajit Pai took over as Chairman of the FCC, it was widely expected that he would take steps to relax existing restrictions on media ownership. The last month, in particular, has seen a flurry of activity on that front. As we reported, the Chairman released at the end of October the proposed text of...… Continue Reading