Political Broadcasting

January Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists and Children’s Television Reports, Incentive Auction, FM Translators for AM Stations, Webcasting Fees, LUR Windows and More

By David Oxenford|2015-12-29T10:30:35-06:00December 29th, 2015|Legal News|

While January starts off with some regulatory deadlines that apply to all broadcasters – Quarterly Issues Programs lists must be placed in a station’s public file by the 10th of January – there are many other dates that come due this month, dates to which broadcasters need to pay careful attention. For TV stations, they… Continue Reading

Understanding a Broadcaster’s Political Broadcasting Obligations Under FCC Rules – A Webinar Outlining the Requirements

By David Oxenford|2015-12-23T10:32:19-06:00December 23rd, 2015|Legal News|

While many broadcasters’ thoughts are on holiday celebrations, the political process leading to the 2016 elections marches on. Last week, Bobby Baker, the head of the FCC’s Office of Political Programming and I conducted a webinar for broadcasters in 16 states on the legal issues that need to be considered in connection with the upcoming… Continue Reading

More Complaints Filed Against TV Stations for Allegedly Not Disclosing the True Sponsor of PAC Ad on Political Issues

By David Oxenford|2015-12-11T10:57:44-06:00December 11th, 2015|Legal News|

The Sunlight Foundation, along with Common Cause and the Campaign Legal Center, have filed with the FCC complaints against 18 TV stations claiming that these stations violated the FCC’s sponsorship identification rules by not identifying former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as the true sponsor of issue ads bought by the Independence USA political… Continue Reading

Political Broadcasting Issues that Radio and TV Stations Should Be Thinking About Now As We Approach a Very Active Election Season

By David Oxenford|2015-12-03T11:05:42-06:00December 3rd, 2015|Legal News|

With the broadcast and cable news (and the monologs of TV talk show hosts) already dominated by discussions of the 2016 elections, broadcasters thoughts may be turning to that election and the expected flood of money that may come into the political process. We are, after all, only two months away from the first ballots in… Continue Reading

The Political Broadcasting Rules: A Refresher Course

By Dan Kirkpatrick|2015-11-08T11:04:12-06:00November 8th, 2015|Legal News|

The 2015 elections are now in the books, but the 2016 election season, featuring federal campaigns (Presidential, Vice Presidential, Congressional) galore, is already upon us. Now’s a good time to be sure you’ve got a handle on the rules. The 2016 elections are a year away, but the race for presidential nominations is already heating … Continue Reading

The Care and Feeding of the Broadcast Public Inspection File – Requirements and Retention Periods, A Presentation on the Issues

By David Oxenford|2015-10-29T11:34:57-05:00October 29th, 2015|Legal News|

The FCC requires each full-power broadcast station, commercial and noncommercial, to maintain a public inspection file. Even though this is a longstanding FCC requirement, there are always questions about what goes into the file, and how long those materials must be retained. The week before last, I conducted a webinar for about 20 state broadcast… Continue Reading

Political Broadcasting 2015 Webinar Now Available Online

By FHH Law|2015-09-16T11:58:52-05:00September 16th, 2015|Legal News|

If you’ve been watching TV, or reading news (whether on the Intertubes or the old-fashioned way), or eavesdropping on conversations on the subway, you probably know that we’re already in the middle of the Next Election Season (even though the Next Election happens to be more than 13 months away). Because it’s never too early … Continue Reading

TV Crime Watch Show is Bona Fide News Program Exempt from Equal Opportunities Requests from Political Candidates – Reviewing the Equal Time Rule

By David Oxenford|2015-08-12T10:51:13-05:00August 12th, 2015|Legal News|

The FCC yesterday issued a Declaratory Ruling at the request of the producers of a new syndicated Crime Watch Daily TV show, a program that will give a daily rundown of crime stories including ongoing court trials from around the nation, declaring that the program would not give rise to equal opportunities claims from political… Continue Reading

Keeping Our Campaigns Honest Act Proposes that FCC Require Disclosure of Significant Donors to Entities That Sponsor Issue Ads

By David Oxenford|2015-05-01T11:55:56-05:00May 1st, 2015|Legal News|

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives last week proposes that the FCC be required to amend its sponsorship identification rules to require not just the name of the sponsor of an ad addressing “a controversial issue of public importance,” but also the names of any “significant donors” to the sponsor. This bill is… Continue Reading