Last week, in separate filings, the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters asked the United States Supreme Court to review the fall 2019 decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting the Commission’s 2017 effort to modernize its local media ownership rules. You’ll recall that, in November 2017, the Commission adopted an Order on Reconsideration that modernized a number of local media ownership rules, finding them no longer justified in light of competitive conditions ... Read More
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FCC WAIVES SPONSORSHIP ID REQUIREMENT ON VERY LIMITED SET OF COVID-19-RELATED PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS
In an Order (the “Order”) released Friday afternoon, the FCC has waived its sponsorship identification requirement with respect to a limited, unique subset of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) during the COVID-19 emergency. The Commission’s waiver of the sponsorship identification requirement is narrow in scope; please read the following information carefully to understand the Order’s limitations. The Commission states that, as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ... Read More
FCC Extends Filing Deadlines for Children’s Television Programming Annual Report and 1Q 2020 Issues/Programs List Until July 10, 2020, Due to COVID-19 Emergency
In a Public Notice (“Notice”) released late this afternoon (March 27), the FCC announced that, as a result of the “fluid and challenging situation caused by” COVID-19, it is extending: (1) the deadline by which commercial TV stations must file the first annual Children’s Television Programming Report, from March 30 to July 10, and (2) the deadline by which all broadcasters must upload to their OPIFs the First Quarter 2020 Issues/Programs List, from April 10 to July 10. Note that, as a ... Read More
FCC Provides Guidance Regarding Lowest Unit Charge and LMA/SSA Arrangements In Light of COVID-19 Emergency
In a Public Notice released late Thursday, March 25, the FCC announced a temporary policy relating to lowest unit charge (“LUC” or “LUR”) obligations of stations that are airing (or will air) political candidate advertising during an LUC window during the COVID-19 pandemic. In short, in certain specifically defined circumstances explained in the attached memo, a station may offer commercial advertisers free ad time without affecting the LUC applicable to political candidates. ... Read More
FCC Operations and Filing Deadlines During Government Shutdown
As the government shutdown enters its third week, we write with a few reminders for broadcasters regarding FCC filings: FCC Filing Deadlines Extended. The FCC has extended normal filing deadlines so that FCC submissions that would be due during the ongoing shutdown period will instead be due on the second day after the resumption of normal FCC operations.Continue to Prepare Filings. Since we do not know when the government shutdown will end, broadcasters should continue prepare ... Read More
