OAB FCC Information

OAB FCC Information is courtesy Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC.

FCC Fines Stations $3.4 Million for Violations of Children’s Television Programming Rules

Posted On: Sep 29, 2022

Last week, the FCC issued a ruling finding that 21 broadcast licensees, including Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, had violated the Commission’s rules regarding commercial programming on children’s television.  The Commission assessed penalties against these licensees totaling nearly $3.4 million.  Particularly notable was the Commission’s ruling that licensees are responsible even for commercials that are embedded in programming they receive from networks or syndicators.

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FCC IMPOSES $38,000 FINE FOR PREMATURE CONSTRUCTION OF ANTENNA TOWERS

Posted On: Sep 26, 2022

Recently, the Federal Communication Commission (“FCC”) issued a Consent Decree detailing the $38,000 settlement reached with a telecommunications company relating to its  failure to complete required environmental and historic preservation reviews before beginning construction on new wireless telecommunications towers and prior to following the prescribed procedures under the FCC’s antenna structure registration (“ASR”) Rules.

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2022 Upcoming FCC Deadlines

Posted On: Aug 24, 2022

September

Annual Regulatory Fees – On a date not yet determined, but certainly before September 30, 2022, annual regulatory fees will be due. These will be due and payable for Fiscal Year 2022 and will be based upon a licensee’s/permittee’s holdings on October 1, 2021, plus anything that might have been purchased since then and less anything that might have been sold since then.

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Court Strikes Down a Portion of the FCC’s Foreign Sponsorship Identification Rules for Broadcasters

Posted On: Jul 13, 2022

Earlier this year, new FCC rules went into effect requiring radio and television stations to broadcast Sponsorship ID disclosures for programming provided by foreign governmental entities.   Yesterday, the federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down one part of those requirements:  the requirement for broadcasters to independently confirm the sponsor’s status by consulting with two federal government databases.  

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What’s Next for Next Gen TV? FCC Seeks Comments on The Status of Next Gen TV and Sunset of Two Rules.

Posted On: Jun 24, 2022

The FCC has just released a Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-22-47A1.pdf seeking comments on the state of the Next Generation Television (“Next Gen TV” or “ATSC 3.0”) transition, and on the scheduled sunset of two rules adopted in 2017.  Generally, the FNPRM seeks comments on the progress of broadcasters’ voluntary deployment of ATSC 3.0 service and the current state of the ATSC 3.0 marketplace,

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FCC Sets Comment Period for Franken FM NPRM

Posted On: Jun 22, 2022

The FCC has set the comment period in the FM6 (a/k/a Franken FM) proceeding.  Comments with respect to the FCC’s May 18th Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) will be due on July 18th, 2022. Reply comments will be due on August 1, 2022. Those who wish to comment should refer to the filing instructions provided in paragraph 60 of the NPRM.

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