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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes:

  • FCC Issues Notice to Virginia Property Owner Over Pirate Radio Activity
  • Public Media Organization Enters into $86,400 Consent Decree Over False EAS Tones
  • Media Bureau Finds Broadcaster Did Not Violate Good Faith Negotiation Rules

FCC Warns Landowner Over Unauthorized Broadcasts on Its Property

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting to a Virginia property owner in Williamsburg, VA.  The Enforcement Bureau’s Columbia Office investigated the property after receiving a complaint about unlicensed FM broadcasts on 99.5 MHz.  On two separate occasions, April 1 and July 17, 2025, agents used direction-finding equipment to confirm that the transmissions were emanating from a restaurant located on the property.

FCC records indicated that no license had been issued for a broadcast station operating on 99.5 MHz at that location.  The Enforcement Bureau also determined that the transmissions exceeded the power limits permitted for unlicensed operation under Part 15 of its Rules.

Under the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act (the PIRATE Act), the FCC has the authority to impose substantial fines not only on the individuals directly responsible for unauthorized broadcasting, but also on property owners who knowingly and willfully allow such activity to take place on their premises.  The Notice warned the property owner that it could face penalties of up to $2,453,218 if the FCC determined that it continued to permit unauthorized pirate radio broadcasts from its property.

The Notice directs the property owner to respond to the FCC within ten business days and provide evidence that the unlicensed pirate radio broadcasts have ceased.  The Notice also requires the property owner to identify the individual(s) responsible for the pirate operation.  Finally, the Notice informs the property owner that a failure to respond may be treated as evidence of knowledge and consent to the illegal broadcasts for purposes of initiating subsequent FCC enforcement proceedings involving “significant financial penalties” against the landowner.

Public Media Organization Resolves False EAS Tone Violations With $86,400 Consent Decree

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a public media organization to resolve an investigation into the unauthorized transmission of Emergency Alert System (EAS) tones.  According to the Consent Decree, the organization distributed a program that included actual or simulated EAS tones to its 46 owned radio stations and approximately 500 affiliated stations, triggering violations of Sections 11.31 and 11.45 of the FCC’s Rules.  The Consent Decree includes an $86,400 civil penalty and a multi-part compliance plan.

The EAS is a national public warning system designed to deliver critical emergency information to the public, including weather alerts and AMBER alerts.  To preserve the integrity of emergency alerts, EAS tones may only be aired for specific uses, such as actual emergencies, authorized tests, and qualifying public service announcements (PSAs).  Section 11.45 of the FCC’s Rules strictly prohibits airing EAS tones or simulations thereof unless they are aired in connection with one of these uses.  The concern is that misuse of EAS tones will lead to accidental system triggers or the public becoming desensitized to the alert tones in an actual emergency, both of which threaten the effectiveness of the alerting system. Continue reading →

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 To close out 2025, the Space Bureau has conducted one last check of its open docket list, adding a final name to its packed post-President’s Day comment window.  An end of year Public Notice asks commenters to refresh the record on a five-year old rulemaking that proposes permitting non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems to communicate with fixed earth stations mounted on moving platforms—known as Earth Stations in Motion (ESIMs)—in additional frequency bands, including the 28.35–28.6 GHz band.  The proceeding, which followed in earnest on successive proceedings to expand ESIM availability across the Fixed-satellite service beginning in geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) and then in NGSO, has stagnated in recent years.

In 2020, the FCC tentatively authorized NGSO ESIMs in the 28.4-28.6 GHz band while deferring action on the 28.35-28.4 GHz portion of the band pending further study of out-of-band emissions vis-à-vis Upper Microwave Flexible Use Services (UMFUS) in the adjacent 27.5-28.35 GHz band.  Similar to other proceedings in the millimeterwave bands, the Bureau is requesting commenters update the record to provide any new or updated information or studies on the proposed emission limits, as well as the UMFUS and ESIM technologies deployed in their respective bands and any anticipated uses of these services.

Comments are due January 21, 2026; reply comments are due February 5, 2026.  Interested parties are advised that this proceeding is intended to run in parallel with—and does not duplicate the efforts of—the on-going Space Modernization or Facilitating More Intensive Use of Upper Microwave Flexible Use Spectrum rulemakings.  Any rules adopted in this proceeding shall be incorporated into the applicable rule section—Part 25 or Part 100—as and if applicable.

For more information about the above Public Notice, submitting comments, or NGSO satellite systems and ESIMs generally, please contact a member of Pillsbury’s Communications Practice Group.

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The rapid expansion of the commercial space economy over the last decade has resulted in demand on spectrum far exceeding the Commission’s expectations at the time it devised and adopted its Upper Microwave Flexible Use Spectrum (UMFUS) sharing framework. At the same time, negligible adoption of millimeter wave bands by terrestrial services has upended the assumptions central to the framework and its constraints on earth station deployments in favor of 5G operations. As a result, the UMFUS framework quickly became an impediment to efficient use of millimeter wave spectrum and a barrier to the deployment of next-generation satellite systems.

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Beginning January 1, 2026, the FCC’s audio description requirements will expand to commercial television stations affiliated with ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC in 10 additional Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs): Tyler-Longview (Lufkin & Nacogdoches), Sioux Falls (Mitchell), Fargo, Springfield-Holyoke, Lansing, Youngstown, Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, Traverse City-Cadillac, Eugene, and Macon.  Audio-described programming is intended to make video programming more accessible to blind or visually impaired consumers by inserting “audio narrated descriptions of a television program’s key visual elements into natural pauses between the program’s dialogue.”

In October 2023, the FCC adopted the Audio Description Second Report and Order, which expanded the audio description requirements to (eventually) all television markets.  As set out in the Order, 10 additional DMAs will be phased in each year through 2035 until all DMAs are subject to the audio description rules.

Under Section 79.3 of the FCC’s Rules, stations subject to the audio description requirements must provide at least 50 hours of audio-described programming per quarter during primetime or children’s programming, and an additional 37.5 hours of programming per quarter aired between 6 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. local time.  The requirement applies to any of a station’s programming streams, whether primary or multicast, if the stream is affiliated with ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC.

The next deadline, January 1, 2026, will apply to DMAs 111 to 120, with markets 121 to 210 phased in through 2035 according to the below schedule. Continue reading →

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  • The FCC unanimously adopted an NPRM proposing a comprehensive restructuring and reform of its long-standing space and earth station licensing rules (Part 25).
  • The NPRM proposes to wholly replace its “Part 25 – Satellite Communications” rules with a new “Part 100 – Space and Earth Station Services” rule section.
  • Comments are due on January 20, 2026, with reply comments due by February 18, 2026.

In an effort to more effectively keep pace with and reduce the burdens on the rapidly evolving and expanding commercial space sector, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) unanimously adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing a comprehensive restructuring and reform of its long-standing space and earth station licensing rules (Part 25). With its breadth of scope and potential impacts across the space ecosystem, the NPRM also serves to highlight the key role the Commission will play in advancing the Trump administration’s broader objective to enhance American greatness in space and facilitate U.S. leadership and innovation.

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With a December 8 deadline to come into compliance with the FCC’s new sponsorship identification requirements for airing content connected to a foreign government, broadcasters have been racing to figure out how to comply in a practical way.  As previously discussed here and here, the new rule requires that broadcasters determine whether leases of airtime (including certain advertising) involve content that is provided, funded, or distributed by “governments of foreign countries, foreign political parties, agents of foreign principals, and United States-based foreign media outlets.”

Under the rule, broadcasters must document their completion of a number of required steps to determine if provided content has such foreign government connections, and if so, ensure disclosures are included in the content when aired, and place documentation of those disclosures in the Public Inspection File on a quarterly basis.

The challenge is not so much the airing of the disclosures themselves, but collecting the required paperwork from potentially thousands of advertisers to determine if any are connected to a foreign government.  Beyond the sheer paperwork and resources burden, broadcasters do not want to make it yet more difficult for advertisers to purchase broadcast airtime, particularly when those same advertisers can simply move their content to streamers or other online venues and skip the paperwork complexities entirely, whether connected to a foreign government or not.

The current version of the rule became effective on June 10, 2025, but on that date, the FCC extended the compliance deadline to December 8, 2025.  This gave broadcasters a six-month reprieve, but even with that added time, compliance remained a daunting proposition.

It was therefore with a sigh of relief that broadcasters learned this afternoon that the FCC has again moved the compliance deadline, this time to June 7, 2026.  This not only provides broadcasters with additional time to sort out a practical approach to complying with the new requirements, but keeps alive the hope that the FCC will use this added time to streamline these rather unwieldy requirements before next June.

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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes:

  • FCC Extends Consent Decree After New “Issues” Arise
  • FCC Resolves Pirate Radio Investigation With 20-Year Consent Decree
  • Spurious Emissions Lead to Notice of Violation for FM Translator Licensee

Order Extends Consent Decree Obligations Through 2029

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau recently released an Order amending a 2024 Consent Decree with a nationwide business communications company extending the company’s compliance obligations by an additional year.  Under the amended terms, the company will now be required to file compliance reports through 2029 and report any noncompliance with the FCC’s rules or the Consent Decree during the now extended term within 15 days of discovery.  The Order did not assess any new fines, but incorporated the extended reporting period and updated several provisions of the original Consent Decree.  The FCC did not elaborate on the reasons it deemed the extension necessary, stating only that it was done “to resolve issues arising after adoption and release of the Consent Decree.”

As we discussed here in April 2024, the company agreed to the original Consent Decree to resolve an FCC investigation into its unauthorized control and operation of multiple private business radio licenses.  The investigation stemmed from the company’s acquisition of entities holding FCC licenses without prior FCC approval, along with continued operations under expired or improperly transferred authorizations.  To resolve the investigation, the company agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty, implement a multi-year compliance plan, and submit annual compliance reports to the FCC for four years.  Due to the additional “issues,” the four-year compliance plan is now a five-year compliance plan.

The important takeaway from this proceeding is that a consent decree does not mark the end of an investigatory encounter with the FCC, but is merely a waypoint.  The penalty for a repeated offense while the consent decree is still in effect can be substantial.  In addition, most consent decrees require the alleged violator to promptly report any new violations to the FCC, greatly increasing the likelihood that new violations will come to light (and of course concealing violations that a consent decree requires be promptly reported ramps up the risk of severe FCC enforcement action considerably).  So those who sign a consent decree thinking the worst is behind them need to make a concerted effort to ensure that there are no future violations as well, particularly during the term of the consent decree.  The enforcement process does not end when the “voluntary contribution” payment is made under a consent decree.  It continues quietly, through compliance reports, follow-up reviews, and, when needed, renewed enforcement action.

Massachusetts Pirate Radio Operator Agrees to Lengthy 20-Year Consent Decree

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has entered into a Consent Decree with an individual operating a pirate radio station in Massachusetts.  Pirate radio operations are illegal under the Communications Act of 1934 and can interfere with licensed communications, posing a danger to the public by interfering with licensed stations carrying public safety messages, including Emergency Alert System transmissions.

The Consent Decree follows the FCC’s issuance of a $40,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) in April 2024 for operating an unauthorized FM broadcast station without a license.  In the NAL, the FCC found that the individual had twice violated the FCC’s Rules, on June 6 and July 11, 2023, by operating an unauthorized radio station.  Under Section 511 of the Communications Act, the FCC may impose a fine against any person “who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting.” Continue reading →

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December 1 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont to place their Annual EEO Public File Report in their Public Inspection File and post the report on their station website.

Under the FCC’s EEO Rule, all radio and television station employment units (“SEUs”), regardless of staff size, must afford equal opportunity to all qualified persons and practice nondiscrimination in employment.

In addition, those SEUs with five or more full-time employees (“Nonexempt SEUs”) must also comply with the FCC’s three-prong outreach requirements.  Specifically, Nonexempt SEUs must (i) broadly and inclusively disseminate information about every full-time job opening, except in exigent circumstances, (ii) send notifications of full-time job vacancies to referral organizations that have requested such notification, and (iii) earn a certain minimum number of EEO credits based on participation in various non-vacancy-specific outreach initiatives (“Menu Options”) suggested by the FCC, during each of the two-year segments (four segments total) that comprise a station’s eight-year license term.  These Menu Option initiatives include, for example, sponsoring job fairs, participating in job fairs, and having an internship program.

Nonexempt SEUs must prepare and place their Annual EEO Public File Report in the Public Inspection Files and on the websites of all stations comprising the SEU (if they have a website) by the anniversary date of the filing deadline for that station’s license renewal application.  The Annual EEO Public File Report summarizes the SEU’s EEO activities during the previous 12 months, and the licensee must maintain adequate records to document those activities.

For a detailed description of the EEO Rule and practical assistance in preparing a compliance plan, broadcasters should consult The FCC’s Equal Employment Opportunity Rules and Policies – A Guide for Broadcasters published by Pillsbury’s Communications Practice Group.

Deadline for the Annual EEO Public File Report for Nonexempt Radio and Television SEUs

Consistent with the above, December 1, 2025 is the date by which Nonexempt SEUs of radio and television stations licensed to communities in the states identified above, including Class A television stations, must (i) place their Annual EEO Public File Report in the Public Inspection Files of all stations comprising the SEU, and (ii) post the Report on the websites, if any, of those stations.  Once the new Report is posted on a station’s website, the prior year’s Report may be removed from that website. Continue reading →

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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue is a special edition:

FCC Enforcement Monitor—The Government Shutdown Edition
While shutdowns of the federal government have become depressingly common, the FCC has generally been less affected than most government agencies because it is not funded by taxpayer dollars but by regulatory fees paid by broadcasters and others regulated by the FCC. However, because the FCC collects those fees in arrears—at the end of the fiscal year they fund rather than the beginning—the FCC must borrow operating funds from the federal government to operate and then repay that debt when regulatory fees are collected at the end of the fiscal year. That is the reason the FCC is never able to extend its regulatory fee collection deadline beyond September 30, the last day of the federal fiscal year.

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At today’s Open Meeting, the FCC unanimously adopted a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to accelerate the transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (NextGen TV).  The NPRM sets the stage for significant progress towards a nationwide transition, proposing to shift from mandatory to voluntary ATSC 1.0 simulcasting because broadcasters are now “best positioned to determine how to continue to serve their viewers while rolling out 3.0 services.”

Under current rules adopted in the FCC’s 2017 First NextGen TV Report and Order, full-power and Class A stations seeking to transition to the ATSC 3.0 standard must maintain an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of their primary stream through a partnership with one or more ATSC 1.0 “host” stations assigned to the same designated market area, and the ATSC 1.0 simulcast stream must be “substantially similar” to the ATSC 3.0 stream.  The simulcasting requirement was intended to be transitional, and the Commission initially scheduled the “substantially similar” requirement to sunset on July 17, 2023.  As that date approached, however, the FCC adopted the June 2023 Third Report and Order and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking extending the sunset date to July 17, 2027.

Since then, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and many individual broadcasters have continued to press the FCC for greater simulcasting flexibility in order to more effectively showcase the benefits of the ATSC 3.0 standard, including in comments submitted in the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding.  NAB also filed a Petition for Rulemaking (NAB Petition) earlier this year asking the FCC to, among other things:

  • Establish a two-phase mandatory transition under which stations in the top 55 markets would move fully to ATSC 3.0 by February 2028 and all remaining markets by February 2030, with limited exceptions for noncommercial educational or smaller, independent stations;
  • Eliminate the “substantially similar” requirement prior to the scheduled 2027 sunset date;
  • Relax the 95 percent coverage threshold required for expedited application processing;
  • Update the tuner and carriage standards to ensure that consumers can continue to receive broadcast programming as the industry transitions to ATSC 3.0; and
  • Consider updates to the MVPD carriage rules, including the “good quality signal” rule.

The Media Bureau received more than 900 comments and replies in response to the NAB Petition in a pleading cycle that closed in June 2025. Continue reading →