In October of 1996 my boss, the chairman of a $3 billion television production and distribution empire (and one of the smartest television dealmakers I ever met) scoffed when I said that television could be delivered over the Internet. I told him to wait ten years. Well, in 2006 we…
Articles Posted by Pillsbury's Comm Law Center Team
180 Days to Implement EAS Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)? Not So Fast!
The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced in a public notice released today that it has adopted the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) v1.2 Standard for FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS). Under the FCC’s Rules, Emergency Alert System (EAS) participants (e.g., radio and television stations,…
2010 Third Quarter Children’s Television Programming Documentation Advisory
September 2010 The next Children’s Television Programming Report must be filed with the FCC and placed in stations’ local Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2010, reflecting programming aired during the months of July, August and September, 2010. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements As a result of the Children’s Television Act…
Client Advisory: Biennial Ownership Reports Are Due by October 1, 2010 for Noncommercial Educational Radio Stations in IA and MO, and for Noncommercial Educational Television Stations in AK, AS, FL, GU, HI, MP, OR, PR, VI and WA
The staggered deadlines for filing Biennial Ownership Reports by noncommercial educational radio and television stations remain in effect and are tied to their respective anniversary renewal filing deadlines. Noncommercial educational radio stations licensed to communities in Iowa and Missouri, and noncommercial educational television stations licensed to communities in Alaska, American…
Is It Game Time or Gambling? Prize, Chance, Consideration, NCAA Tickets and Your Next Promotion
Anyone who has enjoyed March Madness knows that Lady Luck often intervenes in a team’s journey to the NCAA Final Four. But is getting to the game a literal roll of the dice for spectators too? The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has recently ruled that a lawsuit…
Product Placement and the FCC
You may have noticed that more and more television shows these days seem to be including “product placement,” a form of advertising in which a product, corporate logo, or brand name is positioned as a “prop” in a program or is used as an integral part of the story line.…
Client Alert: FCC Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Regulatory Fees Are Due Today
As we reported in a previous Client Alert, full payment of all applicable Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2010 must be received no later than today, August 31, 2010, at the Commission’s St. Louis, Missouri address by 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time. As in previous years, failure of a licensee…
Client Alert: FCC Announces Comment Dates in Rural Health Care Broadband Proceeding
The FCC has opened a rulemaking proposing reforms to its broadband health care initiatives for rural and tribal areas. The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking originally released in July was published in the Federal Register today, which establishes the deadline for submitting Comments and Reply Comments in the proceeding. Comments…
Client Advisory: FCC Issues Two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking to Implement STELA
The FCC is moving quickly to implement the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA). STELA is the latest law to extend and update the original Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1998, allowing direct to home satellite carriers to deliver the signals of local television stations to subscribers.…
Client Alert: FCC Sets August 31, 2010 Deadline for Payment of FY 2010 Annual Regulatory Fees
The FCC has announced that full payment of all applicable Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2010 must be received no later than August 31, 2010. As mentioned in a July 9, 2010 Report and Order, the Commission will mail assessment notices to licensees/permittees reflecting payment obligations for FY 2010, but…