March 2012 TV, Class A TV, LPTV, and TV translator stations licensed to communities in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington DC must begin airing pre-filing license renewal announcements on April 1, 2012. License renewal applications for these stations are due by June 1, 2012. Pre-Filing License Renewal Announcements Stations…
March 2012 The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ local inspection files by April 10, 2012, reflecting information for the months of January, February, and March 2012. Content of the Quarterly List The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming…
Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published 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: Inadequate Sponsorship ID Ends with $44,000 Fine Unattended Main Studio Fine Warrants Upward Adjustment $16,000 Consent Decree Seems Like a…
This morning the FCC released copies of 16 Orders to Show Cause sent to licensees of low power TV stations that have Class A status. Class A status protects such stations from being displaced by modifications to full-power stations and, with the recent enactment of the spectrum auction legislation, qualifies…
According to the The Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s second Sherlock Holmes novel, Holmes preferred a seven-percent solution (a reference that would serve as the basis for another Holmes novel and movie some seventy years later). The FCC, on the other hand, has shown a regulatory fondness for…
As a follow up to my earlier post today, the FCC has just released a decision rejecting a political advertising complaint filed by Randall Terry against WMAQ-TV in Chicago. The FCC ruled that Terry failed to meet his burden to demonstrate to the station that he is a bona fide…
If you are a television broadcaster, count yourself fortunate if you have not heard from the ad agency for Randall Terry. In a self-proclaimed effort to exploit the laws requiring broadcasters to give federal candidates guaranteed access to airtime as well as their lowest ad rates, Terry has announced he…
Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published 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: Failure to Refresh Tower Paint Garners $8,000 Fine FCC Levies $25,000 Fine for Failure to Respond $85,000 Consent Decree Terminates…
One of the curiosities of communications law is that while there are thousands of applicable rules and statutory provisions, there are a handful that the FCC likes to enforce with particular gusto. One of these is the rule regarding how on-air contests must be conducted. Over the years, many broadcasters…
Around this time last year, I wrote about developments to watch for in 2011 in a piece entitled “A Look Ahead at 2011 Reveals an Interesting Year for Retrans, Renewals, and Indecency“. Fortunately for me, 2011 didn’t disappoint (at least in that regard), with indecency now sitting before the U.S.…