No, the FCC has not instituted an early-filing program so licensees can get that pesky license renewal out of the way. Instead, in 2010 it cleaned up television license renewal applications that had been hanging around since the last renewal cycle, issuing nearly $350,000.00 in children’s television fines to some…
Articles Posted in Advertising
The Phantom Menace: Return of the EAS False Alerts
In what has become one of our most popular posts at CommLawCenter, a few months ago I discussed a radio ad that contained an “attention getting” Emergency Alert System tone that was activating broadcast stations’ EAS equipment around the country. The post noted that airing the commercials violated Section 11.45…
EAS False Alerts in Radio Ads and Other Reasons to Panic
One of the great things about being a communications lawyer is the wide array of issues you deal with over the course of a day. Contract lawyers negotiate contracts, and litigators litigate, but communications lawyers negotiate contracts, litigate, argue government policy, and generally are thrown into the breach whenever a…
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.…
Senate Amends DISCLOSE Act to Delete Lowest Unit Charge Provisions
In my recent commentary on the Senate version of the DISCLOSE Act (Senate Disclose Act Bill Raises Serious Concerns For Broadcasters), I highlighted provisions related to the Lowest Unit Charge which had the potential to cause a very significant adverse impact on broadcast station revenues from federal election advertising. Senator…
Senate Disclose Act Bill Raises Serious Concerns For Broadcasters
Last month, the House of Representatives passed the DISCLOSE Act (“Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act”), H.R. 5175. The bill responds to the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission which held that corporations (and presumably unions and other…
Stop the Presses! Federal Trade Commission Does Not Support Taxes on Broadcasters and Others to Help “Reinvent” Newspapers After All?
Earlier this week, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz began the FTC’s final workshop concerning the future of media “How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?” by dismissing as a ” non-starter” any chance that his agency would recommend new taxes to support or “save” journalism. In advance of this workshop, the…
A $270,000 Reminder to Broadcasters on the Importance of Kidvid Compliance
I wrote a while back about the Downside of Downsizing, in which I noted an increasing number of calls from broadcasters who had trimmed their staffs to the bare minimum, only to belatedly discover that the remaining employees lacked either the experience or the time to ensure the station’s compliance…
CARD Act Will Exempt Prepaid Phone Cards (Not Mobile Broadband/Internet Access)
5/18/2010 Prepaid “cards, codes and other devices” redeemable solely for telephone services are exempt from a new federal law that goes into effect August 22, 2010. However, if they can also be redeemed for related technology services, these products will (at least in most instances) be subject to provisions restricting…