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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:

  • Puerto Rico Broadcaster Agrees to $4,500 Consent Decree for Unauthorized LPTV Operation
  • Eleventh Circuit Rejects FCC’s Rationale for Broadcast Ownership Fine
  • FCC Proposes $325,322 Fine for Miami Radio Pirate

Unauthorized Operation Leads to $4,500 Consent Decree for Puerto Rico LPTV Station

The licensee of a Puerto Rico LPTV station and the FCC’s Media Bureau entered into a Consent Decree to resolve an investigation into whether the licensee engaged in unauthorized operation.

The LPTV station was displaced by the FCC’s broadcast Incentive Auction and subsequent spectrum repack.  The licensee filed a displacement application to move to Channel 14, and a construction permit was granted in July 2018 with a July 2021 expiration date.  Because land mobile operations can be affected by TV transmissions on Channel 14, the construction permit contained a condition that the station “identify and substantially eliminate objectionable interference” and required the station to submit documentation showing “that objectionable interference will not be caused….”  Section 73.617(b)(2)(ii) of the FCC’s Rules requires TV permittees for new operations on Channel 14 to take steps prior to construction to identify potential interference.

When construction of the station was completed, the licensee filed an application to license the facility which contained a statement that the station complied with the special condition in the construction permit, but did not provide any technical proof to support that statement.  The station then began operations prior to receiving FCC approval to do so.  Media Bureau staff requested an amendment to supplement the “no objectionable interference” exhibit at the time the application was filed, and again in October 2024 when no amendment was received in response to the first request.  Responding to the second request, the licensee submitted an exhibit demonstrating there would be no objectionable interference, and then filed for Special Temporary Authority (STA) to continue operating while the license application was pending.

Section 73.1745(a) of the FCC’s Rules and Section 301 of the Communications Act require that a station have an FCC license in order to operate.  The FCC found that in the absence of either an STA or a license, the station had been operating without authorization for over three years. Continue reading →

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Broadcasters’ next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by April 10, 2025, reflecting information for the months of January, February, and March 2025.

Content of the Quarterly List

The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive to significant community needs, issues, and problems as determined by the station.  The FCC gives each station the discretion to determine which issues facing the community served by the station are the most significant and how best to respond to them in the station’s overall programming.

To demonstrate a station’s compliance with this public interest obligation, the FCC requires the station to maintain and place in the Public Inspection File a Quarterly List reflecting the “station’s most significant programming treatment of community issues during the preceding three month period.”  By its use of the term “most significant,” the FCC has noted that stations are not required to list all responsive programming, but only that programming which provided the most significant treatment of the issues identified.

Given that program logs are no longer mandated by the FCC, the Quarterly Lists may be the most important evidence of a station’s compliance with its public service obligations.  The lists also provide important support for the certification of Class A television station compliance discussed below.  We therefore urge stations not to “skimp” on the Quarterly Lists, and to err on the side of over-inclusiveness.  Otherwise, stations risk a determination by the FCC that they did not adequately serve the public interest during their license term.  Stations should include in the Quarterly Lists as much issue-responsive programming as they feel is necessary to demonstrate fully their responsiveness to community needs.  Taking extra time now to provide a thorough Quarterly List will help reduce risk at license renewal time.

The FCC has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Quarterly Lists and often brings enforcement actions against stations that do not have complete Quarterly Lists in their Public Inspection File or which have failed to timely upload such lists when due.  The FCC’s base fine for missing or late Quarterly Lists is $10,000.

Preparation of the Quarterly List

The Quarterly Lists are required to be placed in the Public Inspection File by January 10, April 10, July 10, and October 10 of each year.  The next Quarterly List is required to be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by April 10, 2025, covering the period from January 1, 2025 through March 31, 2025. Continue reading →

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April 1 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas 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, April 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 includes:

  • Washington State Television Licensee Agrees to $29,000 Consent Decree for Public File Violations
  • Numerous FCC Rule Infractions Lead to Notice of Violation for Virginia AM Station
  • Multinational Media Company Agrees to Consent Decree and $244,952 Penalty to Resolve EAS Violations

Public File Violations by Washington State Television Licensee Yield $29,000 Consent Decree

In the course of processing license renewal applications for three Washington state television stations, the FCC’s Media Bureau noted that the applicant certified that all required documentation had been uploaded to the stations’ Public Inspection Files when required.  According to the Media Bureau, however, the licensee failed to timely upload 40 Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists.

Section 73.3526(e)(11)(i) of the FCC’s Rules requires that every full power commercial television station place in its Public Inspection File “a list of programs that have provided the station’s most significant treatment of community issues during the preceding three month period.”  The list must include a brief narrative of the issues addressed, as well as the date, time, duration, and title of each program aired that addressed those issues.  The list must be placed in the Public Inspection File within 10 days of the end of each calendar quarter.

The Media Bureau noted that the Washington stations had failed to upload some quarterly lists at all, and many others had been uploaded late.  With regard to the licensee’s Spokane station, the FCC stated that three of the lists created during the license term were uploaded more than one year late. Its Richland station uploaded seven lists more than one year late, six lists between one month and one year late, and three lists under one month late. Lastly, its Yakima station uploaded nine lists over one year late, seven lists between one month and one year late, and five lists under one month late.

Compliance with the FCC’s rules requires that all reports be timely uploaded and that any failure to do so be disclosed in making the relevant certification in a station’s license renewal application.  At the request of the FCC, the licensee uploaded the lists that were entirely missing from the stations’ Public Inspection Files and amended the stations’ license renewal applications to change its certifications that “the documentation, required by 47 C.F.R. Section 73.3526 … has been uploaded to the station’s public inspection file when required” from a “Yes” response to a “No.”  The licensee also included attachments in the amendments disclosing the lists that were filed late. Continue reading →

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February 1 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma 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, February 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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Broadcasters’ next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by January 10, 2025, reflecting information for the months of October, November, and December 2024.

Content of the Quarterly List

The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive to significant community needs, issues, and problems as determined by the station.  The FCC gives each station the discretion to determine which issues facing the community served by the station are the most significant and how best to respond to them in the station’s overall programming.

To demonstrate a station’s compliance with this public interest obligation, the FCC requires the station to maintain and place in the Public Inspection File a Quarterly List reflecting the “station’s most significant programming treatment of community issues during the preceding three month period.”  By its use of the term “most significant,” the FCC has noted that stations are not required to list all responsive programming, but only that programming which provided the most significant treatment of the issues identified.

Given that program logs are no longer mandated by the FCC, the Quarterly Lists may be the most important evidence of a station’s compliance with its public service obligations.  The lists also provide important support for the certification of Class A television station compliance discussed below.  We therefore urge stations not to “skimp” on the Quarterly Lists, and to err on the side of over-inclusiveness.  Otherwise, stations risk a determination by the FCC that they did not adequately serve the public interest during their license term.  Stations should include in the Quarterly Lists as much issue-responsive programming as they feel is necessary to demonstrate fully their responsiveness to community needs.  Taking extra time now to provide a thorough Quarterly List will help reduce risk at license renewal time.

The FCC has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Quarterly Lists and often brings enforcement actions against stations that do not have complete Quarterly Lists in their Public Inspection File or which have failed to timely upload such lists when due.  The FCC’s base fine for missing or late Quarterly Lists is $10,000.

Preparation of the Quarterly List

The Quarterly Lists are required to be placed in the Public Inspection File by January 10, April 10, July 10, and October 10 of each year.  The next Quarterly List is required to be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by January 10, 2025, covering the period from October 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. 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 includes:

  • Unauthorized Oregon Radio Station Transfers Yield $16,000 Penalty
  • Consent Decree Over Upgrade of EAS Equipment Includes $1.1 Million Payment
  • Chinese Video Doorbell Manufacturer Draws Proposed Fine of $734,872 for Equipment Authorization Rule Violations

All in the Family: Unauthorized Oregon Station Transfers Between Mother, Daughter, and Sisters Result in Consent Decree and $16,000 Civil Penalty

The licensee of an Oregon AM station and its companion FM translator entered into a Consent Decree with the FCC’s Media Bureau to resolve the Bureau’s investigation into unauthorized transfers of control of the stations.  The Consent Decree follows a September 2024 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) and requires the licensee to pay a $16,000 civil penalty.

Under Section 310(d) of the Communications Act and Section 73.3540 of the FCC’s Rules, voluntary transfers of control of a broadcast license require prior approval by the FCC.  To determine whether control of a broadcast license has changed, the FCC considers “actual or legal control, direct or indirect control, negative or affirmative control, and de facto as well as de jure control.”  An analysis of de facto control, which is analyzed by the FCC under a totality of the circumstances test, looks at, among other things, the exercise of control over a station’s programming, personnel, and finances.  Surrendering control over programming, personnel, or finances transfers de facto control of a station.  The de facto control analysis also considers whether the other person or entity in question has held itself out to the public, the station staff, or both as being in control of the station.

In 2014, the sole member of the licensee LLC entered into a purchase agreement to sell the station to her daughter.  The agreement stipulated that the daughter would pay the purchase price through “sweat equity,” defined by the parties as providing accounting and administrative services.  Between September 2016 and February 2021, the daughter delivered enough “sweat equity” services to satisfy the purchase price, after which the licensee LLC filed Articles of Organization with Oregon listing the daughter as the sole member/manager of the licensee LLC.

In October 2021, the mother and daughter amended the purchase agreement to acknowledge that the daughter had fully performed under the agreement, but that “the purpose of the Purchase Agreement has been frustrated by the mutual mistake of the Parties, who acknowledge that the sale and transfer of the FCC licensee and the Station[s’] FCC license[s] should have been subject to the prior approval by the FCC in accordance with 47 U.S.C. § 310 and regulations promulgated thereunder.”  The amendment stated that transfer applications would be filed within ten business days of execution of the purchase agreement amendment, but the applications were not filed until February 2022. Continue reading →

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Beginning January 1, 2025, 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): Johnson City-Bristol-Kingsport, Reno, Greenville-New Bern-Washington, Davenport-Rock Island-Moline, Tallahassee-Thomasville, Lincoln & Hastings-Kearney, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Johnstown-Altoona-State College, and Augusta-Aiken.  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 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, 2025, will apply to DMAs 101 to 110, with markets 111 to 210 phased in through 2035 according to the below schedule. Continue reading →

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At its final Open Meeting of 2024, the FCC on December 11 adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) seeking comment on the elimination or updating of several rules applicable to broadcast stations, as well as other changes intended to clarify ambiguities and to make the rules consistent with current procedures.

The NPRM covers minor rule updates, including:

  • Replacing references to the Consolidated Database System (CDBS), with references to the Licensing Management System (LMS);
  • Updating Form Names;
  • Updating inconsistent terminology referring to the Table of Assignments/Allotments;
  • Removing obsolete television Incentive Auction rule language; and
  • Consolidating rules for petitions to deny under Section 73.3584.

The FCC is also proposing to codify existing Commission interpretations and practices into the rules.  For example, the NPRM proposes to:

  • Codify the current practice of interpreting Section 73.870(e) to mean that LPFM minor modification applications received on the same day will be treated as simultaneously filed;
  • Update Section 73.807 to reflect the existing interpretation of the term “authorized” station as including construction permittees in addition to licensees;
  • Codify when applicants for new NCE FM, NCE TV, or LPFM construction permits must give local public notice of their applications; and
  • Codify the existing interpretation of the “Signature Rule” (Section 73.3513) allowing “directors” of corporations to sign FCC applications, and to expand the universe of who may sign an FCC application on behalf of a corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association to include a “duly authorized employee.”

With respect to more substantive revisions, the NPRM is proposing to: 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 includes:

  • Late License Application Leads to $8,500 Consent Decree for Digital Replacement Translator Licensee
  • Hawaii TV Station’s Late Uploads Lead to Proposed $20,000 Fine
  • Key West LPTV Station Faces $6,500 Fine for Failure to File a License Application and Unauthorized Operation

Indiana Broadcaster Agrees to $8,500 Consent Decree for Unauthorized Operation and Untimely License Applications

The FCC’s Media Bureau and the licensee of a Digital Replacement Translator (DRT) for a television station entered into a Consent Decree to resolve an investigation into whether the licensee failed to file a timely license application for the DRT and subsequently engaged in unauthorized operation of it.

Section 73.3598 of the FCC’s Rules specifies that construction permits are valid for three years and requires that a license application must be filed upon completion of construction.  Section 73.1745 of the Rules requires a station to hold an FCC license to operate.

In this case, the Media Bureau granted a DRT construction permit in November 2019, with an expiration date in November 2022.  However, upon completion of construction, the licensee failed to file a license to cover application.  The licensee began operating the DRT in March 2020, but explained that it overlooked filing the application due to an “administrative oversight” that coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The licensee did not file a license to cover application until June 2024, more than four years after it began operating the facility and a year and a half after the construction permit expired.

The licensee filed a petition for reconsideration asking that its construction permit be reinstated and requesting permission to file a late license application.  The licensee explained that the facility was operating and providing viewers in the area improved reception of local news programming.  It asserted that terminating operation of the DRT would therefore not serve the public interest.

Acknowledging that the licensee had a history of compliance with the FCC’s rules, the Bureau agreed to enter into a Consent Decree with the licensee under which the licensee admitted that its actions were willful and repeated violations of the FCC’s rules, it agreed to pay a civil penalty of $8,500, and it committed to implement a multi-part compliance plan, including appointing a compliance officer, creating a compliance manual, training its employees, and submitting annual compliance reports to the Commission until the grant of its next license renewal application. Continue reading →