Articles Posted in Political Advertising

Published on:

January 2008
The following deadlines are based on information known by us as of the date hereof, may or may not apply to a particular broadcaster, are for general informational purposes only, and should be double-checked for currency close to each pertinent date/deadline. The reason is that actions by the FCC, Congress, or the courts could affect any of these deadlines by, for example, eliminating a particular reporting/filing obligation altogether or modifying the form used, content, deadline, fee, or manner of reporting/filing, such as requiring the posting of a report on the Internet or filing a report with the FCC electronically. It should also be noted that any FCC filing date which falls on a weekend or federal holiday, as a general rule, causes the filing deadline to be shifted to the immediately following business day. Accordingly, broadcasters should seek the advice of communications counsel in each instance to assure timely and proper filing. With respect to the tax-related deadlines identified herein, broadcasters should consult with their tax advisors. This edition of our annual “Broadcasters’ Calendar” supercedes all prior editions and accordingly any prior editions should no longer be used.

This material is not intended to constitute a complete analysis of all tax considerations. Internal Revenue Service regulations generally provide that, for the purpose of avoiding United States federal tax penalties, a taxpayer may rely only on formal written opinions meeting specific regulatory requirements. This material does not meet those requirements. Accordingly, this material was not intended or written to be used, and a taxpayer cannot use it, for the purpose of avoiding United States federal or other tax penalties or of promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters.

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Published on:

November 2006
This Advisory provides a review of political broadcasting rules of the FCC.

In this Advisory, of particular note are new regulations imposed on political broadcasting by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (“BCRA”) of 2002, popularly known as “McCain-Feingold.” BCRA contains several provisions that affect the way stations handle their political advertising. On December 10, 2003, the Supreme Court reviewed BCRA, and left intact all of the provisions of the law that apply to broadcasters.

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