Television

FCC Proposes Expanding Audio Description Requirements to All DMAs April 6, 2023

At its March 2023 Open Meeting, the FCC adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “Notice”) proposing to expand to all DMAs the audio description requirements currently applicable to...

Read more
Study of Television Ownership Diversity Released February 10, 2023

The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics has released a Working Paper (the “Paper”) examining the ownership diversity of commercial full-power television stations.  The Paper reviewed ownership data collected by...

Read more
January 6, 2023, Effective Date Announced for FCC Transition to Nielsen Local TV Station Information Report for DMA Carriage Determinations December 15, 2022

The Commission has announced a January 6, 2023, effective date for the rules adopted in a recent Report and Order (the “Order”) updating FCC references to a new Nielsen publication—the...

Read more
FCC Works Toward Streamlining TV Technical Rules November 21, 2022

Over the last several months the FCC has been taking steps in an “ongoing effort to ensure that its rules are current,” particularly as applied to TV broadcasters.  First, in...

Read more
TV Copyright Royalty Claims Due August 1, 2022 July 20, 2022

We write today with a reminder for Association Members that it’s that time of year for television stations to file claims for copyright royalties for “distant” carriage of their locally...

Read more
January 31, 2022: Annual Children’s Television Programming Reports and Commercial Time Limits Certifications Due January 25, 2022

We write to remind commercial full-power and Class A television broadcasters that the deadline for filing their annual Children’s Television Programming Reports and Commercial Time Limits Certifications will be here...

Read more
December 1, 2021: DTV Ancillary/Supplementary Services Reports Due November 24, 2021

Next Wednesday, December 1, 2021, marks another important deadline for those digital full power, Class A, low power, and TV translator licensees (as well as permittees operating pursuant to an...

Read more
Broadcast Networks Score Significant Victory in Litigation Against Locast; Streaming Service Suspends Operations September 2, 2021

The broadcast industry—the Big Four Television Networks, specifically—scored a significant victory over Locast earlier this week in the Networks’ copyright infringement lawsuit against the streaming service.  In response to the...

Read more
Failure to Timely Upload Issues/Programs Lists Costing Some TV Licensees $9,000 and Up (Plus a Few Non-Monetary Admonishments) August 18, 2021

A collection of recent FCC Media Bureau releases have run the gamut from simply admonishing several stations (admonishments: 1, 2, 3) to proposing fines ranging from $9,000, to $15,000, to...

Read more
TV Station Copyright Royalty Claims Due August 2, 2021 July 26, 2021

We write today with a reminder for Association Members that it’s again that time of year for television stations to file distant signal copyright royalty claims.  Claims for 2020 must...

Read more