Bulletin Categories: Enforcement Actions

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Violation of Per Se Good Faith Retransmission Consent Negotiating Standards May Cost TV Licensees More Than $500k Per Station September 28, 2020

In a different development of potentially great significance relating to retransmission consent, the Commission earlier this month issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture...

Media Bureau Sending Proposed Consent Decrees to Many Radio Stations Just Days After Entering Into Consent Decrees with Six Large Radio Station Groups to Resolve Numerous Political File Violations July 30, 2020

We have learned that many radio broadcasters across the country whose recent license renewal applications have yet to be granted (or denied) have begun receiving correspondence from the Media Bureau,...

Radio Broadcasters Agree to Pay $8,000 Fine to Resolve FCC Investigation into Unauthorized Assignment of Station Licenses July 21, 2020

In another noteworthy Order and Consent Decree (the “Decree”), the Media Bureau resolved an investigation into two radio broadcasters (the “Broadcasters”) who allegedly assigned the broadcast licenses for two radio...

$1,500 Fine Proposed for Low Power FM Broadcaster’s Late Filing of License Renewal Application July 21, 2020

Continuing the theme of “lessons to be learned” from license renewal enforcement actions, in another Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (the “NAL”), the FCC...

Radio Station Fined $7,000 for Failing to Timely File License Renewal Application and Operating Station After Its Authorization Expired July 21, 2020

As we pass the mid-point of the second year of the current radio license renewal cycle (which began in mid-2019 and continues until mid-2022), it is perhaps unsurprising that the...

Enforcement Bureau Issues Two Notices of Apparent Liability for Apparent Violations of FCC’s Station-Conducted Contest Rules July 21, 2020

In a pair of recent Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (the “First Notice” and “Second Notice”), the FCC has proposed fines of $5,200 and $6,000, respectively, for two radio...

Apparent Violations of FCC’s Underwriting Rules Draw $15,000 Proposed Fine July 21, 2020

A low power FM (“LPFM”) licensee’s alleged airing of commercial material may end up costing the station $15,000, according to a recent Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (the “NAL”)...

Broadcaster to Pay $100,000 to Commission for Violating Retrans Consent “Good Faith” Provisions May 7, 2020

A broadcaster has admitted that it did not negotiate retransmission consent in “good faith,” agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty, and agreed to implement a three-year compliance plan to...

FCC Issues $48 Million Civil Penalty Against Sinclair, Settles Investigations May 7, 2020

The FCC announced yesterday the entry of a Consent Decree with Sinclair Broadcasting Group requiring payment of a $48 million civil penalty and adherence to a compliance plan to resolve...

$20,000 Fine Proposed for Station’s Unauthorized One-Second Use of EAS Tone April 13, 2020

A Notice of Apparent Liability (the “Notice”) released last week serves as a reminder of the FCC’s emphasis on the proper use of Emergency Alert System (“EAS”) tones, even amidst...