By Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler 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: Maine LPTV Licensee Agrees to Pay $2,500 for Closed-Captioning Violation Georgia Broadcaster Loses FM Translator License, Faces Five-Figure Fine for Various Alleged Rule Violations FCC Proposes $9,500 Fine for Missouri LPTV Licensee for Failing to File License Application and Renew Special Temporary Authority Low Power ..read more

By Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler 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 (“N ..read more

By Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published 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: New Hampshire Presidential Primary Deepfake Robocalls Lead to Enforcement Action Against Call Originator TV Broadcaster Faces $720,000 Fine for Failure to Negotiate Retransmission Consent in Good Faith Statutory Maximum Penalty of $2,391,097 for Pirate Radio Operator Telecommunications Company Accused of Originating ..read more

By Lauren Lynch Flick Yesterday, the FCC released its Fourth Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in its Review of the Commission’s Broadcast and Cable Equal Employment Opportunity Rules and Policies docket, which was first opened in 1998. The Report and Order portion of the document reinstates the requirement that broadcasters file FCC Form 395-B, the Annual Employment Report.  The FCC will then make the reports publicly available on a station by station basis on its website. Since the FCC suspended use of the form in 2001 following ..read more

By Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler 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 mo ..read more

By Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published 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: TV Broadcaster Faces $150,000 Fine for Failure to Negotiate Retransmission Consent in Good Faith Sponsorship ID and Political File Violations Lead to $500,000 Consent Decree for Radio Broadcaster $26,000 Fine for Georgia Radio Station EEO Rule Violations  FCC Finds That TV Broadcaster Failed to Negotiate Retrans ..read more

By Lauren Lynch Flick and Scott R. Flick The deadline to file the 2023 Annual Children’s Television Programming Report with the FCC is January 30, 2024, reflecting programming aired during the 2023 calendar year.  In addition, commercial stations’ documentation of their compliance with the commercial limits in children’s programming during the 2023 calendar year must be placed in their Public Inspection File by January 30, 2024. Overview The Children’s Television Act of 1990 requires full power and Class A television stations to: (1) limit the amount of commercial matter aired during prog ..read more

By Jessica T. Nyman, Adam J. Sandler and Elizabeth Craig If there was any doubt that the late-2023 confirmation of Anna Gomez as the fifth commissioner would bring a flurry of FCC activity in 2024, the FCC has laid those questions to rest.  In addition to a $150,000 good faith NAL, $500,000 sponsorship ID consent decree, $26,000 EEO report NAL, and some public file NALs, the FCC this week released two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking of potential interest to broadcast licensees. Priority Application Review NPRM Up first: a proposal to “prioritize processing review” of certain broadcast TV a ..read more

By Scott R. Flick Given that the name of this site is CommLawCenter, our focus is generally on communications law and regulation.  More accurately, however, our focus is on legal developments that affect the media and telecom industries, even when they emanate from entities other than Congress or the FCC.  This is particularly true where a change in non-communications laws could have an outsize impact on the communications industry.  For that reason, we have in the past written about changes involving a variety of employment matters, including who is entitled to overtime pay and ..read more

By Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published 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: Mobile Service Provider Enters $23.5 Million Consent Decree to Resolve Lifeline and Emergency Broadband Benefit Program Investigation Texas TV Station Receives $13,000 Penalty for Unauthorized Operation and Late License Application Radio Station License Revoked Over Eight Years of Unpaid Regulatory Fees Investigation ..read more