FCC Enforcement Monitor April 2024
Comm Law Center
by Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler
1d ago
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: FCC Proposes $8,000 Fine for Contest Rule Violations Business Communications Company Settles Business Radio Investigation by Agreeing to Compliance Plan and $100,000 Penalty FCC Issues $16,500 Fine to Alabama FM Translator for Multiple Rule Violations California FM Station Receives $8,000 Proposed Fine for Contest Rule ..read more
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Heard About the FTC’s Ban on Non-Competes? The Truth Is Worse
Comm Law Center
by Scott R. Flick
6d ago
By Scott R. Flick On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule banning employee non-compete agreements, treating them as harmful and an “unfair method of competition.”  This includes non-competes in the broadcast industry, where they serve a vital purpose that was given short shrift by the FTC.  Stations spend large sums of money and airtime promoting their on-air talent, building that employee’s brand with local viewers and listeners and conferring on them by association the public goodwill the station has built up in its community over many decades.  It become ..read more
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FCC Enforcement Monitor March 2024
Comm Law Center
by Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler
1M ago
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
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Annual EEO Public File Report Deadline for Stations in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas
Comm Law Center
by Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler
1M ago
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
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FCC Enforcement Monitor February 2024
Comm Law Center
by Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler
2M ago
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
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Broadcasters Once Again Face Reporting Employee Race, Ethnicity and Gender to the FCC
Comm Law Center
by Lauren Lynch Flick
2M ago
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
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Annual EEO Public File Report Deadline for Stations in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma
Comm Law Center
by Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler
3M ago
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
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FCC Enforcement Monitor January 2024
Comm Law Center
by Scott R. Flick, Elizabeth Craig and Adam J. Sandler
3M ago
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
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Meeting Your Annual Children’s Television Programming Reporting Obligations
Comm Law Center
by Lauren Lynch Flick and Scott R. Flick
3M ago
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
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And They’re Off: FCC Jumps Out of the Gate with Back-to-Back Enforcement Actions and NPRMs
Comm Law Center
by Jessica T. Nyman, Adam J. Sandler and Elizabeth Craig
3M ago
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
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