Washington Beat

The Enforcement Bureau on Friday issued the final Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audit letters for 2025, sent to randomly selected multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). Some 27 local franchises must comply with the request.

He served as a Republican-aligned FCC Commissioner until First Amendment concerns over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act cost him his job, with President Trump effectively replacing him with Nate Simington. Now, Mike O'Rielly has resurfaced at The Media Institute as its incoming head.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday confirmed the launch of a new Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy that will convene throughout 2026. The commission is tasked with developing policy expertise in partnership with the innovation community, relevant stakeholders and committees of jurisdiction.

A media lawyer based at a top Washington, D.C. communications-focused law firm and the woman who serves as Chief Communications Officer of Beasley Media Group have been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Media Institute.

He was a Democrat who served as a Commissioner on the FCC until departing earlier this year. Now, he has resurfaced at a entity that has little to do with grain elevators and anything depicted in the classic film Footloose.  That's because Grain Management is a private investment firm.

There's something more than pupusas, Mojarra Frita and baleadas attracting Latinos who travel U.S. 60 near Busch Gardens and the sprawling Yorktown Naval Weapons Station to the north of Newport News, Va. You can't find it on the menu, but one could certainly find it on an FM radio earlier this year.

It had operated as a Class B AM radio station. As of Monday morning, it was reduced to an online-only offering featuring Christmas music. That's because this facility no longer has a broadcast signal. The FCC affirmed the cancellation of its license, for being dark for too long without permission and then seeking its renewal.

It was originally anticipated in early October, but the shutdown of the federal government resulted in a pause of all non-essential efforts at the FCC, which furloughed more than 1,000 individuals over the funding squabble on Capitol Hill.  Now, the Commission has released its quarterly station totals. The big takeaway: commercial AM and FM stations declined in number once again.

The Vice President of Public Policy at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) has provided a formal Letter for the Record to a key House Subcommittee that outlines the impacts of a potential permanent Daylight Saving Time on stations reliant on service in the kHz band.

Shared cultural moments, freely available to every household for generations, are increasingly being pulled behind paid streaming platforms. What does this mean for over-the-air stations that have always made this content universally accessible? NAB Chief of Staff Michelle Lehman shares her thoughts on the subject.

As of this morning, the LMS is operational. And, the FCC — with help from the Federal Register's editorial team — is moving quickly with establishing the comment window on the long-delayed 2022 Quadrennial Review of the Commission's media ownership rules.

The tech policy think tank with a mission to "chart a path forward for policymakers towards a bright future where technology enhances freedom, and freedom enhances technology" has asked the nation's highest judicial body to keep the White House's hands off of agencies such as the FCC.

The reopening of the federal government means the FCC can finally pick up where it was forced to pause on September 30, and that could potentially create a flood of new applications as the Commission works to reduce any backlog of regulatory review.  As such, guidance on filings was offered by the Commission.

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition from a company behind a low-power TV station licensed to West Haven, Conn., that sought intervention from the highest legal body in the nation in overturning a FCC decision denying a low-power TV station's upgrade.

DirecTV Advertising has launched an AI-Powered digital platform the DBS service provider's unit says is designed to help political advertisers reach connected TV audiences. It is designed to deliver AI-driven insights into voter sentiment and campaign issues, allowing political advertisers to turn insights into actionable Connected TV media strategies.