Washington Beat

Featured Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner has been "very fortunate" to have met "many awesome people" in the broadcast industry during his 50 years of inspection services for AM and FM stations. Today, Benner pays tribute to seven individuals who he calls "America's Finest Broadcast People."

After decades of handling formal complaints using no less than three different sets of rules, the FCC has finally adopted uniform procedures that generally apply to all formal complaints filed with the Commission, notes Fletcher Heald & Hildreth FCC and communications attorney Tony Lee. In this column, Lee clears the air about how consumers may still file informal complaints through the FCC's online portal without paying a dime. 

On July 13, the FCC released the KidVid Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to update the children’s television programming rules, with deadlines for filing comments and reply comments at 60 and 90 days, respectively, after publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register. A summary of the NPRM was published on Thursday.

On July 3, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai shared with his colleagues a proposal to shift agency staff responsible for enforcing the FCC’s EEO rules from the Media Bureau to the Enforcement Bureau. It came 50 years to day the Commission first concluded that equal opportunity in employment was essential to the public interest. Less than one month later, the move has been approved.

A long-awaited FCC Oversight Hearing started with Democrats assailing President Trump for a late-night Tweet on Tuesday that slammed the FCC for having an Administrative Law Judge consider Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed merger with Tribune Media. Chairman Pai and the Commissioners were asked what they thought of the Tweet.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has delivered a major blow to nonprofit organizations including Free Press, Common Cause, and Prometheus Radio Project by dismissing their May 2017 petition seeking a reversal of the FCC's restoration of its so-called "UHF Discount."

Legislation that will greatly strengthen the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s ability to find unlicensed radio broadcasters and silence them for good is one step closer to becoming law. The House of Representatives on Monday afternoon by unanimous consent passed H.R. 5709.

Washington's favorite acerbic octogenarian from Arizona is back with another fun column that asks the questions few are willing to voice in public. In this Media Information Bureau column, Ken Benner gifts RBR+TVBR Members with this fact: "Have you recently pulled up the FCC website? If not, please do it now. The first most prominent item that pops up includes how to file a complaint."

Earlier this month, the FCC released an Order on adjustments to the application fees that the Commission collects from applicants. Fletcher Heald & Hildreth attorneys offer their explanation on what this means for broadcast media companies such as yours.

Under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, there has been a change in how the Commission offers a peek at what will be up for discussion at its Open Meetings — and possibly be approved, thus becoming a rule of law. Pai's "glasnost" is voluntary. An Illinois House member wants to make it the law, and one Commissioner approves.

In mid-April, the FCC handed a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture for violations tied to the license renewal of a Class D AM south of San Antonio. This station is one of eight that comprise a network of classic Country stations. What's the verdict? A financial penalty has been affirmed, but at a slightly lower price.

A 22-page Hearing Designation Order released Thursday by the FCC details how, among the applications filed with the Commission, three stick out like sore thumbs. These deals raise "significant questions as to whether those proposed divestitures were in fact 'sham' transactions," the FCC writes.

Last week, the FCC proposed changes to its rules governing children’s programming. "While the proposal is not as sexy as internet regulation, it is an important and overdue step toward updating the law to reflect the realities of the modern video marketplace," says Daniel Lyons, a visiting fellow at a D.C. think tank with lots of FCC sway.

A Class A noncommercial facility with an unusual Construction Permit is in the process of being sold. Before doing so, it needed to renew the facility's license. This uncovered some serious violations of the FCC's rules. The result: A pair of hefty Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture decision handed to the licensee from the FCC's Media Bureau.

The Next Gen TV local simulcasting rules have received the approval of the Office of Management and Budget. This means that permissive voluntary use of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard is a go — another milestone for TV operators seeking an addressable advertising solution and superior audio and visual quality.