Washington Beat

The policy director and counsel for communications and technology for the Senate Commerce Committee has been promoted to Deputy Staff Director for the full committee.

The NAB is releasing a "robust" Broadcast Cybersecurity Certificate Program for engineering and information technology professionals. The online program is specifically tailored to the needs of the broadcast industry.

The newest member of the team of legal associates at D.C. communications law firm Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth is an alumnus of the FCC's Media Bureau and the office of former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

Steve Lemay lost his life while conducting work on the broadcast tower housing the transmitter for Ozarks Public Television‘s KOZK-21 in Springfield, Mo. The tower crashed to the ground in the horrific April 2018 incident. Now, OSHA has determined that the collapse of the tower was caused by contractors' errors.

Call it "The Continuing Saga Of MB Docket No. 13-249." On October 5, the Commission adopted and released a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Revitalization of the AM Radio Service proceeding. Comment and Reply Comment Dates have now been released.

What do "junk faxes" have to do with the level of acquiescence to federal agencies -- including the FCC -- in interpreting the statutes they administer? As Boston College Law School associate professor and AEI visiting scholar Daniel Lyons writes, it has everything to do with FCC deference.

The FCC on Thursday adopted a Report and Order that will allow cable operators to deliver notices to their customers via email, reducing costs and paper waste for both cable operators and consumers. The American Cable Association is thrilled, and was quick to offer its kudos to the Commission.

On July 23, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5709, the Preventing Illegal Use of Radio Through Enforcement Act. Nearly five months later, the upper body of Congress has yet to act. That has led every state broadcasters association in the nation, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, to plead to the Senate's leaders to pass companion legislation.

Kansas Republican Jerry Moran and New Mexico Democrat Tom Udall on Tuesday sent a two-page letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai expressing concerns regarding the Commission's NPRM examining expanded operations in the C-band, a chunk of spectrum used by content producers every day to delver programming to radio and TV stations. Here's what they had to say, along with a response from three broadcast media advocacy groups and from NPR.

Curious to learn the progress The Broadcast Diversity and Development Working Group has made in its ongoing initiatives to examine diversity and inclusion in broadcast employment, management and supplier procurement? A Nov. 19 at FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C., is set to provide the answers.

Pursuant to section 0.191 of the Commission’s rules, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau seeks comment on filings made by Sirius XM Radio Inc. on four recent dates as supplements to a Petition for Reconsideration filed by XM Radio Inc. on December 27, 2005. What's this about?

That’s the suggestion of featured Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner, who believes the time has come for a Political Action Committee representing broadcast media. Why? It appears obvious to him that the nation's television industry executives are struggling with how to handle "their massive, unprecedented income from the midterm Congressional elections."

An upcoming webinar from MFM, the Media Financial Management Association, will discuss legal considerations for media organizations planning to take advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing sports gambling.

Pursuant to the Expanded Online Public File Order, all broadcast radio licensees were required to transition their public inspection files to the FCC’s online public file database by March 1. That was eight months ago. Did your stations forget about this? If so, the Commission is reminding you of your obligations.

The FCC on Tuesday released a Public Notice announcing a settlement window for mutually exclusive applicants in the Special Displacement Window where LPTV stations and TV translators are displaced by the incentive auction. If you are impacted by this, noted D.C. communications attorney David Oxenford has broken down what you'll need to do.