Washington Beat

An LPFM serving a popular Spring Break destination never saw the light of day. Even so, the licensee asked the FCC for a little leniency and more time to get its act together. It appears the Daytona Beach Broadcasting Association blew it.

It can't hurt to ask, right? An individual recently sought the reconsideration of the FCC's deletion of a license for a low-power TV station in San Antonio. The Commission has spoken on the matter, and it was rather blunt in its response. Why? This matter began nearly three decades ago, prompting an RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION as to why this has dragged on since our editor-in-chief was in high school and Milli Vanilli had the No. 1 hit in the U.S.

A partner in Wiley Rein LLP’s Telecom, Media & Technology Practice who serves as co-chair of the firm’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Practice was named Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) by the FCC.

For several hours on July 25, the four voting members of the FCC answered questions and, in a handful of instances, sparred with House of Representatives members who wanted assurances that the White House would not sway the Commission on its decision to send Sinclair Broadcast Group's intended merger with Tribune Media to an Administrative Law Judge. Should we be preparing for a reprise by Senators in two weeks?

For the last nine years, an antitrust and technology and telecommunications law expert has enjoyed million-dollar views from her Malibu perch as the associate dean for faculty research and development as a Pepperdine University law professor. Now, she'll have an office within walking distance of L'Enfant Plaza. But, this person is no stranger to regulatory D.C.

The FCC today selected a new Chief Economist, and in doing so chose a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute — the think-tank that directed the FCC's transition following the 2016 presidential election. Another prominent figure at the AEI is Roslyn Layton, who writes in this column about the importance of the Commission's mid-band spectrum strategy.

The FCC will hold its August Open Meeting next Thursday, and the Commission late Thursday offered a peek at what the Commissioners will debate and discuss at the monthly session. Of the seven items on the agenda, two involve the Media Bureau — and possibly your radio and/or TV station. Discussion of an incubator program to encourage diverse media ownership has already seen the NAB and MMTC lobby the Commission for its extension to TV.

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.