Washington Beat

Did you know that cable operators are required to maintain at their local office a current listing of the cable television channels that each cable system delivers to its subscribers? The FCC wants to "modernize" this rule, but seeks your comments before it can do so. Now is your chance to speak up.

Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly has made it clear that the Commission's rules pertaining to children's programming on broadcast TV stations are in need of serious changes -- or an outright deletion. Until now the Parents Television Council has been silent on O'Rielly's push for "KidVid" modernization. The PTC just spoke up, and it is concerned.

"Many agree that Facebook needs to make some changes," Bloomberg View columnist Michael Strain wrote in an April 20 column. Four days later, the digital and social media giant started to make some changes, at least on Capitol Hill. It put a former FCC head in a lead D.C. role. Will this make "fixing Facebook" any easier? What does that mean for radio and TV?

This week, the House of Representatives passed the Music Modernization Act. While widely supported among many digital media companies providing on-demand subscription music services as well as by many in the music industry, noted communications law attorney David Oxenford of Wilkinson Barker Knauer notes that the bill seemingly has not received the publicity that has been afforded to past music royalty legislation. "That may be, in part, because there were few who adamantly opposed the provisions of the bill, as evidenced by a unanimous House vote — something that never would have happened had any significant portion of the music industry opposed the bill," he says. But, he warns, this moment of togetherness may be, in part, due to the somewhat limited (though nevertheless very important) issues that it addresses.

On May 24, 2012, a Form 345 filing was made with the FCC signaling the desire of Patrick Sullivan to sell a 185-watt FM translator in a large Alabama city to Lake Broadcasting for $1,000. While this deal appeared to be simple, the assignee made this a most difficult and time-consuming matter for the Commission. That's because Lake Broadcasting is an entity led by an individual who had his five licenses revoked in 2001 for criminal misconduct conducted between 1985 and 1990. The matter has been resolved, and Commissioner Michael O'Rielly had something to say about it.

The following column from Media Information Bureau featured writer Ken Benner has been requested by at least three licensees over the past few weeks. Why? "This is apparently due to the recent requirement to place public files online." As a public service to broadcast radio and TV stations across the U.S., Benner is pleased to provide his "Handout Sheet No. 34." It could just save you hundreds of dollars in potential forfeitures, with checks made payable to the FCC.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was on Capitol Hill on Thursday, appearing at a hearing on the Commission's fiscal year 2019 budget request convened by the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Committee on Appropriations in the lower body of Congress. A spending level was specifically spelled out by Pai, and it is "derived from regulatory fees for regular FCC operations." An auction spending cap was also disclosed.

As long-time New York Tri-State area radio listeners know, there are two well-known stations licensed to Paterson, N.J. — Multicultural Radio Broadcasting's Class B WPAT-AM 930, and SBS's Class B Spanish Contemporary WPAT-FM 93.1 "Amor". However, a third Paterson-based signal has popped up on the dial at various times over the past several years. It's not supposed to be there. The FCC is trying again to kill it once and for all.

The FCC, as part of its "modernization" efforts championed by Republican Chairman Ajit Pai, required every licensed broadcast and cable TV station and every licensed radio station to have an online public inspection file activated by March 1. Fifteen requests, filed on behalf of 39 radio stations, for additional time were filed with the Commission. These stations have just been granted an extension.

The pro-MVPD American Television Alliance (ATVA), which is an American Cable Association member, has filed reply comments with the FCC that addresses broadcaster oppositions to its previous petition for reconsideration of the FCC’s ATSC 3.0 Order. 

It's no secret that the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C. conservative-leaning think tank, has had a large influence on the FCC since the transition in power associated with the election of President Donald Trump. From senior fellow Jeff Eisenach, a part of the FCC Trump transition team, to visiting scholar Roslyn Layton, the AEI has helped put its agenda forward with the help of such willing partners as Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, who spoke before the AEI on Thursday. He discussed two of four "apparently unrelated policy issue areas being discussed these days."

Four Members of the House of Representatives and one Senator have added their support to a resolution opposing "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations.

In a blog post published this afternoon, ahead of the release of an official agenda, FCC Chairman Pai outlined the items for the FCC’s May Open Meeting, on May 10. It will be the first for the FCC as a four-Commissioner agency under Pai, as Democrat Mignon Clyburn shocked all at the close of the FCC's April Open Meeting on Tuesday by saying it would be her last. Additional comments on Commissioner Clyburn’s departure from the FCC were included in Pai's post.

From ACA's perspective, Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn "had no equal in understanding the value that independent providers deliver to their communities and the big impact they are having," President/CEO Matthew M. Polka said in a statement released late Tuesday following Clyburn's unexpected announcement that the FCC's April Open Meeting will be her last.