Washington Beat

The Media Bureau's Audio Division has reviewed a Petition for Reconsideration filed jointly by two Texas religious organizations seeking reconsideration of a decision that dismissed its respective applications for a permit to construct a new LPFM. One of the LPFMs was in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, while the other was to the northwest in Wichita Falls, Tex. What's the verdict for these petitioners?

FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mignon Clyburn aren't the only ones welcoming new staffers to The Portals. Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has a new Special Advisor and Confidential Assistant.

There's a new Policy Advisor for media issues in the office of one Republican FCC Commissioner. At the same time, a Democratic FCC Commissioner has named a new Policy Analyst and Special Assistant in her office.

Over the course of the next few weeks, RBR+TVBR will be turning to media brokers and communications attorneys for their take on what's in store for broadcast media owners in 2018, while taking a look back at 2017 and sharing their thoughts on what's happened for radio and TV industry executives. We begin this series with thoughts from Garvey Schubert Barer partner Erwin Krasnow.

The purpose of an FM translator station is to rebroadcast programming originating from an AM radio station, a fully-licensed FM radio station that needs "fill-in" coverage, or an HD multicast station seeking an audience on the traditional 88-108 MHz band. A Wisconsin operator didn't quite follow those rules, and the Commission has handed it a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forefeiture for not doing so. The good news is that the owner has been given the OK for the translator's license renewal.

Mark Jan. 25, 2018 on your calendar, AM broadcasters that still seek an FM translator. That's when the second cross-service FM translator auction filing window for stations with kHz-only signals -- a.k.a. Auction 100 -- begins. The window closes not long afterward.

On Nov. 1, Dupont Circle legal mainstay Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice completed its merger with the U.K.-based Bond Dickinson firm of barristers. With the combination of the law firms, the united entity is now known as Womble Bond Dickinson. The "new" Womble has just made its first M&A move by acquiring "a premier boutique practice focusing on wireless and broadband providers serving rural America."

In May 2016, Garvey Schubert Barer attorney Erwin Krasnow explained the role of brokers and buyers. Here, we revisit his advice on what he believes are typical questions to ask when selecting a broker.

Looking for FCC Forms 323 and 323-E in the Commission’s Licensing and Management System (LMS)? They're now available, as the 2017 filing window for the submission of biennial broadcast ownership reports is now officially open.

The FCC has locked in its Comment Date and Reply Comment Date for its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to update two provisions in Part 73 of its rules governing broadcast licensees. This NPRM involves allowing broadcasters to notify the public of broadcast license applications through the internet, and allowing certain TV broadcasters to skip filing annual reports about so-called ancillary or supplementary services.

While the end of the year is just about upon us, that does not mean that broadcasters can ignore the regulatory world and celebrate the holidays all through December. In fact, this will be a busy regulatory month, says top D.C. communications attorney David Oxenford. There are plenty of deadlines to keep any broadcaster busy, and here's his run-down of what to keep your eye on.

If you were to scribe a letter to the head of the Federal Communications Commission, asking Ajit Pai to consider some of the top issues facing your broadcaster TV or radio stations, what would you ask? Look no further than the following letter addressed to Pai, sent by our own Media Information Bureau featured columnist and Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) guru Ken Benner.

In a lengthy speech delivered today in Washington, D.C., at the Media Institute, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai discussed America's broadcasters and newspapers. He discussed social media, and the internet, as the coming of Net Neutrality has resulted in personal attacks at Pai's home against his children. This led Pai to ask, "Is social media a net benefit to American society?" His response? "Given the increasingly important role that social media plays in our daily lives, this is a question that all of us, including groups like the Media Institute, need to grapple with."

The Managing Partner of Cinnamon Mueller's Washington, D.C., office has just been appointed to the FCC as its new deputy chief of the agency’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau.

The Washington, D.C. conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute has played the role of chief influencer at the FCC since the transition in power from President Obama to President Trump. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Mark Jamison -- an individual who questioned the very existence of the Commission in late October 2016 -- is in favor of the abandonment of Title II classification for broadband. It's an important topic for broadcast media groups, and here's why Jamison is pushing for the end of "net neutrality."