Washington Beat

Deregulation. The end of the FCC's current ownership rules. These were the dominant topics of conversation an overflow audience at the Media Finance Management Conference heard the latest insights about, while gaining information about what's transpired in Washington since January 20, from two Inside the Beltway experts.

On Thursday and again on Friday, the FCC Commissioner used consecutive speaking appearances to double down on her belief that the agency where she will soon serve as the lone Democrat has gone way too far.

In October 2022, a Class B radio station at 1080 kHz serving the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz market was handed a $20,000 proposed fine for improper power output — a problem that extended across some 25 years. Now, the station is in potential hot water with the FCC again for antenna tower lighting issues.

The Acting Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau has signed off on a Consent Decree that will settle a matter involving a pirate broadcaster in Broward County, Fla.. And, the FM buccaneer will pay a small price for his felonious airwave use.

The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) has issued a statement in which the Washington, D.C. advocacy group "strongly believes" that the recent attempts to mischaracterize and eliminate the Digital Equity Act (DEA) "misses the point of the legislation."

The honor will be awarded during the 2025 Celebration of Service to America Awards, presented by Bonneville International and Hearst Television, on June 10 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. The event will also honor the essential role that local TV and radio broadcasters play during times of emergency.

The Chairman of the House E&C Committee is readying for a full markup of budget reconciliation text scheduled for Tuesday afternoon that would go a long way toward bringing spectrum auction authorization back to the FCC. But, the spectrum being authorized for auction doesn’t include broadcast TV spectrum.

Sen. Jerry Moran, along with 22 other signatories, submitted a letter to the FCC encouraging the Commissioners to update the broadcast ownership rules. "By modernizing broadcast ownership restrictions, the FCC can empower broadcasters to fulfill their essential role in American democracy," they say.

The Springfield Gardens area of Queens is a residential zone adjacent to bustling John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Here, a pirate radio station at 91.9 MHz was confirmed by Enforcement Bureau agents. They couldn't stop the buccaneer behind the elicit operation. Now, they're going after the property owner.

Gary Shapiro is rapidly becoming Enemy No. 1 of the broadcast TV industry. He and the Consumer Technology Association are dead-set against forcing manufacturers to bring ATSC 3.0-powered "NEXTGEN TV" to all sets sold in the U.S.

A key Senate Democrat is sounding the alarm over a series of recent actions by the Trump Administration targeting public broadcasting, including cutting NPR and PBS funding and proposing a budget that would eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

A daytime-only Class D AM radio station in Remsen, N.Y., with an FM translator serving the Utica-Rome, N.Y., market can proceed with its license renewal. To accomplish this, it has entered into a Consent Decree with the FCC, which dismissed an informal objection seeking a stop to the renewal.

On Friday night, the U.S. Department of Education notified the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that its 2020-2025 Ready To Learn grant is terminated, effective immediately. CPB has responded to the move.

As AEI nonresident Senior Fellow Clay Calvert writes, "the predictability" that exists at the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr is that most Democrats (and some Republicans) will view many of its prominent investigations as blatantly partisan efforts to aid President Trump and attack press freedom. That hurts the Commission.

He has been part of the Scripps D.C. sales team for the last six years, serving as a senior manager of business operations, Director of National Sales Operations and Senior Director of National Sales Operations. Now he's being promoted to VP of Political and "Pay for Performance" at The E.W. Scripps Co.