Washington Beat

The FCC's Media Bureau has entered into three individual Consent Decrees with licensees of broadcast media stations, actions that terminate and resolve "outstanding matters" and grant television license renewal applications.

The President/CEO of the NAB and its Chief Legal Officer have held their first high-level policy discussion with newest FCC Commissioner, wasting no time in pressing for long-awaited reform to broadcast ownership rules.

The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) annual event featuring a host of former FCC Chairs and Commissioners is scheduled for July 25, and the organization has revealed just who will be participating in discussions on such topics as technology, media, and telecom.

The NAB on Wednesday announced the launch of the 2025 NAB Congressional PSA Campaign, connecting lawmakers with their constituents through impactful messages aired on local television and radio stations nationwide.

At 540 kHz from Islip, N.Y., Radio Zindagi has targeted South Asian communities with in-language programming since its return to local radio in late December 2020. That transpired with its purchase by its current licensee — an entity the FCC found to have engaged in an unauthorized change of control.

CPB is sharing the results of a newly conducted national survey that concludes voters "place more trust in public media" than media overall. And, the data show, these voters "hold a more favorable opinion of public media compared with for profit media."

With longtime D.C. attorneys David Oxenford and Mark Lipp handling the submission to the FCC, three radio broadcasting companies have offered comments to the Commission asking that its "dual band" regulatory policy for expanded band AM radio stations get a fresh look and slight modernization.

The National Association of Broadcasters has informed the FCC that it "appreciates" the Commission’s efforts to improve its regulatory fee process and supports the FY 2025 proposed allocations shared in MD Docket No. 25-190.

As June began, a surprise exit from the FCC caught many industry leaders and market observers off-guard: Nathan Simington tendered his resignation. One month later, he has resurfaced at a D.C. think-tank.

It has become an annual tradition in the Nation's Capital, and it will continue in 2025 with law firm Hogan Lovells playing host. The Seventh Annual Former FCC Chairs' Symposium is coming in late July, courtesy of the Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council (MMTC). 

The NAB Leadership Foundation (NABLF)'s 2025 Broadcast Leadership Training (BLT) program has concluded, with a graduation held in June for the executive MBA-style educational learning opportunity.

One day before FCC Chairman Brendan Carr unveiled his “Build America” Agenda, the NAB and a coalition of major radio stakeholders met with his office to continue their campaign for the use of software-based Emergency Alert System encoders and decoders.

A trio of House Members came together to lead 24 of their Congressional colleagues in calling on the FCC to include language access experts and advocates for communities with limited English proficiency in the Commission's Hurricane Season Resiliency Roundtable. There's just one problem: That event was Monday.

Kentucky Republican Brett Guthrie, who serve as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, is moving forward with changes to the committee's Republican subcommittee leadership and assignments in the wake of Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.)'s resignation of the Chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Health.

In a major policy speech delivered in Sioux Falls, S. Dakota, at a tower climber training center, on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission addressed the need for "cutting red tape and modernizing FCC operations." There's new news on this front.