Washington Beat

The FCC's lone Democratic Commissioner, Mignon Clyburn, has found a friend in Congress in support of her quest to have the minority tax certificate returned for radio and TV broadcasters.

House legislation introduced Wednesday would allow performing artists to opt out of having their music played on the radio if the performing artist is not being paid an agreed-upon performance royalty. We've got an RBR + TVBR OBSERVATION on the "PROMOTE Act" everyone needs to read.

Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has resolved a lingering license renewal issue for its biggest radio station -- caused by a 11-year-old indecency complaint -- by agreeing to a $10,000 Consent Decree with the FCC. The settlement, which resolves the Media Bureau's investigation of the alleged indecency allegations, also settles issues arising from the Bureau's review of this station's 2006 and 2014 license renewals.

In a midday Wednesday address at D.C.-based conservative think tank The Hudson Institute, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai presented what he sees are four key problems regarding data collection and economic analysis at the Commission. His solution? The creation of the "OED" -- the Office of Economics and Data.

A longtime association member, former Chairman of the Board and current Foundation Secretary/Treasurer has been named "Incoming Executive Director" of the Radio Television Digital News Association and Foundation (RTDNA/F).

Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Marsha Blackburn may be facing a stiff headwind in their effort to get the House of Representatives to pass the "Fair Play Fair Pay Act." That's because there's a solid block of legislators that are committed to preventing the bill from getting any Congressional approval.

Four years after his last appearance at the American Cable Association's just-concluded ACA Summit, Ajit Pai was pleased to be back -- this time as FCC Chairman. ACA President Matthew Polka was even more pleased with Pai, in particular on his efforts regarding rural broadband expansion and infrastructure investment.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash), Chair of the House Republican Conference and fourth-ranking House Republican, has called on her Capitol Hill colleagues and the White House to cooperate with industry when planning investments in the broadband infrastructure. She made the comments at the American Cable Association Summit in D.C.

A 25-year Democratic Congressional veteran representing parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn and the Chair of the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology have served notice that a bi-partisan push to create a "radio tax" has just begun. The NAB chimed in, and we've got a RBR + TVBR OBSERVATION on the hot-button issue of performance royalties for radio.

Squashing the squatters and banishing the buccaneers of broadcasting once and for all is something Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly is making a key issue, and he's given the Commission's Miami Field Office orders to expedite all cases where pirate stations need to be silenced.

"While we need to look at raising the overall ownership caps within a market, there is little reason to maintain the subcaps." Those words were among the biggest delivered Tuesday afternoon by Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, who opened the Hispanic Radio Conference with a declaration that the ownership of eight FMs in a market is something he's willing to allow.

"Steps are now being taken at the White House to deconstruct the administrative state by taking a sledgehammer to the federal bureaucracy." Those are the words from Garvey Schubert Barer Communications Group co-chair Erwin Krasnow, who opines in this exclusive Intelligence Brief that the White House has the power to produce great change at the FCC. The question, as he sees it, is how aggressive the Trump Administration can be.

A big majority of U.S. voters are against the elimination of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a result of defunding proposed in the Federal budget submitted to Congress by President Trump. That's according to a just-released Quinnipiac University Poll released Friday.

The FCC on Thursday unanimously approved a Report and Order that would authorize channel sharing outside the context of the incentive auction. However, Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn dissented in part, as she believes an issue regarding "must carry" status has been tossed.

The Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA) now has 164 co-sponsors in the House and 18 in the Senate. Supporters in the upper body of Congress now include a veteran Mississippi legislator.