Washington Beat

A group of emergency management professionals from some of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Helene - and best served by AM radio in the aftermath - are the latest to implore Congress to get the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act passed by the year's end.

A coalition of New York City and State public safety officials and emergency response leaders is calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to ensure passage of the bipartisan AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act before the current Congress ends.

The Copyright Royalty Judges who sit on the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board have approved a cost of living adjustment to the royalty rate that certain noncommercial radio stations at secular educational institutions must pay next year. The rates are for stations not affiliated with NPR.

The American Consumer Institute, through Policy Analyst Nate Scherer, is the latest to voice strong support for the bipartisan AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which would require automakers to include AM radio access in all new electric vehicle models.

The Chairwoman of the FCC has written to specific Members of Congress to ask them to push forward during the "Lame Duck" remainder of the current legislative session with fully funding the Commission's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.

Gray Television and privately held SagamoreHill Broadcasting have gotten the regulatory approval to proceed with a plan that effectively substitutes one channel for another — twice — in a Table of TV Allotments adjustment for Lubbock, Tex.

She's presently the Chief of the FCC's Media Bureau and may not be in the role come January 21. Nevertheless, Holly Saurer today is an influencer when it comes to broadcast media regulatory policy, and that likely explains why the head of the LPTV Broadcasters Association last week met with her and key colleagues to discuss the group's priorities.

The Media Bureau is reminding prospective applicants of an NCETV filing window, which opens a week from Wednesday. The window will be open for a week, and because of this filing opportunity a temporary application freeze will commence on December 3, the FCC says.

A longtime broadcast alerting advocate who founded an international coalition of broadcasters, tech companies and trade associations using ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast technology for advanced public alerting and informing is exiting the group. This puts Dave Arland in the role of Executive Director.

Television broadcasters with stations in markets ranked No. 101 through No. 110 by Nielsen will need to adhere to the FCC's 2023 Audio Description Order starting with the new year.

The FCC's December Open Meeting will be the final gathering to see Jessica Rosenworcel preside as the agency's head, and among the items up for consideration is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would amend its rules for radio and TV stations "to reflect current application processing requirements."

As forthcoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr sees it, the nation's airwaves are a public resource. Retired communications attorney Erwin Krasnow couldn't disagree more. In fact, in May 2011 he penned a report for The Media Institute that established the argument that the broadcast public interest standard may not be in the public interest after all.

A belated License to Cover application filed by the owner of a low-power television station serving Key West, Fla., has yielded a proposed fine that's bigger than similar occurrences. Why? Their extreme tardiness was singled out by the head of the FCC Media Bureau's Video Division.

A newly created position has been filled in the Washington, D.C., offices of Nexstar Media Group, and it seeks an individual gaining responsibilities for the company’s national news content, generated for The Hill and MVPD-distributed NewsNation. He starts his new role on Monday.

Public radio stations serving California's Central Valley; Erie, Pa.; and the Wasatch Front of Utah are eligible to receive grants from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting to upgrade their equipment in order to provide enhanced emergency alerting to their respective listeners.