Washington Beat

The full Commission has stood by the dismissals of applications for low-power FM radio station construction permits filed in the FCC's 2023 LPFM filing window. That negates a plan to put a facility in Athens, Ala., and another in the Alabama city of Selma.

Four items appear on the FCC's May Open Meeting agenda, including an order to modernize the Disaster Information Reporting System, where outage information is reported during emergencies. Brendan Carr offers a preview of all that's up for discussion on May 20.

The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has rolled out a new national initiative to support broadcasters as the country prepares to commemorate America’s 250th Anniversary. And, it is squarely focused on the role radio and TV have played in shaping our collective history.

It is the former permittee of a deleted FM translator serving Butte, Montana; the former licensee of a station in Anaconda, Mont.; and the current licensee of an AM in Lima, Mont. For Southwest Montana Media, that Lima property could soon see a license cancellation and call letter deletion. Why? It hasn't paid its regulatory fees.

Matthew Wesolowski is known across the industry for his SSR Communications, and for his efforts asking the FCC to create a "Class C4" FM radio station. He is now also known for having his proposal for a new Class C3 FM in Enterprise, Utah, bested by a counterproposal filed by a pair of Arizona station licensees.

In an appearance at the 2026 NAB Show, FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty used a 1998 appearance by then-Chairman Michael Powell and what his vision was for advancing the public interest in broadcasting as a foundation for her thoughts on why the FCC's renewed focus on the subject is of vital importance.

Landover Saturn 5, a company led by CEO Laurence Zimmerman committed to the proliferation of next-generation consumer wireless, has submitted a Request for Rulemaking with the FCC to permit "the repurposing of UHF channels 28-36 for flexible 5G/6G broadband use."

The FCC is moving forward with a pleading cycle in which it is seeking comment from interested parties as to whether or not The E.W. Scripps Co. may move forward with the acquisition of 23 television station from INYO Broadcast Licenses — a deal that would reverse the sale of those properties to INYO by Scripps in late 2020.

The Celebration of Service to America Awards, presented by Bonneville International and Hearst Television, is part of the Foundation’s mission to bring national attention to the vital work being done by local broadcasters. New this year is a podcast category.

Three landlords in the Empire State have been given fair warning from the FCC to do what they can to silence unlicensed FM radio station operations originating from buildings they own.

The Media Bureau of the FCC this week released an Order that extends an existing waiver of a rule that would require broadcast TV stations to provide an aural representation of visual, non-textual emergency information that is displayed during non-newscast programming.

There were less commercially licensed radio stations — regardless of band — at the end of Q1 2026 than there were at the end of 2025. That's one key takeaway from the latest Broadcast Station Totals courtesy of the FCC.

The Director of Communications and Social Media and Communications Coordinator at the NAB now have a VP of Communications as part of their team, and she's inbound from Alexandria, Va.-based bipartisan reputation management PR firm Purple Strategies.

One of two FCC cybersecurity workshops placed on the calendar for mid-May is specifically designed to educate radio and television station owners, and will feature speakers from the Commission, federal partners and industry experts.

The Cumulus Media-owned conservative-leaning spoken word FM serving the National Capital Area has selected its next Operations Manager. And he'll be taking the role after moving from California, starting May 4.