Washington Beat

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Leadership Foundation has elected seven new members to the Leadership Foundation Board of Directors. They include the EVP of the Katz Television Group at Katz Media, and the local media president for The E.W. Scripps Co. 

Ronald Ulloa, the youngest brother of Entravision CEO and founder Walter Ulloa, is the owner of two television stations. One of these TV siblings owned by Ronald is now officially a Los Angeles market facility -- despite its city of license, which is quite far from downtown L.A. and most of the metropolitan area.

The "nation's first commercial radio broadcast," while disputed by many, is largely associated with KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh. The launch of that station under Westinghouse 100 years ago is the focus of a column from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Find out what he said by clicking here.

Much has been said about Section 230, with Democrats and Republicans taking differing positions on a topic that's about as divisive as reproductive rights for women. Now, non-partisan technology think tank Tech Freedom has chimed in on what it believes the role of Section 230 should be.

The official agenda for the FCC's November Open Commission Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, has been released. The biggest item up for debate and discussion? A "First Report and Order," a FNPRM, and "Order of Proposed Modification" that would "modernize" the 5.9 GHz band.

The December 2017 order restoring Title I regulation to the internet and broadband service brought a legal challenge, and the D.C. Circuit upheld most of the FCC's order. But, three "discrete issues" were remanded. On Tuesday, the GOP majority moved forward with an Order of Remand in response to the Court -- over the Democratic minority's vociferous objections.

Democratic Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (Calif.), a senior member of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, has praised a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking released Monday by the FCC that would require the identification of foreign government sponsored broadcast TV and radio content.

With the race for the White House ending in eight days, the impact on how Americans vote from radio advertisements may not be as big as once envisioned. For the week ending October 25, the Joe Biden for President campaign entered the Spot Ten Radio report after sitting at No. 15 the previous week. The incumbent? His campaigns use of radio is even smaller.

As D.C. politics goes, this is a dead bill, without major revisions fueled by Senate Republicans. Yet, the NAB applauded the Senate's introduction of legislation designed to expand SBA loan access to newspapers and broadcast media.

The Commission is directing the Media Bureau to open a filing window for new FM reserved band applications and seeks comment on imposing a limit of 10 applications filed by any party in this window.

The General Counsel and COO for America’s Public Television Stations and the Asst. General Counsel for PBS last week met by phone with a Media Bureau Policy Division staffer to discuss the importance of both linear broadcast and Broadcast Internet services under Section 73.621 of its rules. The discussion focused on distant learning broadcast datacasting initiatives.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced that the agency will pursue a White House proposal to adopt rules clarifying Section 230, the backbone of American internet law. While it does have legal authority to interpret Section 230, the FCC should be wary of the scaffolding it is erecting for greater regulation of the internet ecosystem, the AEI believes.

It was only a matter of time before the two most outspoken critics of the Pai Commission would comment on the decision by the FCC's Chairman to initiate a Section 230 rulemaking process, in the wake of a censorship vs. "fake news" firestorm involving Twitter, Facebook and the New York Post. And, on Monday, Frank Pallone Jr. and Mike Doyle had something to say.

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Does Section 230’s "sweeping immunity enable Big Tech bad behavior?" The Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee wants the answer. And, he's asking the question to the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google parent Alphabet Inc. at a hearing scheduled for Oct. 28.