Washington Beat

Reps. Anna Eshoo and Mike Doyle want Ajit Pai to enforce FCC rules that clearly identify Russian propaganda airing on U.S. radio stations. Eshoo has been on a quest to squelch what she views is programming and viewpoints airing on "Sputnik Radio," a Kremlin-funded English-language operation with 24/7 coverage in Washington, D.C., and six hours of programming in Kansas City.

The senior Democrat on the FCC has been selected as a keynote speaker at the ACA Connects 27th Annual Summit in Washington, D.C. The event is set for March 18.

With T-Mobile now on target to complete its merger with Sprint by April 1, putting DISH in the driver's seat on becoming the nation's fourth-largest wireless services company, tower companies are likely to benefit from the rollout of 5G spurred by the companies' moves. As such, American Tower shares lifted by more than 4% on Tuesday.

In mid-January, a silent AM radio station licensed for 10kw of power from 1 tower received what appeared to be nothing short of its death sentence from the Media Bureau and the FCC’s Office of the Managing Director. Guess what? The licensee has successfully fought the FCC -- and won. As such, the station has a new lease on life.

President Trump's fiscal year 2021 budget has been released. America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is once again howling at the desire to wipe out federal funding for its member stations, and for NPR noncomm radio properties across the U.S.

For 10 years, Lynne Montgomery worked on satellite policy and licensing matters at the FCC, including the allocation of licensed and unlicensed spectrum resources, transfers of FCC licenses and the review of GSO and NGSO satellite applications. Now, she's been upped to Partner at one of the nation's leading communications law firms.

On Tuesday (2/11), FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will host a roundtable discussion on the "Future of Work." This event will convene a group from civil society, academia, and industry to orient the FCC’s role in the Future of Work conversation. The agenda for the event can be found by clicking here.

Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner has written countless words related to the practice of how keeping something complicated keeps things profitable, and how "most legislation" serves one party at the expense of another. Benner's at it again, and points to a 35-page "classic example of this" issued Thursday by the FCC.

The Enforcement Bureau on Thursday mailed out the first of its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audit letters for 2020 to randomly selected radio and television stations. We've got the full list of the radio and television stations included in this audit, as well as the text of the audit letter.

The licensee of one of the Philadelphia market's principal radio brands serving Spanish-speaking consumers was granted a license by the FCC for an FM translator in Camden, N.J., giving its Class B AM further "revitalization." The biggest pro-LPFM group objected, and wanted the FCC's Media Bureau to reconsider its argument. It did, and it's decision is hardly surprising.

The FCC is opening a window for applications under its Honors Engineer Program that was launched in 2018.  During this window, the Program is open to recent graduates with an engineering degree and current students who will graduate this spring.

Section 1003 of the recently adopted Television Viewer Protection Act directs the FCC to adopt rules that allow the negotiation of retransmission consent between "qualified MVPD buying groups"' and "large [broadcast] station groups." But, how should the Commission define "large station group" or "qualified MVPD buying group"? That's largely up to you.

In 2014, it was a finalist for Legendary Station of the Year at the NAB Marconi Radio Awards. In 2016, it took home the "AC Station of the Year" Marconi. Now, a heralded 3kw FM serving the Michigan cities of Adrian, Blissfield, Clinton and Tecumseh can take pride in knowing its on the radar of the Chairman of the FCC.

Featured Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner has received several requests for a comprehensive Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program document that covers the services he provides for radio and TV stations. He's obliged, while also taking time to explain why he has the right to do what he does.

In a widely expected vote held at its January Open Meeting today in Washington, the FCC agreed to modify its rules for cable and satellite TV providers by transitioning certain notices to broadcast TV stations from paper to electronic delivery.