FCC lightens its open meeting load

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FCCThe FCC agenda for its April Open Meeting has been available for public perusal for some time. But now comes word that at least one plank originally scheduled to be aired out at the Friday 4/27 session is off the schedule.


The Media Bureau item is titled Noncommercial Educational Station Fundraising for Third-Party Non-Profit Organizations.

According to the FCC summary of the item, “The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking inviting comment on whether to allow noncommercial educational broadcast stations to conduct on-air fundraising activities that interrupt regular programming for the benefit of third-party non-profit organizations.”

RBR-TVBR observation: We believe the main thrust of this proposal is to allow non-profit stations to conduct benefits for emergency relief efforts and things of that sort, and we believe it is completely non-controversial.

The internet being what it is, we understand the possibility that this belief is dead wrong and the space below may soon fill up with reader comments to the contrary.

However, the deletion of the item could mean that the matter will be taken up at a later date, or that it will be approved or deep-sixed on circulation within the Commission, with the three commissioners giving up the opportunity to make public comments on Friday at the meeting.