It’s the start of another year, so it is time to dust off the crystal ball and look at what we expect to be the big regulatory and legislative issues facing broadcasters in the new year. Looking back on our forecast for 2025 that came out just over a year ago, I was surprised to
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This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: December 8, 2025 to December 12, 2025
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a public broadcaster to resolve an investigation into whether false
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Getting Ready for the 2026 Election – Steps Broadcasters Should Be Taking Now to Avoid Legal Issues with Political Broadcasting
The deadline for candidates in Texas to file for a place on the March 3 primary ballot was this week. Deadlines for filing to become a qualified candidate in other states will follow soon for other primaries that occur in March, and then throughout the first part of 2026. As a result, broadcast stations and…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: May 19, 2025 to May 23, 2025
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected the FCC’s 2024 attempt to reinstate Form 395-B which, had it
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Court Finds FCC Has No Authority to Require EEO Form 395-B – And Narrows Scope of the Public Interest Standard
The FCC’s 2024 decision to reinstate Form 395-B, after its use had been paused for over 20 years, was invalidated this week by a decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In yet another instance of courts limiting the authority of administrative agencies, the Fifth Circuit judges found that the…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: March 3, 2025 to March 7, 2025
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- The FCC released a draft Notice of Inquiry to explore how the FCC can support industry efforts to develop new
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Washington State Court of Appeals Upholds $24.6 Million Penalty Against Meta for Not Meeting State Political Advertising Disclosure Requirements – A Warning to All Media Companies to Assess and Comply with State Political Disclosure Rules
Washington DC is not the only place where there are regulatory or political decisions made that affect broadcasters and advertising for candidates or political issues. We’ve written many times about state laws that govern the use of AI in political advertising, with more than 20 states already having laws on their books and more considering…
The Past Two Weeks in Regulation for Broadcasters: December 23, 2024 to January 3, 2025
We took last week off for the holidays and today bring you the regulatory developments of interest to broadcasters from the past two weeks, which we discuss below with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- The Commission released a Report and Order
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Looking Into the Crystal Ball – What Legal and Policy Issues are Ahead for Broadcasters in 2025?
It’s a new year, and as has been our custom at the beginning of each year, we dust off the crystal ball and take a look at what we think may be some of the significant regulatory and legislative issues that broadcasters will be facing in 2025. This year, there is an extra layer of…
December 2024 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters -Annual DTV Ancillary/Supplementary Services Report, EEO Deadlines, NCE TV Filing Window and Related Filing Freezes, Comment Deadlines, and More
Even with the holidays upon us, regulation never stops. There are several yearly deadlines in December which broadcasters need to review, particularly those in certain states with EEO requirements at the beginning of the month. There is a short freeze on TV applications while applications in a window for new noncommercial TV stations are filed. …