|
 |
The FCC Update column covers news and information from the Federal Communications Commission and Capitol Hill, and other legislative actions.
The Public and Broadcasting updated
Jul 1, 2008,
By Harry Martin
The new edition was released in connection with the FCC’s ongoing localism proceeding and is intended to serve as a preliminary instruction manual for members of the public who want to raise issues with the FCC about station performance. 
|
FCC rejects NCE TV-6 waiver requests
Jun 1, 2008,
By Harry Martin
The FCC is now dismissing applications submitted in the October 2007 NCE filing window (or just before the window opened) that depend on waiting out the elimination of analog channel 6 TV stations next February in connection with the DTV transition.
|
Diversity in broadcasting
May 1, 2008,
By Harry Martin
The FCC's overarching goal here is to bring more minorities and women into the broadcast ownership ranks. Historically, these groups have not been represented in those ranks in the same proportion as their numbers in the overall U.S. population
|
Localism proceeding portends re-regulation of radio
Apr 1, 2008,
By Harry Martin
According to the Commission, the proposed rules are designed to address the perception that broadcasters may not be addressing the needs and interests of their communities sufficiently
|
Commission stepping up rule enforcement
Mar 1, 2008,
By Harry Martin
A Texas AM station was fined $8,800 for failing to maintain a main studio and power down at sunset. An FCC inspector, after checking on four successive days, could not find the station's main studio. While conducting this search the agent took signal measurements and determined that the station was not powering down at night as its license required.
|
LPFM rules and proposals released
Feb 1, 2008,
By Harry Martin
The news is generally good if you are an LPFM licensee, but bad for FM licensees who plan to make facilities changes that threaten displacement of an existing LPFM station.
|
FCC Adopts Protections for LPFM
Jan 1, 2008,
By Harry Martin
In a move designed to enhance the long-term viability of low-power FM stations and encourage new voices, the FCC has adopted and proposed additional rules, which will afford LPFM stations quasi-primary service status and provide other benefits.
|
Problems and solutions
Jan 1, 2008,
Chriss Scherer
cscherer@RadioMagOnline.com
In the eyes of broadcasters, December was a busy month for the FCC. Broadcasting is just one small part of the FCC’s concerns, so when several significant rulings are made at once, broadcasters naturally take notice. Two recent actions deal with broadcast ownership while another deals with programming localism. Now that the FCC has acted, there are more questions raised than answers provided.
|
FCC issues surface in presidential race
Dec 1, 2007,
By Harry Martin
Only a month or two before the 2008 presidential nominees face off in primaries, and less than a year before the general election, top candidates from both major parties are discussing key issues affecting communications policy.
|
FCC may help daytime AM stations
Oct 1, 2007,
By Harry Martin
In addition to the previously-reported proceeding looking toward allowing AM stations (including day-timers) to rebroadcast on FM translators, the FCC received comments in August on a petition for rulemaking that proposes a number of improvements to the post-sunset service rules on the AM side.
|
Is the Fairness Doctrine returning?
Sep 1, 2007,
By Harry Martin
The Fairness Doctrine, introduced in 1949, required broadcasters to cover controversial issues of public importance and to provide balanced views on such issues even if that meant giving access to diverse groups.
|
FCC launches EAS makeover
Aug 1, 2007,
By Harry Martin
The new EAS rules are designed to facilitate delivery of emergency information across a variety of platforms in a digital format and to provide improved access for disabled persons. The change likely to have the greatest impact on broadcasters is the FCC's adoption of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) for all EAS participants.
|
Low-power follow-up
Jul 1, 2007
Larry Fuss wrote a letter to Senator Harry Reid about the senator's involvement in obtaining a licensed for a pirate radio station. Fuss shares the senator's reply with us.
|
| |
|
|
