Category: Legislative Update

Landowners Warned of Potential Liability of Up to $2,000,000 for Pirate Radio Operations on Their Property

May 13th, 2022 Posted in: May 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP The FCC (5/4/22) made public four letters to landowners warning them that there were unlicensed FM radio operations coming from their properties and warning that, if the transmissions continued past the 10-business day response period, the landowners could be held liable for penalties up to $2,000,000 for the unlicensed operations coming from their… read more

More FCC Broadcast Applications Moving to LMS – Including Requests for STAs

May 6th, 2022 Posted in: May 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP The FCC this week released a Public Notice (that we mentioned in our update on regulatory dates for May) announcing that, on May 17, many new applications and other filings will be migrating to the FCC’s newer LMS filing platform. These include many of the documents that had been, until recently, filed in the… read more

Governor Whitmer Signs Legislation Expanding Open Meetings Act

May 6th, 2022 Posted in: May 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

On May 2, Governor Whitmer signed House Bill 4705, which expands the Open Meetings Act to require certain state public bodies to create and maintain audio recordings of their meetings, expanding transparency and accountability. This brings the total of bipartisan bills signed to 811. “Transparency and accessibility are critical to ensuring people trust their state… read more

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters

April 29th, 2022 Posted in: April 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week (4/16-22), with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. The FCC this week released a Public Notice announcing that it is… read more

MSU Students Help With MAB’s Capitol Day

April 22nd, 2022 Posted in: April 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

The Michigan Association of Broadcasters works hard to establish strong relationships with lawmakers in our state to ensure policies allow broadcasting in Michigan to stay impactful and to protect us against those that may hinder us from doing our jobs effectively. On May 12, the Michigan Association of Broadcasters is hosting our annual Capitol Day… read more

Reasonable Access and the Problem Candidate – FCC Declares a Write-In Candidate Not Entitled to Buy Radio Spots, But That May Not Be the End of the Story

April 22nd, 2022 Posted in: April 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Last week, much was made of an FCC Media Bureau decision rejecting the “reasonable access” claim of a write-in candidate for a Congressional seat in Ohio against radio stations which, after initially running his spots, decided to pull those spots because he had not made a “substantial showing” of his… read more

This Week in Regulation For Broadcasters

April 15th, 2022 Posted in: April 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week (April 2-8), with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. Broadcast operations that use uninterruptable power supply (UPS) devices as either… read more

House of Representatives Passes MORE Act to Remove Marijuana from Schedule I – Don’t Rush to Start Airing Pot Ads Yet

April 8th, 2022 Posted in: April 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Last week, the US House of Representatives passed the MORE Act which, if enacted, would take marijuana off the list of Schedule I drugs – those drugs whose possession and distribution is a federal felony, as is the use of the radio waves to promote their use. As we have warned before… read more

Rep. Fred Upton Announces Retirement

April 5th, 2022 Posted in: April 2022, Legislative Update, Front Page

U.S. Representative Fred Upton, former Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and longtime supporter of local broadcasters, announced Tuesday (4/5) that he was stepping down after his current term. “Even the best stories have a last chapter,” said Upton, (R-St. Joseph). “This is it for me.” Upton has been in Congress since 1986…. read more

April Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: TV and Radio Renewals, Quarterly Issues, New Foreign Government Sponsorship ID Rules, Revised Radio Technical Rules, EEO Audits and Filings and More

April 1st, 2022 Posted in: April 2022, Legislative Update

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Though this April is somewhat lighter than other months on regulatory deadlines for broadcasters, there are still dates to which broadcasters should pay attention. As noted below, all stations need to pay close attention to the quarterly obligation to post issues/programs lists to your online public file. Here… read more