NCAA vs. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma: A Win for Antitrust Law and College Football Fans
Why Ending FCC Blackout Rules May Be Broadcast TV's Demise
Let’s state the obvious. The FCC’s use of mandatory Federal Registration Numbers was a bad idea from the start. It became monumentally worse today, when the FCC quietly announced that anyone whose Federal Registration...more
February 1 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma to place their Annual EEO Public File Report in their Public...more
The deadline to file the 2025 Annual Children’s Television Programming Report with the FCC is January 30, 2026, reflecting programming aired during the 2025 calendar year. In addition, commercial stations’ documentation of...more
On January 21, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau issued a Public Notice warning television broadcasters that news interviews with political candidates conducted “on a program that is motivated by...more
In a not all that surprising development for those who monitor Chairman Carr’s pronouncements, the FCC’s Media Bureau today released a “Guidance on Political Equal Opportunities Requirement for Broadcast Television Stations”...more
Radio and television station employment units (SEUs) located in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and New York with five or more full-time employees must prepare by Monday, February 2,...more
Broadcasters’ next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by January 10, 2026, reflecting information for the months of October, November, and December 2025....more
On December 18, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a Report and Order (Order) adopting changes to its rules for the Low Power Television Service (LPTV Service [1]). The Order implements a series of...more
January 1 - Audio Description Requirements Extend to Nielsen Designated Market Areas 111 to 120—Commercial television stations affiliated with one of the top four broadcast networks and assigned to Tyler-Longview (Lufkin &...more
As described in more detail below, by January 10, 2026, all radio and television broadcast stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare a list of important issues facing their communities of license and the...more
Beginning January 1, 2026, the FCC’s audio description requirements will expand to commercial television stations affiliated with ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC in 10 additional Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs): Tyler-Longview...more
On December 5, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Public Notice further delaying the deadline by which broadcasters must comply with the expanded rules concerning the identification of foreign...more
On November 19, 2025, the Media Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) issued a Public Notice seeking comment on how market and regulatory dynamics have impacted the relationship between local...more
December 1 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and...more
The FCC’s systems and databases that were affected by the government shutdown are available for use as of November 18, 2025. In four separate Public Notices released on November 17, 2025, the FCC announced revised...more
Radio and television station employment units (SEUs) located in Alabama, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont with five...more
At the FCC’s Open Meeting on October 28, 2025, the FCC adopted a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) seeking comments on proposed changes affecting television stations transitioning, or planning to transition,...more
At today’s Open Meeting, the FCC unanimously adopted a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to accelerate the transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (NextGen TV). The NPRM sets the stage for significant...more
On October 7, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) released a draft Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (draft FNPRM) that, if adopted at the October 2025 Open Commission Meeting, would have...more
On September 30, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) voted 3-0 to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), starting the next phase of the FCC’s 2022 Quadrennial Review to examine whether certain...more
As described in more detail below, by October 10, 2025, all radio and television broadcast stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare a list of important issues facing their communities of license and the...more
Broadcasters’ next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2025, reflecting information for the months of July, August, and September 2025....more
In copyright infringement action against Showtime and producers of television series Penny Dreadful, Ninth Circuit affirms dismissal, holding that plaintiff failed to allege striking similarity between series’ characters and...more
On August 29, 2025, the FCC released its Report and Order establishing the annual regulatory fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The Commission followed that release with a Public Notice announcing that regulatory fees must be...more
The FCC will lift the current freeze on major change applications for Class A TV, low power TV (LPTV) and TV translator stations, and will permit applications for new LPTV and TV translator stations, on a phased basis...more