PAB Newsletter - The Frequency September 2022

30 Second Spot with Joe

Political Season in Full Swing

We are officially in the political season. And what an election it is going to be here in Pennsylvania. Our United States Senate election may be the key to the majority in that chamber for the next 2 years. The Governor’s race will offer the opportunity to continue to play out all the entrenched left and right ideologies that have existed for some time now.

I am pleased to share with you that the PAB is providing all member stations with a template of FCC political filing firms prepared by David Oxenford and his colleagues at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP. We hope you find these forms and filing instructions useful. And you need to use them often!

If you are a member, look for a forthcoming email from me with links to the forms. If you have any questions about these forms, please contact Gail Ponti, gponti@pab.org.

Member Benefits and Services

PAB MEMBER BENEFIT

EEO Rules & Regulations Webinar with David Oxenford

Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Must Pre-register - PAB Membership Required

Join us on September 20 when David Oxenford of the Washington DC law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer will review all of the FCC’s obligations and discuss how you can meet those obligations and stay out of trouble with the FCC. The FCC has continued to enforce its EEO rules even while considering changes to its policies. A station’s compliance is reviewed both in connection with its license renewal and through periodic random audits. Stations still need to engage in wide dissemination of information about job openings and engage in specified outreach activities designed to educate their communities about broadcast employment and to train employees for advancement in their broadcast careers, even if they have no job openings.

After you register and your PAB membership is confirmed, you will receive the Zoom webinar link.

The webinar will be recorded and the link will be available for all of those who registered after the webinar.

PAB Hosts Meeting Between Broadcasters and Educators

The PAB hosted a meeting this week in Harrisburg, bringing together PAB board members and broadcasters with faculty from Penn State, Temple and Point Park University's broadcast programs to discuss ways of working together on connecting students interested in aspects of broadcasting with career opportunities in the business.

News

Radio Stations FCC Fee Hike Less Than First Proposed

The proposed 13% increase has been cut almost in half, saving stations approximately $2.3 million from the original proposal.

“We hope the Notice of Inquiry serves as a springboard to a thorough modernization of the FCC's regulatory fee methodology to ensure all parties that utilize and benefit from the Commission's work pay their fair and appropriate share. It is no longer good enough to tinker around the edges,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. InsideRadio

FCC Considers New Requirements To Help Ensure Station EAS Equipment Is Up To Date

This summer, after a vulnerability was detected by a security researcher, federal agencies warned radio and television stations that they needed to make sure their Emergency Alert System (EAS) encoder/decoder devices had the latest software installed to help defend against a potential intrusion. Now the Federal Communications Commission is looking at additional steps that it says would further strengthen EAS. InsideRadio

Advanced Advertising Summit: Local Media Extends Its Broad Reach

Advanced Advertising Summit panel “The Local View” looked at TV stations and cable operators reaping revenue on their digital and over-the-top platforms. Local advertising on linear TV is in a good spot, the panelists said, and OTT adds to the take. NextTV

Majority of House of Representatives Now Cosponsoring Local Radio Freedom Act

222 Reps., 28 Senators now cosponsor resolution opposing performance royalty on local radio

A bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives are now cosponsoring the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution opposing "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations.

NAB Files Comments on NEXTGEN TV Transition

NAB filed comments with the FCC regarding the state of the NEXTGEN TV transition. NAB is urging the FCC to sunset the “substantially similar” requirement, which requires broadcasters to air the same programming on their ATSC 1.0 signal and 3.0 signal. Ending this requirement would allow broadcasters to offer unique programming and features on their ATSC 3.0 signals to provide additional value for viewers who choose to upgrade to Next Gen TV. NAB also noted that broadcasters are incentivized to offer their most popular programming on their 1.0 signal, which reaches the greatest number of viewers.

Regulatory

Alert: Special Advisory Meeting the Radio and TV Public Inspection File Requirements

By Scott R Flick, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Special Advisory for Commercial and Non Commercial Broadcasters

Given recent changes and the normalization of online Public Files, we did a top to bottom rewrite of our Public Inspection File advisory. This Advisory is designed to aid commercial and noncommercial radio and television stations in complying with the FCC’s Public Inspection File rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.3526 and 73.3527. This Advisory discusses the content, retention, and organizational requirements of these regulations. Previous editions of this Advisory are obsolete and should no longer be used.

By David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP

Reg Fees, Foreign Government Program Certifications, Final Chance to Claim Reimbursement for Repacking Expenses, Comments on ATSC 3.0 and FTC Advertising Inquiry, and More

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters:

September 3, 2022 to September 9, 2022

By David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.