Legal File
FTC Drops Appeal of Court’s Rejection of Nationwide Ban on Noncompete Agreements – To Pursue Individual Cases Where Noncompetes are an Unfair Trade Practice
The Federal Trade Commission last week announced that it was dropping its appeal of a court decision which put on hold an FTC order adopted during the Biden administration which banned noncompete agreements in all industries across the country (see our note here). This ban was a concern to many in the broadcast industry as it would allow station employees, including on-air talent, managerial employees, and others with access to sensitive competitive information to freely move from station to station within a broadcast market.
Read MoreFCC 2025 Regulatory Fees Set – Dates and Payment Procedures to Follow
Last Friday (8/29), the FCC released its Order adopting the regulatory fees to be paid by broadcasters and other regulated entities at some point before the October 1 start of the federal government’s new fiscal year. The Commission slightly increased fees for TV stations by 1.2% from last year (from $0.006598 to $0.006674 per population served) after the FCC refined its fee estimates made earlier this year to account for exempt stations. Fees for radio stations, however, generally decreased slightly from last year.
Read MoreSeptember 2025 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – FCC Regulatory Fees, Political Windows, EAS Event Code, Rulemaking Comment Deadlines and more
It is time for our look at September’s regulatory dates and deadlines to which broadcasters should be paying attention – and the deadline that probably is most important to all commercial broadcasters is not yet known. That, of course, is the deadline for the payment of annual regulatory fees – which must be made before the federal government’s October 1 start of the new fiscal year.
Read MoreA Closer Look At the FCC’s First EEO Notice of 2025 – New Questions to Root Out DEI Issues
Editor’s note: After we went to press last Friday (8/8), the FCC released its first EEO audit of 2025. Included on the list of stations selected for audit were two Michigan television stations and five Michigan radio stations.
Read MoreAugust 2025 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Watching for the Annual Reg Fee Announcement, EEO Annual Filings, Comment Deadlines, and Political Windows
Although many, including Congress, take the last of their summer vacations in August, there are still many dates to which broadcasters should be paying attention this month. One deadline that most commercial broadcasters should be anticipating is the FCC’s order that will set the amount of their Annual Regulatory Fees, which will be paid sometime in September before the October 1 start of the federal government’s new fiscal year.
Read MoreFCC Suspends Ownership Report Requirement Until 2027
This week as the FCC announced a suspension of its biennial ownership report filing requirement until 2027, ticking a box on the NAB’s deregulatory wish list. The Media Bureau’s July 29 Public Notice waives the odd-numbered-year requirement for both commercial and noncommercial AM and FM stations to file Form 323 or 323-E.
Read MoreCourt of Appeals Throws Out TV Top 4 Ownership Prohibition – What is Next for Radio and Other Local TV Ownership Rules?
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision last week on the appeals of the FCC’s December 2023 decision following its 2018 Quadrennial Review to leave the local radio and television ownership rules largely unchanged. The Court’s decision was a victory for television owners, declaring the restrictions on the ownership of two of the Top 4 TV stations in any market to be contrary to the record and ending that restriction unless, within 90 days, the FCC can show that there was in fact record evidence supporting the restriction.
Read More$222,500 Penalty for TV Indecency – Reminder to Secure Access to Broadcast Product
These penalties were imposed even though, from the description of the incident in the Consent Decree, it appeared that neither the station nor its employees were responsible for the objectionable content that ran on the visible TV screen. According to the description of the incident, the objectionable video did not pass through the normal transmission chain at the station and did not come from any of its equipment.
Read MoreComment Dates Set on the FCC Request to Update the Record on the 39% National TV Ownership Cap
Only three weeks ago, we published an article on the FCC’s request for public comment to update the record in the 2018 proceeding looking at whether to change the 39% national cap on the ownership of television stations. That request for comments was published in the Federal Register July 8, setting the deadline for comments. Comments are due August 4, 2025 and reply comments are to be filed by August 22. Although we published our look at the issues in this proceeding only a few weeks ago, we thought that we would republish it for those who may have missed it.
Read MoreJuly 2025 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters –Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Comment Deadlines, Political Windows and More
The lazy days of summer provide little respite from the regulatory actions of importance to broadcasters. July brings quarterly requirements, including most importantly, the obligation to upload Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists to a station’s online public file. There are comment deadlines in July in three FCC proceedings: on regulatory fees, on a proposal for LPTV stations to operate under the 5G Broadcast transmission standard, and in the FCC’s proposal to expand foreign ownership disclosure requirements for FCC-issued licensees, including broadcasters.
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