This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters:  November 18, 2024 to November 22, 2024

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

• President-elect Donald Trump announced that FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr will serve as the next FCC Chairman when Trump takes office on January 20, and FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel announced that she will be departing the FCC that same day.  Chairwoman Rosenworcel and Commissioners Gomez, Starks, and Simington issued statements congratulating Carr.  Commissioner Gomez also issued a statement thanking Chairwoman Rosenworcel for her leadership.  See our article on our Broadcast Law Blog for a discussion on what Carr’s regulatory priorities may mean for broadcasters.
• The FCC released an Order adopting permanent rules permitting broadcasters to originate programming on FM boosters for up to three minutes per hour for news, advertising, or other content different than that on the primary station (see our article providing more details about this permitted service, written in April when the FCC initially approved this use of  the “geocasting” or “zonecasting” technology).  When the newly adopted rules become effective, initiating such service on an authorized booster will not require FCC prior approval.  Instead, broadcasters only need to notify the FCC, using a form to be developed by the FCC’s Media Bureau, of their intention to begin program origination on an authorized booster 15 days before that operation begins.  The Order also adds rules formalizing other restrictions that were adopted in the FCC’s April order – including capping the number of originating boosters that a single FM or LPFM station can operate at 25 and extending the FCC’s political advertising and political file requirements to originating boosters.  Many of these new rules require the Office of Management and Budget’s approval before becoming effective, so watch for a future announcement of their effective date. 
• The National Association of Broadcasters requested an 18-month extension of the November 26 deadline to comply with the FCC’s rule requiring TV stations to provide an aural description of non-textual emergency information, such as maps or other graphic displays, conveyed outside of station newscasts.  The extension is requested to permit the FCC to consider NAB’s proposal to amend the rules.  As we discussed, here, here, and here, and here, the FCC has extended this deadline numerous times since its 2013 adoption because of the unavailability of technology needed for stations to comply.  The NAB now requests a rule change allowing broadcasters to meet the FCC’s requirements if they provide “textual crawls that provide emergency information duplicative or equivalent to the information conveyed by the visual image.” Otherwise, NAB argues, many stations will cease airing visual images regarding emergencies if the rule takes effect later this week.  See our article on our Blog for more on the NAB’s petition.
• The FCC released a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to update several TV and radio rules.  Many of the proposed changes deal with minor changes to rules for processing applications or they clarify or update the language of ambiguous rules.  Some of the more notable proposals include: (1) allowing AM stations seeking to improve their facilities at their current transmitter sites to request power increases of less than 20% (to eliminate burdens on FCC staff, current rules require do not allow a power increase of less than 20% to be considered by the Commission); (2) allowing directors or designated employees to sign FCC applications – not just officers; and (3) allowing STAs for technical or equipment problems to be granted for 180 days, rather than the 90 days currently permitted by the rules.  The FCC will vote on the draft NPRM at its December 11 Open Meeting.
• The FCC’s Media Bureau reminded broadcasters that its audio description rules will take effect on January 1, 2025 for TV stations affiliated with the Top 4 Networks (i.e., ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) operating in Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs) 101 through 110: (101) Tri-Cities, TN-VA; (102) Reno, NV; (103) Greenville-New Bern-Washington, NC; (104) Davenport-Rock Island-Moline, IA-IL; (105) Tallahassee-Thomasville, FL-GA; (106) Lincoln & Hastings-Kearney, NE; (107) Evansville, IN; (108) Ft. Wayne, IN; (109) Johnstown-Altoona-State College, PA; and (110) Augusta-Aiken, GA-SC.  In 2023, the FCC expanded its audio description requirements to Top 4 Network-affilated TV stations operating in DMAs 101 through 210 beginning with DMAs 91-100 on January 1, 2024, and ending with DMAs 201-210 on January 1, 2035 (see our discussion here).  Audio description provides narrated descriptions of a television program’s key visual elements during natural pauses in the program’s dialogue, for the benefit of individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
• The Media Bureau also entered into a Consent Decree with an Indiana TV station for failing to timely file its license application for its digital replacement translator (DRT) and operating its DRT without FCC authorization for more than four years after it had completed construction of the DRT, including for 18 months after its DRT’s construction permit had expired.  DRTs allow TV stations to continue providing service to viewers that have lost service following a digital transition.  As with the construction of most broadcast facilities, an application for license must be filed when construction of new facilities authorized in a DRT construction permit are completed.  The Consent Decree requires that the station pay a $8,500 penalty and enter into a compliance plan to ensure that future violations do not occur.