This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters:  January 20, 2025 to January 24, 2025

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 Trump issued several Executive Orders that could affect FCC decision-making, including an Executive Order suspending government diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and an Executive Order advising federal departments and agencies to freeze implementing or proposing new regulations for 60 days until they have been reviewed by the appropriate department or agency head appointed by the President.  While it is unclear whether Executive Orders can legally bind independent agencies such as the FCC, we have already seen FCC Chairman Carr’s acting in accordance with the Trump directives.  For instance:
  • Carr announced that the FCC will end its DEI initiatives.  While his announcement does not specifically address broadcast EEO policies, Carr vigorously opposed the FCC’s reinstatement of FCC Form 395-B, which requires that broadcasters yearly prepare a report classifying all of its employees by race, gender, and employment position (see the discussions of this obligation on our Broadcast Law Blog here, here, and here).  As an oral argument on Court challenges to the FCC’s reinstatement of the form is scheduled for February 4, we may soon see how Carr’s announcement is applied to the FCC’s defense of that form.  FCC Commissioner Gomez released a statement opposing the end of the FCC’s DEI initiatives. 
• The FCC’s Media and Enforcement Bureaus reinstated the Center for American Rights’ complaints against TV stations owned by the ABC, NBC, and CBS broadcast networks for aspects of their coverage of the 2024 presidential campaign.  These complaints alleged that the stations violated FCC rules prohibiting broadcast news distortion or those requiring equal opportunities for political candidates.  As we discussed in our weekly update last week, as one of the last major actions of the Commission under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, CAR’s complaints (along with those of other parties and a complaint against the renewal of a Fox television station) were dismissed by the Bureaus, finding no evidence to support claims of FCC rule violations and that any action on the complaints would involve the FCC in a prohibited intrusion on the First Amendment.  In this week’s action, the Bureaus, under acting Chiefs newly appointed by Carr,  stated that the dismissals of the complaints were premature because they were based on an insufficient record and that they required further investigation. FCC Commissioner Gomez issued a statement opposing the reinstatement of these complaints.
• There was a Federal Register announcement of the opening of a comment cycle for a petition for reconsideration filed against the FCC’s September 2024 First Report and Order allowing FM stations to operate at different power levels on their upper and lower digital sidebands and permitting FM stations to begin such service simply by notifying the FCC (we noted the First Report and Order in a weekly update here).  The Petitioner raises several arguments against the order and concerns about digital “HD” operations in general, particularly complaining about HD interference to Class A FM stations.  The Petitioner’s proposals include that the FCC should require an FCC application or direct notice to affected stations before an HD operation is implemented and an annual filing of evidence of a station’s continued compliance with their HD authorizations; it should allow objections to HD operations based on real or predicted interference to other FM stations; and that the FCC should provide Class A FM stations with greater interference protection from HD stations.  Comments and reply comments responding to the petition are due February 6 and February 18, respectively.
• The Federal Register notice of the FCC’s TV blackout reporting requirements adopted last month were sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review before they can take effect.  In December, the FCC released a Report and Order requiring multichannel video programming distributors to report TV station blackouts resulting from failed retransmission consent negotiations (see the discussion of that order in our weekly update here).  
• The FCC released a Small Entity Compliance Guide summarizing the “all-in” pricing rule adopted in its April 2024 Report and Order.  The rule requires cable operators and direct broadcast satellite providers to provide the “all-in” price for video programming as a single line item in promotional materials and on subscribers’ bills, including charges for broadcast retransmission consent, regional sports, and other programming.  Cable operators and DBS providers had to begin complying with the “all-in” rule last month.  Small cable operators (those with $47 million or less in annual receipts), however, have until March 19 to comply with the rule.