Legal Issues for Broadcasters – Updates on Pending Matters

There are so many legal issues that facing broadcasters that it is sometimes difficult to keep up with them all. This Blog and many other activities that those at my firm engage in are meant to help our clients and other broadcasters keep up to date on all of the many regulatory challenges with which broadcasters must deal, while at the same time keeping up with their business operations. Each quarter, my partner David O’Connor and I update a list of the legal and regulatory issues facing TV broadcasters. That list of issues is published by TVNewsCheck and is available on their website, here. Our latest update was published last week, and provides a summary of the status of legal and regulatory issues ranging from the adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard at one end of the alphabet to White Spaces and Wireless Microphones on the other – with summaries of other issues including the Incentive Auction, EEO compliance, Political Advertising and Sponsorship Identification, along with dozens of other topics, many with links to our more detailed discussions here on the Blog. Of course, these issues change almost daily, as last week’s article does not include a discussion of the Chairman’s announcement that there will be no changes in the rules regarding the good faith negotiation of retransmission consent agreements, an announcement about which we wrote last week, here. But if you are trying to keep on top of all the other legal and regulatory issues TV broadcasters should be considering this summer, or if you are looking for the current status of specific proceedings potentially impacting TV broadcasters, check out our most recent updated summary, here.

Of course, there are issues that radio broadcasters face as well. Since the end of May, I have traveled to five different broadcasters’ conventions to talk about the many legal and regulatory issues that are facing the broadcast industry generally, including those that are facing radio. The slides that I used for my presentation at the last of these conferences, the Montana Broadcasters Annual Convention, are available here. In that presentation, I discussed issues including AM revitalization and FM translators, the online public inspection file, music licensing, political broadcasting, and other matters. While none of these articles or presentations can be comprehensive, these slides and the TV NewsCheck update, at least give you a quick overview of the many issues that broadcasters should be watching to stay on top of their legal obligations.