Tag: Media Bureau

Industry Views

After Warning Talk Radio, ABC Sues the FCC

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Matthew B. Harrison
TALKERS, VP/Associate Publisher
Harrison Legal Group, Senior Partner
Goodphone Communications, Executive Producer

 

imgABC warned that the FCC’s scrutiny of “The View” could reach talk radio. Now the eight ABC-owned television station licensees have taken the agency to court. But the immediate lawsuit is not asking a judge to decide whether “The View” qualifies as news.

Rather, it challenges the FCC’s decision to force those local stations into license renewal years ahead of schedule. On April 28, the FCC’s Media Bureau invoked a rule allowing early renewal when it considers that step essential to an investigation. The stations filed under protest, and on August 18 asked a federal court to halt the proceeding before the FCC can designate it for a hearing.

The FCC says it is investigating possible unlawful discrimination in ABC’s employment practices and whether the stations have served the public interest. ABC calls that explanation a pretext, pointing to public demands that it fires Jimmy Kimmel, threats against its licenses, criticism of its editorial decisions, and the separate proceeding involving “The View.” No license has been denied, and the FCC has not yet answered the lawsuit.

The ABC network does not hold one national broadcast license. Its local stations hold the licenses, and the same federal licensing structure covers terrestrial radio. An online-only show has no FCC broadcast license for the agency to call in.

ABC’s legal argument is that the process itself can punish speech. A costly, open-ended license proceeding may chill hosts, producers and programmers before a regulator ever issues a censorship order. For talk radio, the question is not whether you like ABC; it is whether the government may use threats to a station’s license to influence who gets booked, what gets asked, or which opinions reach the air.

Matthew B. Harrison is a media and intellectual property attorney who advises radio hosts, content creators, and creative entrepreneurs. He has written extensively on fair use, AI law, and the future of digital rights. Reach him at Matthew@HarrisonLegalGroup.com or read more at TALKERS.com.

Industry News

FCC Seeking Public Comments on Sports Broadcasting Practices and Marketplace Developments

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

The FCC’s Media Bureau is asking for the public’s comments on the current state of sports broadcasting. In making the announcement, the Commission says, “Many games are still available for free over broadcast TV, but there has been a surge in recent years of games going behind the paywalls of various streaming services.  While this can increase the number of games and sports available to fans, many consumers today find it more difficult to find the events they want to watch and are now paying to sign up for one or more video distribution platforms that consumers can find difficult to navigate.”

With that said, it is asking for consumers to “address the current and emerging trends in the distribution of live sports programming.  How does the present marketplace benefit or harm consumers?  How does theimg recent trends towards fragmentation facilitate or inhibit the ability of local broadcast television stations to meet their public interest obligations, including their production of local news and reporting?  In what ways is the marketplace continuing to evolve and how will future changes impact consumer access to free over-the-air news and information, including public safety information?”

NAB president Curtis LeGeyt issued the following statement in response: “NAB thanks Chairman Carr for his leadership in examining the rapid changes in the sports broadcasting marketplace and what they mean for American viewers and local communities.

“Consumer access to premier games through free, over-the-air television has long been a cornerstone of the American sports fan experience. As distribution becomes more fragmented across streaming services and paywalls, fans face higher costs and greater confusion just to follow the teams they care about. Local broadcasters provide the widest reach for live events, bringing fans together to celebrate their favorite teams.

“As the Commission evaluates these marketplace trends, it is important to ensure that local stations have a fair opportunity to compete for premium sports rights. That includes modernizing outdated ownership restrictions that limit broadcasters’ ability to achieve the scale necessary to compete in today’s media marketplace. We look forward to participating in this proceeding and providing real-world insight into how disruption in the media landscape is affecting viewers and local stations.”

Industry News

FCC’s Media Bureau Publishes Foreign Government Programming Rules

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

Earlier this week, the FCC’s Media Bureau “released rule modifications to the sponsorship identification requirements for foreign government-provided programming, which require a public disclosure to be made, at the time of broadcast, identifying the foreign source of such programming. The Second Report and Order adopted a revised approach that provides radio and television broadcast licensees with two options forimg demonstrating that they have met their duty of inquiry in seeking to obtain the information needed to determine whether programming is sponsored, paid for, or furnished by a foreign governmental entity.” While this new sponsorship identification requirements for foreign government-provided programming was passed 3-2 by the Commission last summer, it has been challenged in the courts and remains there. Because of this, yesterday’s announcement of the publication of the rules in the federal register also adds that the implementation of the rules are being put off for six months until December 8, 2025. One of the arguments put forth by broadcasters opposed to the new rules is that they put radio and TV stations in the position of having to conduct an investigation in order to comply with the law.