The just-announced consent decree involving two federal agencies resolves the allegations that “Univision radio stations or their employees secretly accepted payment from a record label in exchange for the radio stations giving more frequent airplay to the label’s artists.” In other words, Univision ran afoul of the FCC’s Sponsor ID rule about disclosing such arrangements. Across town, the Department of Justice has “accepted the plea of Univision Services to charges filed by the DOJ based on the same facts.” Neither agency identifies names in the consent decree, but the problems apparently started inside the now-sold-off Univision record label. The FCC and the DOJ coordinated both their investigations and their enforcement actions. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says “Payola – the idea of pay-for-play – misleads the listening public.“ Univision agrees to abide by the rules regarding airplay for "cash or other items of value”, to limit the gifts, concert tickets and other items Univision staffers can accept from labels. And it agrees to appoint a Compliance Officer and regional “compliance contracts.” Read the FCC’s press release about the $1 million settlement here. Importantly, the consent decree says that Univision remains fit to be a licensee, as you can read here.