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about 1 hour ago

Fisher "self-disclosed" problems with a 2007 contest, which helps with the FCC

fisher communications Fisher Communications' own internal audit turned up a case of a former promotion department employee manipulating the outcome of the "Secret Listener Salute" contest on KVI, Seattle (570). It went to the local police, and also contacted the FCC. Read More

about 6 hours ago

FCC targets four Hawaii broadcasters for EAS violations

The FCC has pointed the finger at four stations in Hawaii for not re-transmitting the required monthly EAS test. The Notice of Violation sent to Salem’s country KHCM-FM (97.5) Honolulu indicates that this is a case of an FCC agent monitoring the dial for potential violations, instead of simply responding to complaints. Read More

Thursday, May 24, 2012

FCC releases call-sign changes. Interesting to note are...

Some five dozen call-sign changes have been made public by the FCC. Among those of note is the San Jose area's KCNL (licensed to Sunnyvale at 104.9) that’s flipping from Spanish to classical. Read More

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

FCC levies $25k fine against Pacific Empire Radio's five Oregon outlets

With three years of missing public file documents, the FCC isn’t taking “change of management” as a valid reason to let five Pacific Empire Radio stations in Oregon off the hook. The result: a fine of $25,000. Read More

Monday, May 21, 2012

Sorry, KUFW-FM Cali: If you say you're non-com, FCC expects you to mean it

FCC alternate If you say you’re a “non-commercial” radio station, the FCC expects you to stand by the essence of its meaning: no commercials. The commission is holding to a $12,500 fine it levied two years ago against The Cesar Chavez Foundation’s Fresno-market regional Mexican non-com KUFW-FM (90.5) Woodlake, Calif. Read More

Friday, May 18, 2012

Word to the wise: FCC Section 73.1206 (phone calls on-air) means business

Oh, that pesky FCC Section 73.1206. That’s the mandate that spells out in no uncertain terms that no part of a telephone conversation can be recorded for potential on-air broadcasting without upfront consent of the participating party. Read More

Monday, May 14, 2012

The two newest FCC Commissioners are now on the job

FCC After many months of their nominations being held up by one Senator, Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Ajit Pai begin their work at the Portals. There should be a short break-in period, since they both previously worked on staff at the agency. Read More

Monday, May 14, 2012

Short-term license renewals plus $10K fines for public file problems in VA & MD

FCC Two licensees are punished by the FCC for falling "far short of the standard of compliance that would warrant routine license renewal." In both situations, the operators failed to put quarterly issues/programs lists in the public file for the entire duration of their eight-year license term. That is apparently why the FCC's Audio Division tacked on… Read More

Friday, May 11, 2012

FCC to lay out details about translator and LPFM allocations, at May 16 forum

FCC A nine-year-old logjam is about to be broken, sometime this year. Next Wednesday, four officials from the Media Bureau's Audio Division, including Chief Peter Doyle, will explain "how pending FM translator applicants from the 2003 Auction 83 window and pending and prospective FM translator modification applicants will be processed." The Commission … Read More

Monday, May 7, 2012

Ajit Pai & Jessica Rosenworcel are finally confirmed to the FCC

FCC They have been in suspense since their October 31 nominations. Senator Charles Grassley recently released his "hold" due to an unrelated issue with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, and today the U.S. Read More

Friday, May 4, 2012

FCC issues its proposed annual regulatory fees, due in September

FCC The new rates are based on class and power. For FM stations, they range from $700 for Class A, B1 and C3 stations serving a population of less than 25,000, up to $11,500 for Class B, C, C0, C1 and C2 serving more than three million. Read More

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Hail Marys don't help: FCC levies $10K fine against college Christian non-comm

The FCC is lining its coffers with yet another broadcaster fine. This time, student-run non-comm Contemporary Christian WTXR (89.7) Toccoa Falls, Ga., is levied with a $10,000 smackdown. Read More

Friday, April 27, 2012

FCC mandates online public files for political ads; NAB disagrees

The FCC has issued a mandate that requires broadcasters to post their entire public files online, including political ad rates—despite objections from broadcasters and the NAB. They insist that posting political rates (including data on advertising bought by candidates, PACs and advocacy groups) would interfere with their sales efforts and allow ri… Read More

Thursday, April 26, 2012

FCC proposes rules allowing non-comms to raise money for catastrophic events

FCC alternate The FCC has proposed a rulemaking that would allow non-commercial broadcasters to raise money for charities and other nonprofit organizations. The public stations would be allowed to spend up to 1%—or about 88 hours a year—of their total annual broadcast time toward such initiatives, such as lending support to helping victims of worldwide catastrop… Read More

Monday, April 23, 2012

Bronx cheer: Four years later, FCC stands by pirate fine

The FCC is standing by a $10,000 fine it issued in 2008 to a pirate broadcaster operating from the Bronx, N.Y. Enforcement Bureau agents originally traced illegal broadcast transmissions from the 96.5 frequency coming from a two-story building in the Bronx in late February 2008, and in March nabbed a woman on-air from a small broadcast studio at th… Read More

Monday, April 23, 2012

FCC fines Google $25K (yawn!) for "impeding an investigation"

FCC The FCC has tapped Google on the wrist with a $25,000 fine for “impeding an investigation” into its Street View mapping mechanism... which is kind of like a barely audible whisper in the realm of Google's 4Q 2011 revenues of $10 billion. Read More

Friday, April 20, 2012

The FCC yields to FEMA, changes its mind about "text to speech" for EAS

EAS This issue, with its looming deadline to turn off text-to-speech capabilities, was a major topic of conversation at last week's NAB Show in Las Vegas, among the engineering community. The Commission's January 10 Fifth Report and Order on the Emergency Alert System was about to take effect, banning text-to-speech (TTS). Read More

Friday, April 20, 2012

American Samoa’s WVUV earns an $18,000 fine from the FCC

FCC alternate The fine is for operating the station at an unauthorized site; leaving the station silent without proper authorization; and for failing to respond to Commission communications. In 2008, licensee South Seas requested that the proposed forfeiture “be set aside." It did not contest the Bureau’s findings that it violated the Commission’s rules, but ins… Read More

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

"Fleeting nudity" isn't the same as "fleeting indecency", says the government

On behalf of the FCC, the Administration's Solicitor General asks the Supreme Court to review a Second Circuit decision that junked the FCC fine against CBS television for Janet Jackson's breast-flash on the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Politico says the solicitor general draws a distinction between the Commission's longtime exemption for "fleeti… Read More

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The FCC releases its latest Call Sign changes list

It's possible to see some call letter reserved, usually for a station sale. Also to see many more that have already happened, because of sales, LMA or garden-variety format changes. Read More

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