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.

• The FCC announced that annual regulatory fees must be paid through its CORES database by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on September 26.  The FCC also issued a Public Notice explaining the procedures for making payments, including limits on credit card payments.  For broadcasters, the FCC’s Media Bureau released a Fact Sheet explaining what is owed by commercial broadcasters.  The FCC released another Fact Sheet explaining the procedures for seeking a waiver or deferral of the fees.  Paying regulatory fees late can bring substantial penalties (25% penalty plus interest), so broadcasters should immediately review these documents and begin to prepare their fees so that they can be timely submitted.  However, incorrect FCC calculations caused many stations’ fees to be stated in the FCC CORES system through which the fees are to be submitted, often stating the fees as being substantially higher than they were supposed to be (fees were to have decreased for most radio stations from the amounts paid last year).  The FCC is determining how to correct its CORES fee filing system. In the meantime, the FCC has posted a notification in the CORES database instructing AM and FM broadcasters not to make any fee payments until it has resolved the issue – which it expects to occur early next week.    See our Broadcast Law Blog articles here and here regarding broadcasters’ regulatory fee obligations, including our discussion of the glitches resulting in the FCC databases providing incorrect information about how much radio stations owe.
• The FEC announced that, at its next meeting on September 19, it will vote on a Notification of Disposition circulated by four FEC Commissioners proposing that the FEC not open a rulemaking proceeding to adopt specific rules regulating the use of AI in political ads.  Instead, the draft Notification would adopt a policy of deciding on a case-by-case basis whether any AI use in political ads violates the FEC’s existing rules prohibiting fraudulent misrepresentations by one federal candidate or committee of the speech or writing of another candidate or committee.  As we discuss in our article here, there has been much debate at the FEC regarding whether the agency has the authority to regulate AI use in political ads, and this item appears to represent a compromise on the issue among a majority of the FEC Commissioners.
• The NAB and the Society of Broadcast Engineers released a self-inspection checklist for AM stations.  This follows the NAB and SBE’s release of self-inspection checklists for FM and TV stations, which were announced at the NAB Show in April.  As the FCC discontinued preparing self-inspection guides in 2010, these new checklists provide broadcast stations a comprehensive outline for reviewing their compliance with the FCC’s rules.  NAB members can access the checklists here, and SBE members can access the checklists here.
• The FCC announced that October 11 is the deadline for all “U.S.-based foreign media outlets” to register with the FCC.  These outlets are companies which are backed by a foreign government or political party that provide video programming to MVPDs.  These entities must notify the FCC of their ownership structure and their relationship with the foreign government or political party, including whether the outlet receives funding from that government or political party.  The FCC is required to report to Congress every six months on the operations of U.S.-based foreign media outlets,  The FCC will submit its next report by November 9.
• A Field Office of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Violation against a Pennsylvania LPFM station after FCC agents found that the station was operating from an unauthorized site, over 5 miles from its licensed site, and almost a mile from a site authorized in a construction permit.  The station now has 20 days to respond to the Notice by detailing the steps it will take to correct the violation and prevent its recurrence.  The FCC will decide what action to take against the licensee after the response is filed.
• The Media Bureau took several actions against broadcasters for violations of FCC rules:
  • The Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with a group Missouri, Illinois, and Virginia radio stations to conclude its investigation of unauthorized transfers of control resulting from several changes in the stations’ corporate ownership occurring since 2009, including the buy-out of certain shareholders, the transfer of ownership interests between shareholders, and the conversion of certain companies owning shares from LLCs to corporations .  The Consent Decree requires that the stations pay a $15,000 penalty and enter into a compliance plan to ensure that similar violations do not occur in the future.
  • The Bureau fined an Idaho TV translator $1,000 for the late filing of a license application informing the Commission that it had completed construction of facilities authorized by a construction permit granting a change in channels.  The license application was filed over two years after the construction was complete (such applications are due upon the completion of construction).  The fine also cited the station’s operation without FCC authorization after the construction permit expired. The Bureau reinstated the translator’s construction permit and accepted its license application, finding that the loss of the translator would deprive viewers in the rural area it serves of access to programming of the translator’s network affiliated primary station.
  • The Bureau entered into Consent Decrees with a Wyoming AM station and an Idaho FM station for failing to comply with their Online Public Inspection File obligations, requiring the stations to enter into compliance plans to prevent future OPIF violations.