Washington Beat

In a 77-22 bipartisan vote, the upper body of Congress passed the "Protect College Sports Act."  It preserves the scope of the "Sports Broadcasting Act" by allowing collective media rights negotiations for games on over-the-air television without extending that exemption to paid subscription streaming services.

She's said it is "unlawful" in past statements, and Anna M. Gómez did so again in a formal dissenting statement condemning her Republican colleagues from making "a profound departure" from both statutory boundaries and longstanding broadcast policy.

Annual employment reports will soon be gone from the FCC’s rulebook. The Media Bureau ordered the removal of the requirement that stations report workforce race, ethnicity, and gender data, bringing federal regulations in line with a Fifth Circuit decision.

The FCC at its September Open Meeting on Wednesday adopted rules designed to open up big swaths of additional spectrum for next-generation connectivity. Specifically, the Commission intends to "unlock" upward 1,000 MHz of spectrum in the 12 GHz and 42 GHz bands for a range of connectivity services.

One of the nation's leading broadcast television companies has updated its financial guidance for the first quarter, which concludes Wednesday. It's a positive boost to guidance Gray Media first released on August 7, and comes in connection "with lender meetings to potentially refinance its credit facility."

It's Commission policy to solicit public input whenever there's a request, even from within the Media Bureau, to amend the Table of FM allotments. Two NPRMs were recently issued by the FCC, one involving a Class A FM signal shift and the other involving a Class A FM's deletion. No one spoke up; the actions are moving forward.

California Republican Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, has introduced legislation aimed at thwarting foreign online piracy and protecting American creators from websites distributing stolen content.

The “How-To” guides identify the tools that are part of many mobile phones’ operating systems or that come with the mobile phone service they purchase. The guides cover Apple and Google devices as well as app-based services provided by the three largest nationwide mobile providers.

The FCC's Media Bureau has established a comment cycle in which interested parties can chime in on a Petition for Rulemaking from XGN/X1 Mobile and Tyche Media that seeks Commission approval for low-power television stations to use the 5G Broadcast transmission standard on a voluntary basis.

Two weeks ago, she wrapped up what she describes as "one of my favorite eras yet." On September 14, the former Director of Communications and Social Media at the National Association Of Broadcasters finished her first day at her new employer — one of the nation's biggest telecommunications companies.

A bipartisan coalition of 18 former FCC decisionmakers has gained the support of two Washington think tanks, which filed an amicus brief with a federal district court in Washington, D.C., in support of a request for emergency relief made by The Walt Disney Company's ABC Television Network.

At long last, the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act" has passed the U.S. House of Representatives. It now awaits a vote in the U.S. Senate, and the NAB and one key supporter of the legislation cheered the House's late Tuesday approval of the bill. So did the head of iHeartMedia.

Here is a look at the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. electorate. National counts of eligible voters for 2026 are Pew Research Center projections, based on Census Bureau estimates. State-level counts and demographic characteristics are based on 2024 American Community Survey data.

MaxxKonnect, the Josh Bohn-led company known for providing broadcast engineering and technology services to broadcasters, has brought to market a no-cost internet-based password generator built to help broadcasters comply with new FCC cybersecurity password rules that take effect on September 29.

The FCC at its upcoming September Open Meeting will vote on two items that its Republican leadership believes would open up "massive troves" of additional spectrum for the next-generation connectivity. One item is a "satellite spectrum abundance order." The other is a plan to modernize "UWB" rules.