Washington Beat

The LPTV Broadcasters Association, founded by entrepreneur and LPTV champion "SuperFrank" Copsidas, very much wants 5G Broadcast to become a voluntary broadcast standard for U.S. LPTV stations. That's why he's written to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seeking "immediate regulatory action."

By an unanimous resolution, all 50 state broadcasters associations, and those representing Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, have agreed to tell legislators on Capitol Hill to reexamine the "Sports Broadcasting Act." Given the current state of access in the streaming era, in particular with NBA playoff games, the call for a closer look is growing louder.

The NAB has a new podcast. AirTime launched today as a weekly series covering legislative and regulatory developments affecting local radio and television stations, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday morning to keep the industry current on DC policy.

The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has confirmed that the Media Bureau has an Acting Bureau Chief, as its previous Bureau Chief will now serve as Deputy Chief of Staff in addition to acting as a Senior Counsel to Brendan Carr.

It was alluded to on Thursday by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr during a post-May Open Meeting press conference with journalists at Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C. Now, we have the full story as to why a radio station is getting a short-term license renewal

The Republican-led House Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee has declined to provide funding for local public broadcasting station infrastructure in its fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill. That led the head of America's Public Television Stations to express disappointment.

If there ever was a time when the NAB could use an inside track at the FCC, particularly in the Media Bureau, Curtis LeGeyt just hit a jackpot potentially bigger than any he could have gotten last week while in Las Vegas for his association's annual convention and expo.

The full Commission has stood by the dismissals of applications for low-power FM radio station construction permits filed in the FCC's 2023 LPFM filing window. That negates a plan to put a facility in Athens, Ala., and another in the Alabama city of Selma.

Four items appear on the FCC's May Open Meeting agenda, including an order to modernize the Disaster Information Reporting System, where outage information is reported during emergencies. Brendan Carr offers a preview of all that's up for discussion on May 20.

The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has rolled out a new national initiative to support broadcasters as the country prepares to commemorate America’s 250th Anniversary. And, it is squarely focused on the role radio and TV have played in shaping our collective history.

It is the former permittee of a deleted FM translator serving Butte, Montana; the former licensee of a station in Anaconda, Mont.; and the current licensee of an AM in Lima, Mont. For Southwest Montana Media, that Lima property could soon see a license cancellation and call letter deletion. Why? It hasn't paid its regulatory fees.

Matthew Wesolowski is known across the industry for his SSR Communications, and for his efforts asking the FCC to create a "Class C4" FM radio station. He is now also known for having his proposal for a new Class C3 FM in Enterprise, Utah, bested by a counterproposal filed by a pair of Arizona station licensees.

In an appearance at the 2026 NAB Show, FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty used a 1998 appearance by then-Chairman Michael Powell and what his vision was for advancing the public interest in broadcasting as a foundation for her thoughts on why the FCC's renewed focus on the subject is of vital importance.

Landover Saturn 5, a company led by CEO Laurence Zimmerman committed to the proliferation of next-generation consumer wireless, has submitted a Request for Rulemaking with the FCC to permit "the repurposing of UHF channels 28-36 for flexible 5G/6G broadband use."

The FCC is moving forward with a pleading cycle in which it is seeking comment from interested parties as to whether or not The E.W. Scripps Co. may move forward with the acquisition of 23 television station from INYO Broadcast Licenses — a deal that would reverse the sale of those properties to INYO by Scripps in late 2020.