Mercury buzzed by FCC for $16K

KMTW-TV in Hutchinson KS made an error. For about a month and a half from the very end of May to the middle of...

Happy birthday, FCC

To hear former FCC Commisioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth tell it, he may well have wished that his job there was unnecessary. In a blog post,...

Down on the pharm

Pharmaceutical companies have come to partial agreement with House Energy and Commerce Committee stalwarts John Dingell (D-MI) and Bart Stupak (D-MI), with the result...

Still acting, after all these months

Meredith Atwell-Baker hadn’t even gotten the “acting” out of her title over at NTIA, where she was shepherding the digital-to-analog converter box coupon program...

MMTC asks for corrections to diversity package

The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council is generally pleased with FCC efforts to promote minority and female ownership of communications licenses, but believes the...

Analog sales action, with a twist

Two new consent decrees taking aim at the sale of analog only receiving equipment to consumers have interesting and unusual new angles. Conn’s Inc....

Legislators leery of royalties

Perhaps we were a bit premature in our recent comments on the prospects of performance royalties in Congress. If your perspective is limited to...

More than a reign delay for latest Open Meeting

We pun, because profoundly delayed Open Meetings have been a relatively frequent occurrence under the reign of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. But this one...

Chamber goes to bat for broadcasters

“The broadcast industry must not be shackled with onerous rules that would hinder its ability to compete.” Sounds like something the NAB might say, but in fact these are the words of William L. Kovacs

Cox prevails over dual denial attempts

The $60M acquisition of six stations in the Athens GA vicinity by Cox Radio from Paul Stone’s Southern Broadcasting Companies has been granted by...

Adelstein attacks propaganda

Many FCC commissioners adopt a signature issue as their own special concern, and for Jonathan Adelstein (D) that issue has been sponsorship identification and...

Station hung-up with FCC fine

The manager of the Davenport Hotel and Tower, Matt S. Jensen, had a problem with ProActive Communication’s KQQB-FM, serving the Spokane WA market from...

Sometimes what doesn’t happen is what’s interesting

Although he was not on the preprinted guest list, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was a prominent member of the first panel to appear at...

Markey/Stearns guest list unveiled

The Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet is marking the T-minus 252 days and counting point of the DTV transition with a hearing, and...

Senators target Pentagon propaganda

Actually, they aren’t so much targeting it as trying to prevent it, as a companion measure to legislation already moving through the House. Frank...