After Finding Radio Political File Problems, FCC MB Eyes TV
TV stations, like radio in recent months, could get a slew of political file consent decrees as a signal of FCC interest in those files being up to date and accurate, Media Bureau Policy Division lawyer Gary Schonman said during…
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an FCBA event Tuesday. Most of those, minus consent decrees brought against the big six station chains (see 2007220070), were the result of radio license renewals and stations certifying their public file obligations, he said. TV renewals are starting and will run through 2023, so it's too early to say whether video will have similar consent decree activity, he said. NAB told us it plans to send compliance manual templates by week's end to small and midsize radio stations that they then can personalize. The FCC has sent out 106 consent decrees to broadcasters due to widespread noncompliance and expect that close to 300 will go out as it goes through the current two-year license renewal cycle, said Policy Division Assistant Chief Robert Baker. He said the radio industry and TV broadcasters “are getting their acts together." Baker said a major issue has been getting broadcasters mindful that there's a digital date stamp when they upload materials into their online political files. Some stations in smaller radio markets weren't aware they were required to post into a digital file, "which is a little bit surprising," he said. Schonman said the clock for broadcasters to upload in their political files starts ticking when they receive a firm request to buy airtime for an issue or candidate ad. Asked when a local issue or candidate ad triggers a national importance issue, Schonman said it depends, and if a station decides in a particular situation that an ad was purely local, the FCC will generally defer to that good-faith judgment. Fox Corp. Vice President-FCC Legal and Business Affairs Ann Bobeck said the political ad space is changing rapidly. She mentioned big spending in Florida, presidential campaigns buying at local as well as national levels since the start of the year, and digital ad platforms trending upwards.