Guidance Through The Regulatory Maze

Smack in the middle of the license renewal period, broadcasters can rest assured that the rules and regulations they are expected to comply with are as — or perhaps more — complex than ever.

At the NAB Show in Las Vegas Tuesday, a panel of regulatory pros — three attorneys and the FCC’s William Lake — addressed the myriad of issues facing broadcasters, ranging from compliance and indecency complaints to quieting down commercials. Attendees were even offered beer and wine to help with the daunting task of getting a handle on it all.

Complying with the CALM Act, which makes it illegal to air commercials louder than programming, is one of the newest challenges facing broadcasters. Other recent additions include meeting the requirements of the Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which requires broadcasters to provide emergency communications to individuals with disabilities such as blindness, who can’t read crawls or watch video.

And there still could be more. Attorney Rosemary Harold says she expects a push to require broadcasters to disclose the second tier of donors — such as the main contributors to a political group — sponsoring ads “to continue bubbling for a while. It would be an obligation for TV stations to take over some of the functions of the Federal Election Commission to find out names of the donors of the donors,” she said. “The complications of doing this … are pretty daunting.”

Meantime, it’s the nuts and bolts of regulatory compliance — i.e. paperwork — that’s ending up costing TV stations in fines, particularly as they go through the license renewal process. Not having required quarterly reports, as well as EEO and children’s programming reports, has cost TV stations up to $10,000 in fines and, in some cases, the requirement that they file additional documentation for as long as three years, said attorney Sally Buckman.