Regulation

False EAS alerts have typically popped up in commercials as a way of getting jaded viewers’ and listeners’ attention, which makes them challenging to successfully defend. But what happens when the use of the alert tone is not in an ad, like in the case of its inclusion by CBS in an episode of Young Sheldon? The FCC is effectively claiming that CBS falsely yelled “fire” in a crowded theater, which is the well-established exception to First Amendment protections.  CBS, on the other hand, is countering that it only yelled “boogeyman,” and that any reasonable viewer isn’t going to panic, because the public knows the difference between real and fictional things.

The suit by the family-owned conservative cable network alleges that Rachel Maddow’s comments on her July 22 show calling it “paid Russian propaganda” were retaliation after OAN’s president accused Comcast of censorship for refusing to carry the channel. The suit also names MSNBC, its parent and Comcast.

The commission says the fine for an episode of Young Sheldon reinforces its rule that Emergency Alert System tones must only be used for real emergencies and authorized testing.

Following years of federal inaction, the nation’s state attorneys general are initiating sweeping antitrust investigations against Silicon Valley’s largest Big Tech companies, probing whether they undermine rivals and harm consumers. Their latest salvo arrives today, when more than 40 attorneys general are expected to announce their plan to investigate Google, delivering a rare rebuke of the search-and-advertising giant — and its efforts to maintain that dominance — from the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Supreme Court justices will hear arguments Nov. 13 in a $20 billion lawsuit that Comedian and media mogul Byron Allen filed against Comcast, with the outcome also affecting a $10 billion racial discrimination case he has filed against Comcast.

The FCC yesterday released several fact sheets detailing how the regulatory fees due to be paid by Sept. 24 of this year should be paid. For broadcasters, perhaps the most important is the Media Bureau Regulatory Fees Fact Sheet. This sheet sets out specific information about how to determine the amount of the fees to be paid by each broadcast station.

A healthy handful of states is investigating Facebook over antitrust issues. New York Attorney General Letitia James today confirmed that she is heading up a “bipartisan coalition” of state AGs — nine in all so far — looking into the company to see whether it has used its social media dominance anticompetitively.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is proposing to “modernize” some more media ownership rules at its September meeting, according to Pai, who has periodically taken out the regulatory weed whacker he promise early open to use to clear out some bureaucratic underbrush. The commission is scheduled to issue a tentative agenda Sept. 5, three weeks before its scheduled public meeting, where the items will be outlined in greater detail.

The FCC has resolved its investigation into a couple of Nexstar stations that failed to comply with children’s TV reporting requirements, which follows its dismissal of a retrans complaint against the broadcaster that comes in the context of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s circulation of an item approving Nexstar’s merger with Tribune. The commission likes to resolve pending issues with a merger party that could impact its standing as a licensee before deciding whether to let it own more stations.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the White House to restore the hard pass of Playboy’s correspondent Brian Karem, whose credentials were suspended after an incident in July in which he got in argument with former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka following a Rose Garden ceremony.

Google has agreed to pay between $150 million and $200 million to resolve an FTC investigation into YouTube over alleged violations of a children’s privacy law, according to a person familiar with the matter. The FTC voted 3-2 along party lines to approve the settlement, sending it over to the Justice Department as part of the review process, the person confirmed. Details about other terms of the settlement were not immediately available.

The FCC has released its finalized schedule of annual Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2019, and thanks to the collective efforts of all 50 state broadcaster associations and the National Association of Broadcasters, there is some good news for radio stations and satellite television stations.

The FCC on Tuesday released its Report and Order on regulatory fees. The order says that the fees will be due by Sept. 30.  The FCC should soon issue additional guidance about the exact filing dates and procedures.

The FCC dismissed Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) criticism of the agency’s chairman as “hot air,” after the Democratic presidential candidate accused him of advancing the interests of the telecom industry. The pushback comes in response to an op-ed the senator published in The Washington Post on Tuesday arguing for renewed federal efforts to expand internet access to areas that lack it.

The new appointee, currently is a professor of business economics and public policy at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, begins at the commission on Sept. 3.

A federal grand jury has indicted eight people on charges of conspiring to violate copyright law by running a couple of the largest unauthorized TV show and movie streaming sites, according to the Department of Justice.

While September is one of those months in which there are few of the normally recurring filing deadlines (no EEO reports, renewal filings or quarterly reports need to be submitted during the month), there is one big deadline that no commercial broadcaster should forget — the filing of annual regulatory fees.

While the Justice Department signed off on the deal last month with TV station spin-offs in 13 markets, the FCC has yet to complete its public interest review of the merger. Currently, the deal is on day 192 of the FCC’s informal 180-day shot clock. An FCC spokesperson had no comment on the timing of the FCC’s decision.

While the FCC could wave its wand and turn all C-band downlinks into just so much scrap metal, optimism runs high that the CBA’s proposal for reapportionment of the 500 MHz spectrum and band sharing will be the outcome—if 5G does have to be accommodated. However, that approach involves the addition of an LNB filter, and likely will require retuning receivers and moving dishes to different satellites.

A judge appointed a special prosecutor Friday to look into why the Chicago state’s attorney’s office abruptly dropped the case against Jussie Smollett, leaving open the possibility that the former Empire actor could yet face charges in what police say was a phony attack on himself that he staged to get attention.