Media Bureau Grants Six-Month Retroactive Audible Crawl Waiver
The Media Bureau has granted NAB’s request for an expedited retroactive extension of the audible crawl waiver, said an order Friday. The waiver applies from Nov. 26, 2024 -- the date of the last waiver’s expiration – until May 27,…
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2025, or until the FCC rules on NAB’s separate petition for a longer term waiver. Broadcasters have said that the expiration of the waiver, which had been continuously in effect since 2015, caused stations to pull radar maps from their severe weather coverage (see 2412170056). “We note that this action will maintain the status quo that existed prior to the expiration of the waiver on November 26, 2024, while the underlying petition is considered and this action does not prejudge the issues pending in that underlying petition,” the order said. Because the waiver would maintain the status quo from before it expired and no one has opposed NAB’s request, “we conclude that special circumstances warrant a further temporary waiver from this aspect of the Audible Crawl Rule for a brief period,” the order said. Though NAB asked for the temporary waiver until the FCC rules on the longer term request, the order limited it to six months because “grant of a temporary waiver that does not include a specific time period would be inconsistent with our prior actions in this area,” the order said. “Consistent with prior waivers, we continue to strongly encourage broadcasters to provide the critical details of graphically displayed emergency information in an accessible manner whenever possible during the pendency of this waiver.”