The FCC Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director revoked the licenses of two Kremling Enterprises-owned radio stations in Texas because they had nearly $14,200 in unpaid regulatory fees, according to an order Friday. KYKM(FM) Yoakum and KTXM(FM) Hallettsville have delinquent fees from FY 2017-21and FY 2024. The order also dismissed pending renewal applications for the stations.
The New York office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau sent a warning to Ray Dolph Brown and Wilsonia Brown about pirate radio broadcasts emanating from their property in the Bronx, said an agency notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest. EB agents found unauthorized radio broadcasts coming from the property in February, the notice said. It warned that the landowners could face up to a $2.4 million penalty.
An FCC order allowing digital FM stations to operate with asymmetric power on the digital sidebands took effect Friday, the Media Bureau said in a public notice that day in the Daily Digest. The order was unanimously approved ahead of the September meeting (see 2409250053).
NAB said in reply comments filed last week that the FCC should proceed with a rulemaking on software-based emergency alert systems over the objections of EAS equipment manufacturer Digital Alert Systems (see 2505050055). “The record consists of nearly unanimous support, with only one self-interested detractor,” NAB said, adding that the agency can explore DAS’ objections over the course of the rulemaking process. “NAB has full confidence that the Commission, with input from industry experts, will be able to identify and properly address such issues."
The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied Gray’s April petition for a rehearing of its legal challenge against a $518,283 forfeiture imposed by the FCC, said an order Friday. Gray had sought rehearing en banc (see 2504220052) in the wake of the 5th Circuit’s recent ruling against the FCC over a penalty assessed against AT&T (see 2504180021). “The Petition for Rehearing En Banc is DENIED, no judge in regular active service on the Court having requested that the Court be polled on rehearing en banc,” said Friday’s order. In March, the 11th Circuit upheld the FCC’s forfeiture order against Gray over a violation of ownership rules (see 2503070004) but vacated the penalty because the agency didn’t adequately provide notice that the violation was “egregious.”
The appellate court decision that the FCC's 2024 equal employment opportunity data collection requirement for broadcasters was outside the agency's statutory authority (see 2505190044) makes some proposed FCC actions "inherently suspect," Wilkinson Barker broadcast lawyer David Oxenford wrote Wednesday. The proposed rules regarding the use of AI-generated content in political advertising (see 2407250046) also relied heavily on the agency's supposed public interest authority, Oxenford said. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has talked about holding broadcasters liable for not meeting some public interest standard, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision could suggest that standard doesn't give the FCC authority to establish broadcast codes of conduct, except in areas specifically enumerated by statute, he said. "In light of this decision, there will no doubt be much evaluation of the text of the FCC’s statutory authority to see what rules and what proposals may be on shaky ground."
National Religious Broadcasters emailed us Monday night claiming a victory over "woke ideology" in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that day overturning the FCC's 2024 order on collecting data on workforce diversity (see 2505190044). The group was among the prevailing petitioners.
Host John Oliver on Sunday warned viewers of HBO’s Last Week Tonight that President Donald Trump poses a threat to press freedom and that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been complicit in Trump’s efforts to silence some media outlets. The White House has attempted to “weaponize” the FCC, Oliver said.
A host of conservative groups urged the FCC to repeal national and local radio and TV ownership limits. “Without reform, valued local broadcast radio and television services could disappear entirely,” the groups told Chairman Brendan Carr in a Wednesday letter, which was circulated by NAB Friday. Signatories to the letter included Heritage Action for America, Americans for Tax Reform, the Digital First Project and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The Center for American Rights, which has filed FCC complaints against the programming of NAB members Paramount, Disney and NBCUniversal, also signed. NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said in a release Friday that the trade group was “grateful for the wide-ranging support to modernize these outdated broadcast ownership rules and echo the call for the FCC to level the playing field.”
A pirate radio operator in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, has agreed to pay $11,000 to the FCC as part of a settlement with the agency, said an order and consent decree in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. In January 2024, the FCC approved a notice of apparent liability against Wilfrid Salomon, proposing a fine of $358,665. The agency said then that Salomon had been operating a pirate station for years and received multiple FCC warnings. After the NAL, Salomon gave the agency evidence of his inability to pay the proposed forfeiture amount, according to the consent decree. After determining that Salomon ceased broadcasting, the Enforcement Bureau said it agreed to the settlement. Under the consent decree, Salomon agreed not to commit future acts of pirate broadcasting or assist anyone else in doing so. If he violates the settlement, he will have to pay the remaining $347,665 proposed in the NAL, the consent decree said.