The FCC Media Bureau gave broadcasters a one-year extension on the audible crawl waiver in an order Monday. The audible crawl rule requires broadcasters to provide an audio version of on-screen graphically displayed emergency information, but the FCC has repeatedly waived it since 2015 (see 2412300029). The current waiver was set to expire May 27, but the new order extends it to May 27, 2026. NAB had requested an 18-month waiver extension and has also petitioned the FCC to make it easier for broadcasters to satisfy the audible crawl requirement. Last year, the FCC allowed the waiver to briefly lapse, which caused some TV broadcasters to cease showing weather radar maps in case it was seen as a rule violation (see 2411290007).
The New York office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau sent a warning to North Shore Financial in Tarrytown about pirate radio broadcasts emanating from its property in Springfield Gardens, said an agency notice issued Thursday. EB agents found unauthorized radio broadcasts coming from the property in January, the notice said. Unlike in recent similar notices, the precise address of the property was redacted. The FCC didn’t provide a reason for the redaction, but a footnote in the notice said the information is “confidential.” The notice warned that the landowners could face up to a $2.4 million penalty for hosting unauthorized broadcasts, but the FCC’s authority to issue monetary forfeitures is currently under legal challenge (see 2504180021).
The Consumer Technology Association wants House and Senate Commerce committee leadership to oppose NAB’s petition to the FCC on the ATSC 3.0 transition, CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said in a letter to legislators Tuesday. The letter was sent to Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and House Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Comments on the NAB petition were due Wednesday in docket 16-142.
The Media Bureau is seeking comment on HC2’s petition asking the FCC to allow low-power broadcasters to transmit using the 5G broadcast standard, said a public notice Friday. Comments are due in docket 25-168 June 2, replies July 1. HC2 has argued that the standard, which some view as a competitor to ATSC 3.0, provides an opportunity for a flagging LPTV industry to broadcast to mobile devices (see 2504030053).
President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr are undermining the freedom of the press, said the Center for American Progress in a post Monday. In their actions against broadcasting networks, Trump and Carr have taken steps “to threaten, investigate, and continue litigating with media companies that Trump perceives as political adversaries,” CAP said. “Retribution against the media hurts everyday Americans, who depend on an undeterred press to accurately report the news, expose wrongdoing, and help them hold elected leaders accountable.” Using the FCC’s regulatory powers “against news organizations that Trump has long criticized, often for their protected editorial decisions,” is not in the public interest, CAP said. “The practices of Trump and the FCC -- including seemingly ignoring established legal processes and aggregating power -- could transform the press from a vigilant watchdog into a weakened lapdog.”
The FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Region One office in Maryland sent a warning to a business in Worcester, Massachusetts, about pirate radio broadcasts emanating from its property, said an agency notice issued Thursday. EB agents from the New York office found unauthorized radio broadcasts coming from the property owned by Devaney Realty Holdings in July and December of last year, the notice said. The address, 60 Fremont St., appears to house a leather goods store and an auto repair shop, according to an online search. The notice warned that the landowners could face up to a $2.4 million penalty for hosting pirate broadcasts. The FCC’s authority to issue monetary forfeitures is currently facing legal challenges in multiple courts (see 2504180021).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s statements and actions as head of the agency run exactly counter to his prior positions as a commissioner, said the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Robert Corn-Revere in an article Wednesday in The Dispatch. Corn-Revere served as chief counsel to former FCC Commissioner James Quello.
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday that his lawsuit against CBS, 60 Minutes and Paramount over the editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris is a “true WINNER” and threatened the New York Times for reporting that the case is baseless. “They just have a non curable case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, possibly to the point where the Times’ interjection makes them liable for tortious interference, including in Elections, which we are intently studying,” Trump wrote. “60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People, the Federal Elections Commission, and the Federal Communications System.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez hopes broadcasters “will show courage” in the face of FCC threats against free speech and a free press, she said Monday in an interview on CNN. “The danger of any kind of capitulation by any entity that capitulates to demands to censor or chill speech is it breeds further capitulation,” she said. “It is my hope, in fact, that we will see more courage, and we will see more pushback against this administration.” She also said there's no evidence that CBS violated FCC news distortion rules.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Region One office in Maryland sent a warning to a business in Hartford, Connecticut, about pirate radio broadcasts from its property, said an agency notice of illegal pirate radio broadcasting issued Friday. EB agents in Boston found unauthorized radio broadcasts coming from the property owned by 30 Arbor Street LLC on three different days last year, the notice said. The property appears to include house apartments and a distillery called the Hartford Flavor Co., according to an online search.