Broadcast Regulations

Historically, broadcasting has been the most heavily regulated mass medium.
In February 1996, the Congress enacted, and the President signed, the
Telecommunications Act of 1996.
The law should more appropriately be called the Consolidation Act of 1996,
because it has permitted concentration of electronic media ownership at the
national and local levels. And that consolidation theme has been continued and
expanded since passage of the act.
During the early days of broadcasting, there were very few rules to follow. Anyone
who wanted to transmit a broadcast signal on any frequency could do so, thus
creating a jamming effect on frequencies carrying more than one station.
After years of discussion and compromise among all factions involved in this
growing industry, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927. The act provided for the
formation of a Federal Radio Commission (FRC), The FRC was to oversee
broadcasting on a trial basis for one year. At the end of the year, its term was
extended and it continued in effect until 1934.
In February 1934, President Franklin D. create an agency to be known as the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and to bring all means of electronic
communication under the jurisdiction of this one agency.
After George Herbert Walker Bush became president in 1989, he appointed as
FCC chairman Alfred Sikes, former head of the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration.
He worked to revise certain archaic rules at the same time, pioneered new
concepts, like the entry of telephone companies into video. Sikes also undertook
some technology-based initiatives, such as high-definition television (HDTV) and
digital audio broadcasting (DAB).
When broadcasting emerged, it was recognized as having an obligation to serve
the public interest. This phrase, along with convenience and necessity, was
included in the Communications Act.
The term public interest similarly occurs in the crucially important sections dealing
with granting, renewing, and transferring licenses.
The FCC does believe that it is in the public interest for stations to carry programs
dealing with community issues and problems. The whole topic of what is and what
is not public interest is once again under review.
Broadcast regulation does not come entirely from the FCC other than the FCC, is
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC is the federal governments

primary agent for advertising regulation. Its general mandate is to guard against
unfair and deceptive advertising in all media.
There are four considerations in deciding whether an advertisement is deceptive:

The meaning of the advertisement must be determined. In other words,

what promise is made?

The truth of the message must be determined.

When only a part of the advertisement is false, it must be determined

whether the false part is a material aspect of the advertisement; that is, is it
capable of affecting the purchasing decision of the consumer?

The level of understanding and experience of the audience to which the

advertisement is directed must be determined.

Consumers, as a whole, have little or no influence when it comes to policing false

advertising. For the most part, all they can do is report it to the regulatory agencies.
Other federal agencies and executive departments have also stepped into the
power vacuum left by FCC deregulation actions. For example the Department of
Justice or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Professional counsel keeps the client abreast of the many FCC deadlines and
provides a vehicle for commenting on rules and regulations changes that the FCC
is considering.
The broadcast industry is full of forms. To begin the process of establishing a new
broadcast station, an individual,
partnership, or corporation must meet certain criteria. They include the following:

The licensee must be a U.S. citizen.

The licensee must be of good character.

The licensee must have substantial financial resources to establish and

maintain the station.

The licensee must have the technical ability to operate the station according
to FCC regulations.

Broadcast licenses are not issued on a permanent basis and must be renewed on
a regular timetable.
The ownership rules govern who can own what, and where. They include
limitations on numbers and kinds of stations that can be commonly owned in a
market and on the total number that can be owned in the country as a whole by a
single person or entity.

Before the implementation of the new local ownership rules, many operators who
were experiencing financial or competitive strain had entered into local marketing
agreements (LMAs).
The television rules were changed more modestly under the 1996 act. National
ownership levels were removed, as they were in radio.
The 1996 law permitted the FCC to issue waivers to allow common ownership of
radio and television stations in the same market.
The 1996 law mandated that the FCC conduct an ownership rule review every two
years.
Cross-ownership was permitted among TV, radio, and newspapers. The FCC
restated its commitment to localism.
In September 2003, Chairman Powell announced a localism initiative. It had three
parts: (1) a localism task force; (2) accelerating activation of low power stations;
and (3) notice of inquiry.
Programming policies cover a broad area of station activity. Here, the focus is on
those of particular significance to station management.
Enforcement of federal laws and FCC regulations pertaining to political advertising
has become a particular emphasis with the FCC.
FCC attorneys advise their clients to issue political advertising policy statements
and to maintain a station political advertising checklist (Figure 7.5). Now, on to the
specifics of the laws and regulations.
The equal opportunities is commonly referred to as the equal time provision. It
allows broadcasters to permit a legally qualified candidate for public office to use
a stations facilities, but they must afford equal opportunities to all other opposing
legally qualified candidates for that office.
Appearances by candidates in the following types of broadcasts are not considered
uses and are exempt from the provision:

Bona-fide newscasts

Bona-fide news interviews

Bona-fide news documentaries (if the appearance of the candidate is

incidental to the presentation of the subject or subjects covered by the news
documentary)

On-the-spot coverage of bona-fide news events (including but not limited to

political conventions and activities incidental thereto).

In response to petitions from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and

others, the FCC authorized broadcasters to sponsor political debates. In 1987, the
debate exemption was expanded to cover candidate-sponsored debates.
The Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to devote time to coverage of
controversial issues of public importance and to make sure that such coverage
was not grossly out of balance.
The Commission stated that television stations would be expected to provide
diversified programming designed to meet the varied needs and interests of the
child audience. It said that television stations should provide a reasonable
amount of programming designed for children, intended to educate and inform, not
simply to entertain.
The U.S. Criminal Code forbids the utterance of any obscene, indecent, or profane
language by means of radio communication.26 The problem, as it pertains to
programming, is the definition of what is obscene or indecent.