Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- The FCC’s Media Bureau announced that the upcoming new noncommercial educational FM translator reserved band (88.1-91.9 MHz) filing window has been moved from August to November to accommodate applicants affiliated with schools on summer holidays and other noncommercial companies who argued that an August window did not give them enough time to prepare their applications. The filing window will now open at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 4, 2026, and will close at 6:00 p.m. ET on November 17, 2026. The associated filing freeze on all reserved and non-reserved band LPFM, FM translator, and FM booster station minor modification applications that was to begin on July 10 to facilitate the filing window will now begin at 11:59 p.m. ET on October 2, 2026, and will continue until the filing window closes. See our Broadcast Law Blog article here for more on the filing window and the filing freeze’s rescheduling.
- The NAB announced that it has released its new Broadcast Station Self-Inspection Guides for AM, FM, and TV. These guides, prepared in conjunction with the Society for Broadcast Engineers, replace guides that once were furnished by the FCC but which the FCC has not updated in 20 years. The guides help broadcasters to ensure that their operations comply with FCC rules. The guides are free to NAB and SBE members.
- The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with iHeartMedia to resolve its investigation into iHeart’s purported violations of the FCC’s sponsorship identification rules. The investigation began with allegations from Senator Blackburn that iHeart was coercing artists to perform at its events for free or at a reduced cost either through threats of withholding airplay for those artists’ music, or by promising them greater airplay if they performed. iHeart neither admitted that it violated the sponsorship identification rules nor agreed to pay any sort of penalty. Instead, for 36 months, iHeart must, among other things, implement a compliance program to avoid any future violations and to report to the Commission on the bands playing at major iHeart events and the airplay these bands receive before and after the event. We wrote more about this Consent Decree and its meaning for broadcasters in this article on our Broadcast Law Blog.
- FCC Chairman Carr released a statement regarding the Consent Decree, stating that the FCC “is committed to ensuring that artists – especially up and coming ones – get a fair shake in their dealings with the broadcast industry,” and that the Consent Decree “adds significant new protections and offers the FCC greater transparency to ensure that artists retain their right to decide when and where they will perform.”
- The Media Bureau released a Public Notice announcing that July 9 was the effective date of certain rules adopted by the FCC in its December 2025 Report and Order, which revised the FCC’s rules applicable to Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations (see our note here). The rules taking effect on July 9 cover topics including requiring that applications for new facilities exceeding permissible interference levels include a copy of the interference acceptance agreement between affected parties; allowing LPTV and TV translator stations that are sharing channels to cease sharing and seek a license for a non-shared channel by filing a major modification specifying a new channel; and requiring Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations to use call signs matching their service designation (“-LD” for LPTV, “-CD” for Class A, and “-D” for TV translators) but grandfathering existing station call signs. The Bureau noted that stations with non-complaint call signs that are not grandfathered have until July 9, 2027 to change their call sign to a rule complaint call sign. The Bureau also provided guidance for disclosing other attributable broadcast interests in new and major change LPTV and TV translator applications, and noted that it will issuing a separate Public Notice regarding the treatment of mutually exclusive new and major change LPTV and TV translator applications (which may exist from recent filings arising from the lifting of the freeze on such applications – see our articles here and here).
- The Media Bureau granted iHeartMedia’s petition for declaratory ruling seeking FCC approval of several new and existing foreign investors’ ownership interests pursuant to Section 310(b) of the Communications Act. Absent FCC approval, Section 310(b) prohibits foreign entities, individuals, and governments from holding ownership interests of more than 20% in an FCC licensee and ownership interests of more than 25% in a U.S. entity that directly or indirectly controls an FCC licensee. The Bureau found that approving iHeart’s foreign investment above the 25% threshold was in the public interest as it facilitated access to foreign capital which would allow iHeart to better compete with other media companies, enhance its programming, and potentially encourage reciprocal investment opportunities for U.S. companies in foreign markets. The Bureau conditioned its approval on iHeart’s continued compliance with its 2020 Letter of Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which requires iHeart to report certain changes in ownership, control, or operations, and to file an annual compliance report. iHeart must also monitor its foreign equity and voting interests, obtain FCC approval for any new foreign investors holding 5% or greater ownership interests in iHeart, obtain FCC approval for any foreign individual or entity holding a controlling interest in iHeart, and promptly disclose any noncompliance with the FCC’s foreign ownership rules.
- The Media Bureau released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to substitute Channel 285A for vacant Channel 248A at Whitehall, Michigan. The Bureau stated that a recent staff engineering analysis found the vacant Channel 248A does not comply with the FCC’s minimum distance separation requirements for FM stations and that replacing Channel 248A with Channel 258A would resolve the existing short-spacing conflicts to 3 nearby FM stations. Comments and reply comments responding to the NPRM are due August 24 and September 8, respectively.
In addition to the articles on the extension of the NCE translator window and the iHeart Consent Decree, on our Broadcast Law Blog, we wrote about the Blog’s 20th anniversary, and about some of the legal and policy issues that have remained unresolved throughout that period.