The Michigan Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday to challenge what it calls the “unfair and unconstitutional proposed redistricting committee,” according to MIRS news service. The 25-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court’s Western Division, is the second lawsuit aimed to stop Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from taking any steps to implement constitutional… read more
On August 7, the NAB urged the FCC to move without delay in reallocating 200 MHz of C-band spectrum (between 3.7 and 4.3 GHz) for terrestrial wireless service. The broadcast association also asked the FCC to bar shared use of the portion of C-band spectrum not reallocated to wireless use. The NAB said that if… read more
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Notice was published in the Federal Register August 16 of the FCC’s changes in the children’s television rules – setting the effective date for most of those new rules as September 16. The elimination of the obligation to air three hours of children’s educational and informational programming for each… read more
The Detroit News reports that President Donald Trump has nominated former Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard to be U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan. The announcement was made August 14. The DeWitt Republican said Trump’s consideration was an “incredible honor.” “Since becoming a prosecutor in Genesee County, my heart has been to work… read more
MLive reports Governor Gretchen Whitmer told reporters on Monday that she and Republican legislative leaders are “desperate” to avoid a government shutdown, and she may propose a stopgap budget measure as long as there are “good-faith” negotiations about spending more to fix the roads. Whitmer met with GOP leaders on August 9 and anticipates seeing… read more
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Months ago, the FCC approved reimbursing TV translators, LPTV stations, FM stations, and FM translators that incurred costs as a result of the repacking of TV stations into less spectrum following the TV incentive auction (see our post here). Congress last year allocated the FCC money so that LPTV… read more
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is backing a proposal to allow mobile services to tap into C-band spectrum currently used by radio and TV stations that would carve off a portion of what the wireless companies want and leave some spectrum for current users, according to a report in InsideRadio. The C-Band Alliance, an… read more
A lawsuit filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court charged that commission created violates the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and must be invalidated, according to a report in Gongwer. The lawsuit, Daunt v. Benson (USDC Docket No. 19-00614), also calls for an injunction against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from taking any steps… read more
A coalition of 82 broadcasters is asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to streamline certain Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) rules to reduce what they call “burdensome paperwork” and create a more equitable playing field. Womble Bond Dickinson telecom attorney John Garziglia is working with the group of mostly small broadcasters. Inside Radio recently discussed their… read more
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP CBD has been a hot topic for media companies – trying to decipher what products are legal and which can be advertised. We have written a number of articles on CBD, hemp and other cannabis advertising issues (see, for instance, our articles here, here, and here). Each of these… read more
