Broadcasters of all shapes and sizes have come to realize they are now engaged in a multi-platform enterprise. Television broadcasters are adopting streaming options and radio stations have developed mobile “apps” for smart speakers to promote listening over Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana and Siri. In addition, broadcasters are trying to drive views and listeners to their websites. However, many are yet to reconcile with new issues wrought by the use of such technology, in particular the obligation to make your website material equally available to all who would try to reach it.

Good corporate citizenship and risk mitigation should lead management to invest in making station websites accessible for people with disabilities. Already trending, the COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the proliferation of business to online format and advances in adaptive technology have made the internet an even more important source for many people with disabilities. As a result, it’s good business for broadcasters to make their websites accessible for people with disabilities to foster broader access, diversity, and inclusion. Another incentive: lawsuits alleging that business websites fail to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) have become ubiquitous. In recent years, more than 4,000 such suits were filed in federal courts and countless more were filed in state court systems around the country.

October 28, 2020, the Commission released a Report and Order (“R&O”) authorizing AM radio stations to transition to an all-digital signal on a voluntary basis. This item was adopted during the October Open Meeting (MB Docket No. 19-311; MB Docket No. ...

It looks like the Commission has finally gotten the word: Newspapers are out – broadcast and the internet are in. And that means a big change for broadcasters FCC public notice requirements as of October 30. Broadcasters have complained for many years that FCC public ...

In these last days of the presidential election, I am hearing that some stations are being flooded with so much demand by the presidential campaigns that they actually want to turn some down. That raises the question: can they? The answer is probably not, but yes under ...

In the new era of staff reductions, doing more with less, and the potential of increased local programming should some amount of translator program origination be allowed, many a broadcaster is asking, how can I get a bit more from my staff and comply with legal ...

Question 1: Do you run programming from any national or statewide unwired network? Question 2: Does your network run political advertising? If you answered YES, you have work to do! Did you know that your station is subject to the very same FCC political rules that ...

If you want the FCC and its Enforcement Bureau to stay off your back for advertising, one cardinal rule is: always tell the audience who is speaking to them. Section 317 of the Communications Act of 1934, and its counterpart, 47 C.F.R. 73.1212, require that whenever a ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit broadcasters hard. Characteristically, they have stepped up to meet the public interest need for vital information about how the pandemic has affected their local community, but advertiser economic support has been dwindling and cancellations ...

Credits: My firm, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP has created a COVID-19 task force to provide information and support to our clients and neighbors during the current, unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. I am honored to be a contributor on that task-force. While I have added ...

By Gregg P. Skall Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP With 2020 election less than a year away and the fourth quarter of 2019 already a hot issue advertising season, the FCC rules on issue ads are more important than ever. Not only are candidates beginning to advertise ...