This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: September 14, 2026 to September 18, 2026

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 Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau announced that the FCC, in coordination with FEMA, will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System at 2:20 p.m. ET on November 17 (with December 3 as a back-up date if the test must be rescheduled).  All EAS participants, including broadcasters, must participate in the EAS test and must make the required filings in the FCC’s EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS).  The required ETRS filings are as follows: ETRS Form 1s, identifying licensees and their EAS equipment, are due October 30; ETRS Form 2s, reporting on the receipt of the test, are due at 2:20 p.m. ET on November 19 (or at 2:20 p.m. ET on December 5 if the test is rescheduled); and ETRS Form 3s, providing more details about the test reception, are due January 4, 2027 (or on January 18, 2027 if the test is rescheduled).  We provide more details about this nationwide EAS test on our Broadcast Law Blog, here.
• The House of Representatives passed the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.  The bill will now have to be approved by the Senate before the end of the year (which is the end of this session of Congress), and signed by the President, before it becomes law.  We wrote about this bill, which would require that AM radios be in all cars sold in the United States, when it was originally introduced, here, and again when it was reintroduced with some minor changes in the current session of Congress here.
• The FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice announcing that comments and reply comments are due September 25 and September 30, respectively, on an application for review filed in April by group of Democratic political candidates.  They seek full Commission review of the Bureau’s March Public Notice which “reminded” broadcasters that Lowest Unit Charges (LUC) applied to advertising by joint fundraising committees and political parties if that advertising was authorized by a federal candidate (see our article here).  Noting the prior lack of opportunity for comment on the application for review, the Bureau asks for comment not only on the application for review, but on all issues raised in the Public Notice—which likely includes issues that TVB raised in its separate petition for reconsideration of the Public Notice—which the Bureau dismissed last month (see our note here), and on which TVB also has sought full Commission review.  Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision vacating the Bureau’s Public Notice following a judicial appeal by the same Democratic candidates (see our article here on the 4^th Circuit decision).  The Supreme Court’s decision, relying on procedural questions about whether the 4^th Circuit was allowed to act before the full Commission had dealt with the application for review, reinstated the Public Notice providing for LUC for these joint fundraising committees and political party ads until the Court can fully consider the merits of the case—likely well after the upcoming election.  However, this week, the Democratic candidates returned to the 4^th Circuit asking the Court to force the full Commission to act, which could moot the Supreme Court’s procedural concerns. Look for an article providing more information about these actions on our Broadcast Law Blog tomorrow. 
• The Media Bureau released a Public Notice announcing that comments and reply comments are due October 19 and November 18, respectively, responding to XGN/X1 Mobile and Tyche Media’s petition for rulemaking requesting that the FCC allow LPTV stations to use the 5G Broadcast transmission standard as an alternative to the ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 transmission standards.  The petition proposes authorizing deployment of the 5G Broadcast standard on a voluntary basis.  The proposal would require that 5G Broadcast stations offer a high-quality linear free-to-air stream, and it would prohibit any LPTV station qualifying for mandatory MVPD carriage from implementing 5G Broadcast operations.
• The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee postponed the September 17 hearing at which it was to consider the nomination of Danielle Thumann (Severs) for one of the vacant seats on the FCC because Thumann had a baby this past week.  Thumann currently works as Senior Counsel to FCC Chair Brendan Carr.  Earlier in her legal career, in addition to other positions at the FCC, she worked for Crown Castle tower company and the Wilkinson Barker Knauer law firm in Washington.  She has been nominated to fill the vacant Republican seat on the FCC.  The Committee has not set a new hearing date yet.
• The Media Bureau issued a Declaratory Ruling granting Paramount’s petition to exceed the foreign ownership limits of 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 more than 25% in a U.S. entity directly or indirectly controlling an FCC licensee.  The Bureau granted Paramount’s request for existing and future foreign investors to hold indirect equity interests above the 25% statutory benchmark; and it gave specific investors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar the ability to hold indirect equity interests of more than 5% and provided advance approval for those investors to hold indirect equity interests up to 20%.  The Bureau found that granting the petition was in the public interest because it would increase the company’s access to capital, allowing it to compete more effectively and improve its investments in local news and journalism.  The Bureau conditioned its approval on Paramount’s compliance with its Letter of Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which prohibits the approved foreign investors from involvement in the company’s management and access to certain non-public company information.  Paramount must also monitor its foreign equity and voting interests; obtain FCC approval for any other foreign investors holding at least 5% (or at least 10% for certain passive investors); obtain FCC approval for any foreign individual or entity holding a controlling interest in Paramount; and promptly disclose any noncompliance with the foreign ownership rules.
• The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued several Notices of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting to property owners in New York City, Brooklyn, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, the Bronx, New York, and Lake Worth, Florida for allegedly allowing pirates to broadcast from their properties.  The Bureau warned the property owners that the FCC may issue fines of up to $2,453,218 under the PIRATE Radio Act against each owner if they continue allowing pirate radio broadcasting from their properties.
• The Media Bureau released an Order amending the FM Table of Allotments to reinstate the following allotments as vacant due to the cancellation of station authorizations or the dismissal of applications: Channel 257C1 at Fowler, Colorado; Channel 266A at Parachute, Colorado; Channel 234C3 at Horseshoe Beach, Colorado; Channel 235C2 at Coushatta, Louisiana; Channel 280A at Arcadia, Missouri; Channel 294C2 at Ellington, Missouri; Channel 285C at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota; and Channel 265C3 at Huntingdon, Tennessee.  The FCC will at a later date announce when applications can be filed for these allotments.
• The Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Violation against a Michigan AM station after the Bureau’s inspection revealed that the station failed to maintain its station log listing EAS test receipts; its EAS receivers were not monitoring the stations specified by the Michigan State EAS Plan; the station was operating at 36.6% above its authorized power level; it was unable to operate within its authorized nighttime parameters; and it was not operating with an antenna monitor as required for AM stations using a directional antenna.  The station must now explain to the Bureau how it will correct the rule violations and prevent future violations from occurring.
• The Media Bureau acted on two mutually exclusive LPFM construction permit applications (applications that cannot both be granted in compliance with the FCC’s technical rules designed to prevent interference) proposing new LPFM stations in Bartlett and Memphis, Tennessee.  The Bureau dismissed the Bartlett application because the applicant failed to demonstrate that it had reasonable assurance of its proposed tower site’s availability and failed to demonstrate compliance with the LPFM localism requirement (either physically headquartered or 75% of its board members resided within 20 miles of its proposed station’s transmitter site).  The Bureau then granted the Memphis application as it was the sole remaining application in the group.