Legislative Update

Michigan broadcasters can now stream high school sports after the MHSAA changed its policy due to the efforts of the MAB and our members. Josh Trust, COO of Heritage Broadcasting in Traverse City, was instrumental in working on making the changes a reality. He sits down with MAB President Sam Klemet to talk about what…

We are proud to announce that 64 Michigan broadcast stations – 30 television and 34 radio – carried the Governor’s 2022 State of the State address this past Wednesday (1/26) night. The list of stations includes members of the MAB as well as the Michigan Association of Public Broadcasters (MAPB). The MAB provided commercial television…

By: Mitchell Stabbe, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP via the Broadcast Law Blog There was record viewership for the last-second victories in each of the 2022 NFC and AFC Divisional Round games.  Thus, the interest in this year’s Super Bowl game may be unprecedented and advertisers may want to take advantage.  For the last six years,…

The Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC) and Global Music Rights (GMR) have released a FAQ document to assist broadcasters with the recently announced GMR conditional settlement offer.  Broadcasters are reminded that to participate, your submission to GMR is required by January 31, 2022. 1. How were rates determined, and why wasn’t a revenue-based model used?…

By: Jonathan Cohen, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP My law firm partner, Jonathan Cohen, has been closely monitoring the developments in the regulation of social media and other big tech platforms by the current administration.  He offers these thoughts on likely areas of legislative and regulatory action in this area in the coming year – David…

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP The FCC, at its January 27 monthly open meeting, will be voting on the adoption of two relatively minor changes to its political broadcasting rules.  While some press reports suggested that the changes would expand the FCC’s jurisdiction into online political advertising, in fact the draft of the FCC’s Report…

Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Speaker Jason Wentworth issued a joint statement this past Monday to announce that the 2022 State of the State address will be held in a virtual format and broadcast live throughout the state on Wednesday, January 26. “The State of the State address is a tradition rooted in history. It is…

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP A conditional settlement of the long-running litigation between Global Music Rights (GMR), a relatively new performing rights organization formed to license the public performance rights to certain musical works, and the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) was announced this week.  The terms of the agreement are confidential, so we can’t comment…

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP As 2021 wound down, there were significant developments on SoundExchange royalties for webcasters – including broadcasters who simulcast their on-air programming through IP channels (such as on their websites and on mobile apps).  While we covered many of these matters in our weekly Sunday updates on regulatory matters of importance to broadcasters,…