Legislative Update
NAB to FCC: Broadcasters Can Promote Emergency Broadband Benefit
Broadcasters want to get a cut of those billions of dollars in the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) established by legislation passed last December, according to a report in Broadcasting+Cable. The bill provides for $3.2 billion in subsidies to be handed out by the FCC over a six-month period. Under a tight congressional deadline, the FCC…
Read MoreThe Return of the Fairness Doctrine – What it Was and Why it Won’t Return
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP It seems like whenever Democrats are elected to serve as President and take control of Congress, there is talk about the revival of the Fairness Doctrine as some panacea for restoring balance and civility to political debate. In recent weeks, we have seen many articles blaming conservative talk…
Read MoreLobbying Firms Kelley Cawthorne, Brown Consulting Announce Merger
Longtime MAB legislative consultant firm Kelley Cawthorne has announced a merger with Berton Brown Consulting. The combined firm will remain known as Kelley Cawthorne. The merger also launches a new initiative, Kelley Cawthorne Empower. Led by Berton Brown, the minority-owned consulting group focuses on diversity and inclusion, community engagement and traditionally under-represented entities, in addition…
Read MoreSpecial Bulletin: Sports and Online Casino Game Betting Update
By Karole L. White, MAB President/CEO Deputy Executive Director/General Counsel to the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), Dave Murley met with more than 50 Michigan broadcasters via a Zoom call yesterday, hosted by our government relations consultant, Rob Elhenicky of Kelley Cawthorne and the MAB. He explained some of the rules and regulations that impacted…
Read MoreLooking at the Performance Complement and Other Rules that Apply to Webcasting Companies Relying on the Sound Recording Statutory License
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP We are waiting on the Copyright Royalty Board to release its decision setting the royalties that webcasters (including broadcasters who simulcast their over-the-air programming on the Internet) will pay to SoundExhange for the public performance of sound recordings in the period 2021 through the end of 2025. As we wrote here, that decision would normally have been released in…
Read MoreStay A Lot More Than Six Feet From The NFL’s Trademarks! 2021 Update on Super Bowl Advertising and Promotions
By: Mitchell Stabbe, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP via the Broadcast Law Blog For the last five years, I have posted guidelines about engaging in or accepting advertising or promotions that directly or indirectly reference the Super Bowl without a license from the NFL. As hard as it may be to believe, the NFL has almost made its…
Read More68 Michigan Stations Air Governor Whitmer’s State of the State Address
We are proud to announce that 68 Michigan broadcast stations – 30 television and 38 radio – carried the Governor’s State of the State address. The list of stations includes members of the MAB as well as the Michigan Association of Public Broadcasters (MAPB). The MAB provided commercial television broadcasters with a “clean” feed of…
Read MoreJessica Rosenworcel Designated Acting FCC Chairwoman
On January 21, President Joseph R. Biden designated FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as Acting Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission. “I am honored to be designated as the Acting Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission by President Biden. I thank the President for the opportunity to lead an agency with such a vital mission and…
Read MoreFlags Lowered for Former State Sen. Shirley Johnson, ‘Good Friend to the Broadcasting Industry’
Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered U.S. and Michigan flags within the State Capitol Complex to be lowered to half-staff on Tuesday and Wednesday to honor the life and service of former state Senator Shirley Johnson, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 83. “Senator Shirley Johnson was a good friend to the broadcasting…
Read MoreMichigan Broadcasters Currently Assigned to Vaccine Priority Group ‘1C’
At this time within Michigan, vaccines are being given to individuals in prioritized group “1B.” MAB President/CEO Karole L. White has been in communication with MDHHS, this group includes frontline essential workers who are continuously working closely with large numbers of the public on a daily basis. Those would include workers like first responders, firefighters,…
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