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Definition
| the hours of the day during which broadcasters may legally air material that is indecent and inappropriate for children |
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| unscripted airings of otherwise indecent images or language would not be punished - but in 2004, FCC says fleeting, one-time use of vulgar words could be deemed illegally indecent, depending on content |
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| FCC v Pacifica (George Carlin case ) |
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Definition
“seven dirty words” case- 1978 - on 2p on a Tuesday, a NY radio station broadcast “filthy words” monologue by george carlin, featuring seven dirty words - station warned in advance that the material might offend listeners - a man heard part of it while with his little boy - wrote a complaint - a year later the FCC issued order saying that station owner, Pacifica Foundation, could have been subject to sanctions - order was placed in station’s license file for FCC to consider in event of any further complaints - USSCt upholds FCC order at Pacifica appeal - says FCC ruling is justified because
1) broadcasting has a uniquely pervasive presence - patently offensive aterial over airwaves confronts a person in their own home, where individual’s right to be let alone overrides 1A
2) the broadcast program was uniquely accessible to children - broadcasting cannot be easily monitored minute-to-minute, unlike print media which can be brought into the home |
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Term
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Definition
| primary legal justification for broadcast regulation, based on the fact that the radio spectrum is limited and cannot accommodate all who may want to be broadcasters |
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Term
| primary tasks of the FCC! |
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Definition
- SPECTRUM ALLOCATION: task of reserving certain parts of radio spectrum for certain uses - (ex: certain frequencies reserved exclusively for AM or FM, VHF tv, UHF tv, police and fire comm, satellite comm, etc)
- BAND ALLOTMENT: task of deciding how many channels will be available within each usage area - challenge is allotting as many channels as possible while ensuring that the bandwidth of each channel is enough to buffer against signal interference
- CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT: process of deciding which applicants will be given which channels - formally accomplished thru station licensing - decides the “address” of stations on the radio spectrum |
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Term
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Definition
| task of reserving certain parts of radio spectrum for certain uses - (ex: certain frequencies reserved exclusively for AM or FM, VHF tv, UHF tv, police and fire comm, satellite comm, etc) |
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Term
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Definition
| task of deciding how many channels will be available within each usage area - challenge is allotting as many channels as possible while ensuring that the bandwidth of each channel is enough to buffer against signal interference |
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Term
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Definition
| process of deciding which applicants will be given which channels - formally accomplished thru station licensing - decides the “address” of stations on the radio spectrum |
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Term
| what are the primary tasks of the FCC? |
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Definition
| channel assignment, band allotment, spectrum allocation |
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Definition
| USSCt makes big defense of scarcity rationale - upholds 2 fairness doctrine-based content restrictions, the Political Editorial Rule and the Personal Attack Rule, both of which require broadcasters to provide air time for certain indivs to respond to criticism - is a lndmark decision bc it firmly est’d spectrum scarcity as the main justification for government intervention - not only in licensing, but in content |
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Term
| basic requirements for being licensed? |
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Definition
technical
financial
character
citizenship/ownership |
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Term
| basic reqs to get licensed? (long) |
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Definition
- TECHNICAL: applicants must show their stations will comply with FCC technical standards
- FINANCIAL: applicants must have adequate capital to support their proposals
- CHARACTER: applicants must be of good character - as measured by a lack of serious legal violations in their past
- CITIZENSHIP/OWNERSHIP: must be US citizens, and applications must be consistent with station ownership limitations |
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Term
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Definition
| broadcast licenses are awarded for a specified number of years, not in perpetuity. when license term expires, licensee has to apply for renewal |
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Term
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Definition
| the preference generally given to current broadcast licensees at license renewal time against a newcomer trying to take the frequency away |
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Term
| local radio ownership limits |
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Definition
| allows a maximum of eight stations per owner in markets with 45 or more commercial radio stations |
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Term
| local tv multiple ownership limits |
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Definition
permits common ownership of two TV stations in same market IF:
1) at least one is not among four highest rated stations in the market, and
2) at least eight full-power independent TV stations will remain in the market after the merger |
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Term
| broadcast ownership limitations in general - |
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Definition
| Congress and the FCC have long advocated that public interest is served by assigning the spectrum to many different broadcasters, rather than allowing media ownership to concentrate in the hands of a few |
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Term
| local radio/TV cross-ownership limits |
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Definition
| allows combined ownership of up to two TV stations and six radio stations or one TV station and seven radio stations in the lgst markets, where at least 20 independent media voices would remain |
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Term
| newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership limits |
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Definition
| prohibits granting radio or TV license to an applicant who owns a daily paper in the same market |
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Term
| national TV multiple ownership limits |
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Definition
| no person or entity may control a group of TV stations with a combined audience reach exceeding 39 percent of US households |
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Term
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Definition
| FCC rule permist broadcast networks to provide multiple program streams simultaneously, but prohibits a merger of the big four networks |
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Term
| cable regulations and the FCC |
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Definition
cable TV systems operate under less regulation than broadcast stations - rather than the FCC, the initial gatekeeper for cable operators is a municipal government
(generally a city in need of a cable system will consider competitive bids from several companies - each bid will outline specific proposals - city typically chooses one to conscruct and operate the system for a set number of years, though some communities franchise competing cable systems. when the franchise expires, the cable company may apply to city for renewal |
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Term
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Definition
| Section 315 of the Communications Act provides that whenever a lgly qualified candidate for public office uses broadcast time, the station must afford equal opportunity to all other candidates in the race |
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Term
| exceptions to the Equal-Time rule? |
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Definition
- bona fide (genuine and impartial) newscasts
- bona fide (genuine and impartial) interview programs
- bona fide (genuine and impartial) news documentaries
- on-the-spot coverage of bona fide (genuine and impartial) news events including political conventions and debates |
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Term
| Candidate Access Rule (Section 312, Communications Act) |
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Definition
| (a broadcaster may not categorically exclude access or otherwise deny reasonable requests to purchase political time) |
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Term
| regulation of children's programming |
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Definition
- commercials must by limited to 10.5 minutes/hour on weekends and 12min/hour on weekdays
- educational programming - CORE CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING is defined as programming which has a significant purpose serving the educational needs of children - must be aired betw 7a and 10p, scheduled each week, and be at least a half hour long - core children’s programming does not include general audience and entertainment programming - a broadcaster will be in full compliance with requirements if the station aired an avg of at least 3 hrs/week of such core programming |
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Term
| rule regarding on-air hoaxes? |
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Definition
| - 1992: the FCC prohibits the broadcast of false information concerning a crime or catastrophe if it is foreseeable that the broadcast could cause substantial public harm and if the broadcast directly causes substantial harm |
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Term
| First Amendment as it applies to cable channels: Where does cable fall in the hierarchy of protected speech, compared to broadcast and print? |
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Definition
| USSCt held that cable TV regulations should be scrutinized under the same strict 1A standards applicable generally to nonbroadcast media |
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Term
| MUST CARRY law with cable TV |
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Definition
| federal requirement that cable TV systems carry the signals of any local, over-the-air TV stations that request carriage |
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Term
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Definition
| a legal option that allows a TV broadcast to keep its signal off a local cable system unless the broadcaster and cable system agree on compensation |
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Term
| Why are broadcast media treated differently from print media treated (spectrum scarcity ...)? |
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Definition
| the spectrum can only accommodate a limited number of different broadcast frequencies , so it has the Federal Radio Commission to divvy up the radi spectrum and assign frequencies to stations - the spectrum is treated much like a national waterway, where the individual users are private concerns, but the waterway itself is controlled by the govt |
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