The FCC’s Media Bureau has reached settlements with six major station groups over violations regarding their political files and ensuring compliance moving forward with rules requiring records of requests for purchase of political broadcast time.
No fines will be issued to Alpha Media, Beasley Media, Cumulus Media, Entercom, iHeartMedia or Salem Media Group as the FCC notes that each of the companies voluntarily informed the FCC of their violations and agreed to adopt a Best Practices Plan and submit a Compliance Report to the agency for the final week of February and all of March 2020. The FCC notes that each company achieved a substantial level of compliance during the reporting period which coincided with the start of the declaration of a national emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the agency noting that this period has placed the radio broadcast industry as a whole under significant financial
stress from a dramatic reduction in advertising revenues.
The investigation stems from a complaint in December 2018 that three Entercom stations in Buffalo NY charged a federal candidate more than the lowest unit charge for the purchase of political broadcast time during the period leading up to the November 2018 midterm election, in violation of section 315(b) of the Communications Act. The FCC staff began examining the online political files of those three stations revealing no records had been uploaded during the year of 2018 which then spread to all Entercom stations showing that 196 of their 234 stations were non-compliant with their political file obligations.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau today reached settlements with six major radio group owners that will ensure timely compliance with rules requiring that radio stations upload to their online public inspection files records of requests for the purchase of political broadcast time. The six group owners are: Alpha Media USA LLC; Beasley Media Group Licenses, LLC; Cumulus Media New Holdings Inc.; Entercom License, LLC; iHeartMedia, Inc.; and Salem Media Group, Inc. Collectively, these companies own and operate 1,884 commercial radio stations across the country.
“It is critical that information about political advertising is transparent to the public and candidates for office,” said Michelle Carey, Chief of the Media Bureau. “Adherence to the requirements in the consent decrees will ensure compliance with the online political file rules during this election year.”
Section 315(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires stations to place information about each request for the purchase of broadcast time for all candidate-sponsored advertisements and certain issue advertisements in their political files for public inspection “as soon as possible.” Similarly, Section 73.1943(c) of the Commission’s rules requires information to be made available for public inspection “as soon as possible,” barring any unusual circumstances. These provisions are intended to ensure that the public has timely access to important information about political advertisements, such as the identity of the sponsoring organization. Additionally, it is crucial that stations maintain political files that are complete and up to date because the information in them directly affects, among other things, the statutory rights of opposing candidates to request equal opportunities.
The Media Bureau determined that the six group owners repeatedly failed to comply with their political file obligations in the past. The six group owners committed to adopting internal reforms and were able to demonstrate they had come into substantial compliance during the first quarter of 2020. Pursuant to the Consent Decrees, each of the companies will, among other things, implement strict compliance plans at each of their stations and submit detailed compliance reports to the Media Bureau through at least December 2021, confirming all information was timely uploaded to their online political files.
