iHeartMedia 2004 Annual Report Download - page 19

Other Regulations Affecting Broadcast Stations
General. The FCC has significantly reduced its past regulation of broadcast stations, including elimination of formal ascertainment
requirements and guidelines concerning amounts of certain types of programming and commercial matter that may be broadcast. There are,
however, statutes and rules and policies of the FCC and other federal agencies that regulate matters such as network-affiliate relations, the
ability of stations to obtain exclusive rights to air syndicated programming, cable and satellite systems’ carriage of syndicated and network
programming on distant stations, political advertising practices, obscenity and indecency in broadcast programming, application procedures
and other areas affecting the business or operations of broadcast stations.
Indecency. Provisions of federal law regulate the broadcast of obscene, indecent or profane material. The FCC has substantially increased its
monetary penalties for violations of these regulations. Congress currently has under consideration legislation that addresses the FCC’s
enforcement of its rules in this area. Potential changes to enhance the FCC’s authority in this area include the ability to impose substantially
higher monetary penalties, consider violations to be “serious” offenses in the context of license renewal applications, and, under certain
circumstances, designate a license for hearing to determine whether such license should be revoked. We cannot predict the likelihood that this,
or similar legislation, will ultimately be enacted into law.
Public Interest Programming. Broadcasters are required to air programming addressing the needs and interests of their communities of
license, and to place “issues/programs lists” in their public inspection files to provide their communities with information on the level of
“public interest” programming they air. In October 2000, the FCC commenced a proceeding seeking comment on whether it should adopt a
standardized form for reporting information on a station’s public interest programming and whether it should require television broadcasters to
post the new form - as well as all other documents in their public inspection files - either on station websites or the websites of state
broadcasters’ associations. Moreover, in August 2003 the FCC introduced a “Localism in Broadcasting” initiative that, among other things, has
resulted in the creation of an FCC Localism Task Force, localism hearings at various locations throughout the country, and the July 2004
initiation of a proceeding to consider whether additional FCC rules and procedures are necessary to promote localism in broadcasting.
Equal Employment Opportunity. The FCC’s equal employment opportunity rules generally require broadcasters to engage in broad and
inclusive recruitment efforts to fill job vacancies, keep a considerable amount of recruitment data and report much of this data to the FCC and
to the public via stations’ public files and websites. The FCC is still considering whether to apply these rules to part-time employment
positions. Broadcasters are also obligated not to engage in employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin or sex.
Digital Audio Radio Service. The FCC has adopted spectrum allocation and service rules for satellite digital audio radio service. Satellite
digital audio radio service systems can provide regional or nationwide distribution of radio programming with fidelity comparable to compact
discs. Two companies—Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Radio—have launched satellite digital audio radio service systems and are
currently providing nationwide service. The FCC is currently considering what rules to impose on both licensees’ operation of terrestrial
repeaters that support their satellite services. The FCC also has approved a technical standard for the provision of “in band, on channel”
terrestrial digital radio broadcasting by existing radio broadcasters (except for nighttime broadcasting by AM stations, which is undergoing
further testing), and has allowed radio broadcasters to convert to a hybrid mode of digital/analog operation on their existing frequencies. The
FCC has commenced a rulemaking to address formal standards and related licensing and service rule changes for terrestrial digital audio
broadcasting. We cannot predict the impact of either satellite or terrestrial digital audio radio service on our business.
Low Power FM Radio Service. In January 2000, the FCC created two new classes of noncommercial low power FM radio stations
(“LPFM”). One class (LP100) is authorized to operate with a maximum power of 100 watts and a service radius of about 3.5 miles. The other
class (LP10) is authorized to operate with a maximum power of 10 watts and a service radius of about 1 to 2 miles. In establishing the new
LPFM service, the FCC said that its goal is to create a class of radio stations designed “to serve very localized communities or
underrepresented groups within communities.” The FCC has accepted applications for LPFM stations and has granted some of these
applications. In December 2000, Congress passed the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000. This legislation requires the FCC to
maintain interference protection requirements between LPFM stations and full-power radio stations on third-adjacent channels. It also requires
the FCC to conduct field tests to determine the impact of eliminating such
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