FCC Political Advertising and Broadcast Rules

The schedule for this year’s election can be found HERE. 

Note: The lowest unit charge period begins 45 days prior to a primary election and 60 days prior to a general election.

Additional New York State and Federal elections information can be found on the New York Board of Elections website.

To access the website, click HERE.

The FCC’s political rules are complex. The following webcasts will explain not only the basics but some of the more complex questions that may arise during a campaign.

FCC Political Rules - November 18, 2021

Updated webinar on FCC Political Rules - Click HERE

Political File Compliance Webinar - August 19, 2020

The FCC has increased its enforcement of the political file rules. The FCC’s political team of Robert Baker, Gary Schonman and Sima Nilsson discuss all the FCC’s political file requirements in detail. Former NAB General Counsel and political broadcasting expert Jack Goodman hosted, asking all the right legal questions.

For a summary of the webinar click HERE.

To see the slide deck click HERE.

To view the webinar click HERE, use the password   %W?6.xrV

Political Broadcast Rules Webinar - January 18, 2018

On January 18, 2018, we hosted a Webinar in association with the Colorado Broadcasters Association for member station.  We are now providing stations with access to that webinar updating the FCC’s Political Broadcasting Rules. The webinar featured attorneys from the noted law firm of Fletcher Heald and FCC Attorney Bobby Baker, who is the Commission’s leading expert in this area.

Topics covered include:

• Lowest unit rate calculation for various classes of time and day parts.
• Equal Opportunities (sometimes called equal time) requirements and what programs are “exempt”?
• Are political ads streamed on the internet affected?
• When can broadcasters edit or turn down political ads?
• How to handle “issue” ads from PACs, an expected big revenue source in 2018?
• What political file recordkeeping is needed to avoid complaints and fines?
• What are the requirements for uploading of political files to the FCC’s “publicly” available website?
• How can uploading of a political file potentially hurt a station?

To access the archived webinar click HERE.

February 9, 2012 Archived Webcast

While this webcast covers a previous election cycle, the basic information is applicable today.

Our friends at Pillsbury Winthrop, Shaw Pittman LLP have produced an excellent primer on the FCC’s political rules. The primer summarizes all the rules you need to know for this political season. To see a copy of the new primer click HERE.

NAB’S POLITICAL AGREEMENT FORM IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON THE FCC WEBSITE.  TO DOWNLOAD THE FORM CLICK HERE.