Broadcasters and the FCC’s Political Broadcast Rules

Texas station sales staff and management may have been startled recently to see a March 30 FCC Public Notice concerning the lowest unit charge (LUC) provision contained in the commission's political broadcast rules. For the most part, it was deemed by the FCC as a "reminder" on broadcasters' political advertising price obligations for spots placed by legally qualified candidates and their authorized committees.

Attorney David Oxenford of TAB Associate member law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer noted in his Broadcast Law Blog, however, that the Public Notice was the first time the FCC's Media Bureau said "the LUC obligation extends to joint fundraising committees made up of a federal candidate's principal campaign committee and other political committees." He noted that "the obligation extends to 'coordinated expenditures' between political parties and legally qualified federal candidates."

"The determination that coordinated expenditures qualify for LUC contradicted a statement from the Solicitor General on behalf of the Department of Justice in a brief filed in February with the Supreme Court in a case that, if decided as urged by certain Republican party groups, could dramatically expand the ability of political parties to coordinate their spending with legally qualified federal candidates," said Oxenford.

TAB will keep broadcasters informed on what the court decides and how it may impact the interpretation of what entities qualify for LUC in the future.

TAB Political Toolkit

For now Member stations can get a strong grasp on broadcasters' obligations as contained in the FCC's political broadcast rules by downloading and viewing components of TAB's Political Toolkit which member station staff can access it here. If you have not used the Members section of the TAB website before, you will be prompted to set up your account to access these resources.

The TAB Political Toolkit is towards the bottom of the list of member station legal resources and includes:

• A recording of TAB's Jan. 14 FCC Political Broadcast Rules webinar
• TAB's legal guide to the FCC's Political Broadcast Rules
• TAB's Political Forms
• TAB's 2026 Political Dates and Offices Up for Election Primer

Attorney Scott Flick of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, TAB's FCC legal counsel, reviewed the FCC's political broadcast rules in the January webinar, including broadcasters' LUC obligations.

Other topics covered in the webinar include reasonable access, equal opportunities, advertisement censorship, the four news exceptions to the FCC's rules, sponsorship identification, and FCC required recordkeeping. These topics also are covered in greater detail in TAB's legal guide to the FCC's Political Broadcast Rules which Flick authored.

Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.