From the Desk of David Oxenford

Jimmy Kimmel

National Religious Broadcasters filed a complaint with the FCC against Disney requesting that the FCC investigate and sanction Disney for the broadcast of ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue aired before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (where a gunman allegedly attempted to assassinate President Trump). Kimmel had said: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of an expectant widow.” NRB argues that Kimmel’s statement could have been an incitement of violence against the President and was thus not protected by the First Amendment. However, after filing this complaint, the NRB released a second statement expressing its concern about the accelerated Disney renewals, stating that selective enforcement undermines confidence in the system and the clarity and consistency that all broadcasters, including religious broadcasters, need to carry on their operations. 

Potentially Great News!

The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing its fiscal year 2026 regulatory fees for its regulated entities, including broadcast stations. The FCC proposes to continue to calculate full-power TV station fees using its population-based methodology and proposes a TV station fee factor of $0.006957 per population served—about a 4.2% increase from fiscal year 2025 ($0.006674). The FCC proposes similar increases in full-power radio station fees, but proposes decreased fees for LPTV, Class A, TV/FM translators, FM boosters, and earth stations (transmit/receive and transmit only). Comments and reply comments responding to the NPRM are due May 28 and June 12, respectively.