Court on Petition Challenging Foreign Sponsorship ID Rules

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, July 12, 2022 | 1:38pm CT

Federal Communications Commission

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday vacated the FCC's foreign sponsorship identification rule that had required radio and TV broadcasters to undertake independent investigations by searching federal government databases for information about the sponsors of programming. As NAB argued, the Court held that federal law only authorizes the Commission to require stations to obtain sponsorship identification information from their own employees and from program sponsors, not from any other sources.

NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said in a statement, "NAB appreciates the court's careful review of the important issues in this case. Today's decision ensures that the rules rightly continue requiring the handful of stations airing foreign government-sponsored programming to identify it as such, but removes the burden on the overwhelming majority of stations that never air foreign government-sponsored content."