Broadcast law is the field of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

that pertains to

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

. These laws and

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. ...

s pertain to

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s and

TV station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the eart ...

s, and are also considered to include closely related services like

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

and

cable radio Cable radio or cable FM is a concept similar to that of cable television, bringing radio broadcasting into homes and businesses via coaxial cable. It is generally used for the same reason as cable TV was in its early days when it was "community ...

, as well as

satellite TV Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...

and

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a '' broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than t ...

. Likewise, it also extends to

broadcast network A terrestrial network (or broadcast network in the United States) is a group of radio stations, television stations, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or broadcast, content from a centralized source. For example, ...

s. Broadcast law includes technical

parameter A parameter (), generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system (meaning an event, project, object, situation, etc.). That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when ...

s for these facilities, as well as content issues like

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

, and localism or regionalism.

Philippines

Under the Philippine law, broadcasting networks require a congressional franchise to operate television and radio stations.

United States

In the US, broadcasting falls under the jurisdiction of the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

. Some of the more notable aspects of broadcast law involve: *

frequency allocation Frequency allocation (or spectrum allocation or spectrum management) is the allocation and regulation of the electromagnetic spectrum into radio frequency bands, normally done by governments in most countries. Because radio propagation does ...

: The division of the spectrum into unlicensed frequency bands --

ISM band The ISM radio bands are portions of the radio spectrum reserved internationally for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) purposes, excluding applications in telecommunications. Examples of applications for the use of radio frequency (RF) ener ...

and

U-NII The Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) radio band, as defined by the United States Federal Communications Commission, is part of the radio frequency spectrum used by WLAN devices and by many wireless ISPs. As of March 2021, ...

—and licensed frequency bands --

television channel frequencies The following tables show the frequencies assigned to broadcast television channels in various regions of the world, along with the ITU letter designator for the system used. The frequencies shown are for the analogue video and audio carriers. ...

FM broadcast band The FM broadcast band is a range of radio frequencies used for FM broadcasting by radio stations. The range of frequencies used differs between different parts of the world. In Europe and Africa (defined as International Telecommunication Union ( ...

amateur radio frequency allocations Amateur radio frequency allocation is done by national telecommunication authorities. Globally, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) oversees how much radio spectrum is set aside for amateur radio transmissions. Individual amateur ...

, etc. *

low-power broadcasting Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly ...

fairness doctrine The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a mann ...

public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

History

The

Radio Act of 1927 The Radio Act of 1927 (United States Public Law 632, 69th Congress) was signed into law on February 23, 1927. It replaced the Radio Act of 1912, increasing the federal government's regulatory powers over radio communication, with oversight veste ...

was the first major broadcasting law in the country. Among its provisions was the equal opportunity provision, providing a foundation for the equal time rule. This provision requires radio and television stations and cable systems which originate their own programming to treat legally qualified political candidates equally when it comes to selling or giving away air time. Concerns that, without mandated equal opportunity for candidates, some broadcasters might try to manipulate elections led to its creation by legislators. The

Communications Act of 1934 The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 19, 1934 and codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq. The Act replaced the Federal Radio Commission wit ...

amended the

and the equal time provision is located Section 315 of the

. The

was another hallmark moment in broadcasting law history, because it created the

(FCC) for the purpose of "regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, nationwide, and world wide wire and radio communications service ..." (In this context, the word "radio" covers both broadcast radio and television.) The FCC has the authority to "make such regulations not inconsistent with law as it may deem necessary to prevent interference between stations and to carry out the provisions of the

." In 1949, the FCC enacted a policy, referred to as the "

Fairness Doctrine The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a mann ...

," for the purpose of ensuring balanced and fair coverage of all controversial issues by a broadcast station. The FCC adopted the view that station licensees were "public trustees," and, therefore, had an obligation to broadcast discussion of contrasting viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance. It was later established that stations should also actively seek out issues of importance to their community and air programming about those issues. During the 1980s, the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...

pressured the FCC to eliminate the

United Kingdom

In the UK, broadcasting has been regulated by the

Office of Communications The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

(

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

) since 2002. Scheduled radio and television broadcasting services need a licence from Ofcom under the

Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...

or 1996, and must comply with the Ofcom ''

Broadcasting Code The Broadcasting Code2017 is a code of practice issued by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in the UK that requires standards of good conduct for broadcasters. This elaborates on the Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is a ...

'' made under section 319 of the

Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...

, together with a number of other codes relating to access, electronic programme guides, advertising, and so on. The

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...

Philippines

United States

History

United Kingdom

See also

References

Further reading