FCC Heavies Up on Fine for Multiple Sponsorship ID Violations

Seven years ago the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau sent out a flurry of inquiries suggesting that scores of TV stations might have violated the sponsorship identification rule by relying on “video news releases.” The FCC followed up on this in 2008 suggesting that the sponsorship ID rule might warrant extensive (some might call it nonsensical) sponsor IDs to flag “embedded” advertisements. And now, after half a decade of relative inactivity on the sponsorship ID front, the FCC has imposed a $44,000 fine on a Chicago AM radio station for sponsorship ID violations. When it comes to sponsorship ID violations, “forfeiture amounts proposed or assessed for violations of the sponsorship identification rules in any case reflect consideration of the unique facts of each case in accordance with the aggravating and mitigating factors.” And where, as here, the FCC determines that multiple violations have occurred, the commission will feel free to calculate the fine accordingly.