|
Commencement of |
|
|
This weekend marks an important
point for the 2010 general election to be held November 2, 2010. During the 60 days preceding a general
election, rates charged to “legally qualified candidates” for “uses” of the
station in connection with the candidate’s campaign may not exceed the
“lowest unit charge” (“LUC”) provided to the station’s most favored
commercial advertisers for the same amount and class of time during the same
time period. This limitation applies
to all legally qualified candidates to whom the station sells time for
political purposes, not just to federal candidates. However, LUC requirements do not apply to
issue advertisements or spots placed by third-party committees that are not a
candidate’s authorized committee. To qualify for a station’s LUC, federal
candidates must provide a signed certification affirming that if any
political advertisement authorized by the candidate makes a reference to
another candidate for the same office, that advertisement will include a
statement made by the candidate, identifying the candidate by name and by the
office the candidate is seeking, and indicating that the candidate has
approved the advertisement (commonly referred to as the “stand by your ad”
requirement). Similar requirements may
be imposed by individual state laws, but compliance is not required in order
to qualify a state or local candidate for LUC pricing. Some
stations sell political advertising time on election day and others do not,
as permitted by the FCC, which means that the commencement of the 60-day LUC
period could vary by one day. For
purposes of consistency and to avoid confusion, we recommend that all
stations consider beginning their 60-day LUC period on Friday, September 3,
2010, regardless of whether they accept political advertisements on election
day. To
the extent you have any questions regarding the lowest unit charge
obligation, or other political advertising requirements, please note that we
have prepared an interactive “webinar” that provides information about the
various requirements applicable to candidate and issue ads, including
political disclosure statements, calculating lowest unit charge, reasonable
access, equal opportunities, and sponsorship identification. The webinar lasts approximately one hour and
encourages questions. Your employees
can participate in the webinar remotely from numerous locations via computer
and telephone line. Please
let us know if you would like us to customize a political webinar for your
stations. September 1, 2010 |
|
|
This memorandum is intended only as a general discussion of these issues and should not be regarded as legal advice. We would be pleased to provide additional details or advice about specific situations if desired. Copyright © 2010, Lerman Senter PLLC 2000 K Street NW,
Suite 600 | Washington, DC 20006-1809 To Unsubscribe: Unsubscribe | To Update Client Info: Update Client Info |
|
