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The Senate proposes to introduce legislation that would investigate XEWW

Y2kTheNewOldies

Y2kTheNewOldies

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has announced his intent to introduce legislation intended to block entities associated with the Chinese government from using broadcast licenses to air their propaganda on stations licensed to Canada and Mexico.

Targeted at H&H USA’s “URadio 690” XEWW Tijuana, which is airing Mandarin programming focused at Southern California and the Los Angeles market in particular, the bill would revise Section 325(c) and (d) of the 1934 Communications Act by prohibiting the FCC from issuing licenses to broadcast applicants who intend to change the language of the station they are purchasing, unless the FCC can certify that the programming of the station will never be influenced by a foreign government or governing party. H&H USA is reportedly connected to Phoenix Satellite Television, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party. A subsidiary of Phoenix Satellite Television previously attempted to purchase KDAY Redondo Beach/Los Angeles and KDEY Ontario/Riverside in 2013.
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https://radioinsight.com/headlines/...-changes-of-border-stations-focusing-on-xeww/


But wait XEWW is licensed in Mexico isn't the Mexico equivalent of the FCC have to agree to the investigation if this becomes true.

https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/101289... for Extension of STA (XEWW-AM)_1-28-2019.pdf
 
This obviously will go nowhere. They have no jurisdiction over radio stations licensed to Mexico. Might as well investigate Cuban stations.

But it's interesting that they target China but not Russia, who is doing the same thing with a radio station licensed to the USA. Not all Communist propaganda is bad, I guess. We have several licensees airing programming that comes from various Middle East countries such as Qatar. Does this also apply to them? And of course a lot of public stations carry programming from the BBC, which is owned by the British government.
 
TheBigA said:
This obviously will go nowhere. They have no jurisdiction over radio stations licensed to Mexico. Might as well investigate Cuban stations.

But it's interesting that they target China but not Russia, who is doing the same thing with a radio station licensed to the USA. Not all Communist propaganda is bad, I guess. We have several licensees airing programming that comes from various Middle East countries such as Qatar. Does this also apply to them? And of course a lot of public stations carry programming from the BBC, which is owned by the British government.
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And trying to control the content on legally owned stations in the US is, of course, against the freedom of expression. It would be like the government closing The Daily Worker during its many decades of bright red journalism.

Cruz seems to believe in free press as long as he agrees with the content. Jeesh!
 
FCC Orders XEWW To Cease Chinese Government Owned Programming Within 48 Hours

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/...government-owned-programming-within-48-hours/

Will FCC apply to Radio Sputnik as well?

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/09/813763840/state-run-russian-radio-is-looking-to-expand-in-the-u-s

Can FCC dictate a Mexican license and owned radio station when it comes to content? Is that means FCC have a say when it comes to Foreign State Media owned outlets such as BBC (UK), France 24 (French Public Broacasters), Deutsche Welle (German Public Broadcasters), CBC/Radio Canada (Canadian Public Broadcasters)?
 
e-dawg said:
Can FCC dictate a Mexican license and owned radio station when it comes to content? I
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According to the linked article:

"XEWW falls under FCC oversight because its programming was originating from studios in California."

From what I can gather, they're dismissing the application because they say it's incomplete.
 
e-dawg said:
Can FCC dictate a Mexican license and owned radio station when it comes to content? Is that means FCC have a say when it comes to Foreign State Media owned outlets such as BBC (UK), France 24 (French Public Broacasters), Deutsche Welle (German Public Broadcasters), CBC/Radio Canada (Canadian Public Broadcasters)?
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That is not the issue. What is in question is the permit to originate in CA and transmit across US borders for broadcast in a foreign nation. That is regulated by the FCC.

If they moved the studio to Tijuana... or taped in the US and carried the tapes across the border the way it was back in the 70's... they could continue legally.
 
DavidEduardo said:
That is not the issue. What is in question is the permit to originate in CA and transmit across US borders for broadcast in a foreign nation. That is regulated by the FCC.

If they moved the studio to Tijuana... or taped in the US and carried the tapes across the border the way it was back in the 70's... they could continue legally.
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Would this apply to BBC World Service since they are owned by UK Government and also uses US studios in Washington DC to broadcast BBC News on PBS and NPR affiliates?
 
e-dawg said:
Would this apply to BBC World Service since they are owned by UK Government and also uses US studios in Washington DC to broadcast BBC News on PBS and NPR affiliates?
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I think you're referring to the Ted Cruz legislation. Because this FCC decision seems limited to this application.
 
Is this also applies to Sputnik radio and Russia Today (RT) since they both owned by the Russian State Media and broadcast to non-educational tv channels in the US and Russia language local radio affiliates? Will FCC also crackdown on Russian language radio affiliates who broadcast Sputnik as well?

https://cpj.org/2017/11/russias-rt-network-says-it-complied-with-us-order-/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russias-radio-sputnik-kremlin-funded-kansas-city-missouri-2020-02-17/
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/09/813763840/state-run-russian-radio-is-looking-to-expand-in-the-u-s
 
e-dawg said:
Will FCC also crackdown on Russian language radio affiliates who broadcast Sputnik as well?
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There's no legal basis at this point. As your linked article says, Sputnik is already on the air in Kansas City. Plus it's been on another station in DC for several years:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/340292-russian-radio-takes-over-local-dc-station

As I recall the FCC asked the owner of the DC station to apply as a foreign agent, since they're getting paid by Russia.

Keep in mind, the current administration doesn't seem to have any problem with Russia. Only China. And even then, the president always says he and the Chinese president are very good friends.
 
e-dawg said:
Is this also applies to Sputnik radio and Russia Today (RT) since they both owned by the Russian State Media and broadcast to non-educational tv channels in the US and Russia language local radio affiliates? Will FCC also crackdown on Russian language radio affiliates who broadcast Sputnik as well?

https://cpj.org/2017/11/russias-rt-network-says-it-complied-with-us-order-/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russias-radio-sputnik-kremlin-funded-kansas-city-missouri-2020-02-17/
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/09/813763840/state-run-russian-radio-is-looking-to-expand-in-the-u-s
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No, im pretty sure they have studios in the US.. and the person whos a broker go between the station and RT has had to register as a foreign agent
 
TheBigA said:
Keep in mind, the current administration doesn't seem to have any problem with Russia. Only China. And even then, the president always says he and the Chinese president are very good friends.
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That goes back to Sun Tzu and the saying "stay close to your friends but keep your enemies closer".
 
e-dawg said:
Is this also applies to Sputnik radio and Russia Today (RT) since they both owned by the Russian State Media and broadcast to non-educational tv channels in the US and Russia language local radio affiliates? Will FCC also crackdown on Russian language radio affiliates who broadcast Sputnik as well?
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No. The Ted Cruz legislation, which is likely to go nowhere, only applies if you are using the airwaves to originate programming in the US for a foreign transmitter and you change the language of the programming supplied to the station. As some of the others have pointed out, most, if not all, of the Sputnik programming originates in the US. It's also English-language programming that originates on US licensed stations. His legislation was specifically directed at XEWW 690, though a handful of other stations could potentially fall into that category in the future.
 
The jurisdiction the FCC has is requiring proper registration of any American entity that produces or causes to be produced any programming for a foreign radio station. I recall being warned about this when I did a few commercials for a radio station in Mexico. Obviously the 'commercials' was a stretch but enough for a competitor who had lost a few accounts to the Mexican station to make a complaint. As long as programming crosses borders, the FCC is involved. Like an earlier poster noted, moving the offices and studios to Mexico means no FCC involvement. Even recording and delivering programming is a loophole given the fact to prosecute the FCC actually must have first hand knowledge this actually is happening. As for the commercials I did, I could have claimed them to be 'spec spots' but the actual spot airing was recorded in the production studio in Mexico and the FCC would have to accept that. And I did make daily trips across the border to freshen the non-currents for the next day and take the carts of any new spot starting the next day.

The others described here seem to originate here for American stations. I believe there is a clause about foreign government payment not being in excess of 80% of the gross income for the entity that handles the programming/distribution. The way around that is to have a couple of American clients to build that 20%.
 
CaliRadioFan said:
Don't know if an appeal has been filed or they are now broadcasting in defiance, but URadio is still running with no changes.
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Perhaps it's now originating from another location? One not in the US.

The reason the FCC was involved was they were originating at a studio in California. If that changes, it's a different situation.
 
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