By Radio News Now Staff
The Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily restore a policy extending candidate-level broadcast advertising rates to qualifying party and joint-fundraising advertising.
The government filed its position in National Republican Congressional Committee v. Brown, No. 26A274, supporting an emergency application from the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee. The Supreme Court has not ruled on the request.
Chief Justice John Roberts requested responses to the application by noon Eastern on September 3. The 60-day lowest-unit-charge period for the November general election begins September 4, giving broadcasters, campaigns and media buyers little time to adjust if the Court acts.
What the lower court decided
On August 25, a divided Fourth Circuit panel set aside an FCC Media Bureau notice that would have treated certain party and joint-fundraising advertisements as eligible for the same lowest unit charge available to legally qualified candidates. The panel concluded that the governing statutes do not extend that entitlement to political parties or joint committees containing non-candidate members.
The ruling did not eliminate the statutory lowest-unit-charge protection for candidate advertising. The dispute concerns whether additional coordinated party advertising also qualifies.
What the FCC and Justice Department are asking for
The government supports a stay while the Supreme Court considers the case and asked for an immediate administrative stay because the discount window is about to open. Its filing argues, among other things, that the Fourth Circuit lacked jurisdiction to review the staff-level FCC notice at that stage. The applicants also argue that broadcasters are already changing quoted rates and that the ruling disrupts advertising plans.
Those are litigation positions, not a Supreme Court decision. Unless and until the Court issues an order, the Fourth Circuit judgment remains the controlling development in this dispute.
What stations should do now
- Do not treat the filing of an application or supporting brief as a change in law.
- Preserve rate quotes, contracts, traffic instructions and communications involving party or joint-fundraising orders.
- Use one written station policy that distinguishes candidate advertising from party, PAC and joint-committee advertising.
- Route disputed eligibility questions through qualified communications counsel because the legal position could change quickly.
RNN angle
The operational story is uncertainty at the sales desk: who qualifies for the lowest unit charge, which previously quoted rates remain enforceable and how stations avoid inconsistent treatment while the Supreme Court considers emergency relief.