Case Categories: Broadcasting Regulations

This is a list of significant court cases related to broadcasting regulations. The Federal Communications Commission regulates radio, television and cable because they are seen as embodying a public interest. Sometimes the regulations implicate the First Amendment freedom of free speech.

• Action for Children's Television v. Federal Communications Commission (D.C. Cir.) (1995)

  Action for Children's Television v. FCC (D.C. Cir. 1995) said the restricting indecent television programming during the day did not violate the First Amendment...

• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes (1998)

  In Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes (1998), the Supreme Court upheld a decision to exclude Ralph P. Forbes, an independent candidate for...

• CBS, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission (1981)

  In CBS v. Federal Communications Commission (1981), the Court gave more weight to the First Amendment rights of political candidates than to those of...

• City of Los Angeles v. Preferred Communications (1986)

  In City of Los Angeles v. Preferred Communications (1986), the Court demonstrated that cable television activities are protected by the First Amendment...

• Columbia Broadcasting System v. Democratic National Committee (1973)

  Columbia Broadcasting System v. Democratic National Committee (1973) held that a radio station did not violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press...

• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium v. Federal Communications Commission (1996)

  Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium v. FCC (1996) ruled on elements of an act that cable programmers and viewers alleged violated the First...

• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox (2009) (2009)

  FCC v. Fox (2009) ruled that the FCC did not act capriciously by changing its fleeting expletives policy. The Court declined to address the underlying First...

• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations (2012) (2012)

  While FCC v. Fox (2012) invalidated the FCC's actions against fleeting expletives on television, it didn't address the First Amendment implications of the...

• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California (1984)

  In FCC v. League of Women Voters of California (1984), the Court said that banning noncommercial educational stations from editorializing violated the First...

• Federal Communications Commission v. Midwest Video Corp. (1979)

  FCC v. Midwest Video Corp. (1979) said FCC regulations of cable stations interfered with the First Amendment journalistic freedom of cable station owners...

• Federal Communications Commission v. National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting (1978)

  FCC v. National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting (1978) said the FCC had the right to further the First Amendment by restricting media concentration in...

• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)

  In FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that there is less First Amendment protection for broadcast media than other forms of media...

• Federal Communications Commission v. Prometheus Radio Project (2021)

  The Supreme Court upheld an easing of broadcast ownership rules in Federal Communications Commission vs. Prometheus Radio Project, rejecting that the change...

• Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Association v. United States (1999)

  Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Association v. United States (1999) struck down a law that violated the First Amendment by prohibiting broadcasting...

• Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission (1990)

  Metro Broadcasting v. Federal Communications Commission (1990) upheld affirmative action policies favoring minorities in broadcast licensing to promote...

• National Broadcasting Co. v. United States (1943)

  National Broadcasting Co. v. United States (1943) upheld FCC content-based regulations on broadcast media, finding they did not violate First Amendment free...

• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission (1969)

  Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC (1969) said a regulation using the fairness doctrine to give a journalist airtime to respond to allegations did not violate the...

• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission (1994, 1997)

  Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission (1994) held that different First Amendment standards applied to cable television and...

• United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. (1993)

  In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. upheld a federal law prohibiting the broadcasting of advertisements for state-run...

• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group (2000)

  U.S. v. Playboy Entertainment Group (2000) said a regulation requiring cable providers to show sexually-oriented material at night only violated the First...