I wrote a while back about the Downside of Downsizing, in which I noted an increasing number of calls from broadcasters who had trimmed their staffs to the bare minimum, only to belatedly discover that the remaining employees lacked either the experience or the time to ensure the station’s compliance…
Given that low power television (LPTV) stations have been trying unsuccessfully for many years to obtain must-carry rights comparable to those enjoyed by full-power stations, it is often overlooked that some LPTVs do, in fact, have carriage rights. However, these must-carry rights are available only to a select few LPTV…
Death, taxes … and FCC annual regulatory fees. Its that time of year again and the FCC has issued its latest annual Notice of Proposed Rulemaking containing regulatory fee proposals for Fiscal Year 2010. Those who wish to file comments on the FCC’s proposed fees must do so by May…
Death, taxes, and ownership reports: all three are unavoidable, but broadcasters had a brief respite from the last one. That respite has now come to an end. One of the joys of being a broadcast licensee is filing biennial ownership reports detailing the extended ownership structure of each station. These…
4/8/2010 The FCC’s Media Bureau has announced that a new version of the Biennial Ownership Report Form for commercial broadcast stations, FCC Form 323, will be available on its website as of April 9, 2010. All commercial broadcast station owners must file their biennial ownership reports using the new form…
3/25/2010 Amendments must be filed by May 24, 2010. A $705 filing fee is required. The FCC released a Public Notice today identifying several hundred pending applications for new analog LPTV or TV Translator stations that must be amended to specify digital operation. A copy of the FCC public notice…
January 2010 Items of Note in 2010 Biennial Ownership Report Filing Requirements for Commercial Stations: The biennial ownership filing requirement for commercial stations has been stayed indefinitely as of the date of this publication. This stay arose out of difficulties implementing a new version of FCC Form 323 for use…
This afternoon, the Commission released an Order announcing that, due to technical difficulties, it was temporarily suspending the use of the new FCC Form 323 and, as a consequence, was postponing the January 11, 2010 deadline for the filing of Biennial Ownership Reports for commercial broadcast licensees. The Commission stated…
December 2009 Today, the FCC released a Public Notice announcing that as of December 9, 2009, the new FCC Form 323 will become available online in the FCC’s CDBS filing system. Additionally, the FCC announced the availability of a “Special Use FRN” option in reporting attributable interest holders on the…
November 2009 In a Public Notice released by the FCC today, the Media Bureau has announced that it has extended to January 11, 2010, the prior December 15, 2009 deadline for commercial radio and television broadcast station licensees to file their Biennial Ownership Reports on revised FCC Form 323. This…