Articles Posted in Low Power & Class A Television

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Late this afternoon, the FCC released a short Report and Order allowing a limited set of television stations to forego uploading a portion of their paper public inspection files to the FCC’s online system by the upcoming Monday, February 4 deadline.

As we previously reported, under FCC rules adopted last year, all full power and Class A television stations had to begin using an online public inspection file hosted on the FCC’s website beginning August 2, 2012. In order to comply with the new rules, stations have been required to make sure that all public inspection file documents created beginning on August 2, 2012 have been promptly uploaded to the FCC’s online database, except for emails and letters from the public and the political files for stations not affiliated with the ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox networks in the top 50 markets. Documents that were already in stations’ public inspection files prior to August 2, 2012 must be uploaded to the new online public file by Monday’s deadline.

Under the FCC’s public file rule, some categories of documents must remain in the public file until final action has been taken on the station’s next license renewal application. Most notable among these documents are all of the station’s quarterly filings, such as Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Children’s Television Programming Reports on Form 398, Certifications of Compliance with Commercial Limits in Children’s Programming, and Certifications of Continuing Class A Eligibility. Where action on a station’s license renewal application is delayed, many years’ worth of documents can pile up in the station’s public inspection file waiting for the license renewal grant.

One station in this situation petitioned the FCC to allow it to continue to retain the Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists covering quarters prior to the start of its current eight year license term at the station’s main studio, rather than having to upload the voluminous documents to the online public file. The FCC today granted this request and provided the same relief to all other “similarly situated” stations.

Specifically, a station can forego uploading its “prior term” Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists to the FCC’s website if (1) the station’s license renewal application was not challenged; (2) action on the station’s license renewal application is delayed for an enforcement reason other than one relating to issue-responsive programming and the related recordkeeping requirements; and (3) the station retains the prior term Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists at the station’s main studio public file until final action on the station’s license renewal application. The station must still upload the Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists for its current license term to the online public file.

The FCC stated that this relief was warranted in part because of the burden of uploading these documents. The FCC also cited its policy that stations with a pending license renewal application must still file their next license renewal application when normally due. The FCC felt that the online availability of a station’s Quarterly Issues/ Programs Lists from the prior license term could confuse the public regarding what they should review and comment on with regard to the station’s performance during the current license term.

What is odd, however, is that this rationale applies equally to other quarterly filings mentioned above that the FCC is still requiring be uploaded to the online public file. As a result, stations should keep in mind that the Order is very limited in scope, and the amount of materials subject to the uploading exemption is only a portion of the documents relating to the prior license term.

Still, to the extent the FCC has provided at least some relief with regard to uploading Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, stations with a license renewal application from their preceding eight year license term still pending should take the time to determine whether they qualify for this relief.

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Despite the many distractions of the new year, it’s important not to forget that by February 4, 2013, all full-power and Class A television stations must have completed the process of uploading public file materials to the FCC’s online public file system.

As we reported in July and August of last year, the FCC’s new rules require television stations to replace the public files they maintain at their studios with electronic files hosted online by the FCC. The new rules mean that each station must inventory their current paper public inspection file to determine which documents need to be uploaded to the FCC’s website. In order to comply with the new rules, stations must make sure that everything in their current paper public inspection file is uploaded to the FCC’s website except political broadcasting files created prior to August 2, 2012, and emails and letters from the public. While the focus has been on shifting the paper files into an online public file database, stations must remember that they will still be required to keep, at a minimum, the emails and letters from the public in the paper public file at each station’s main studio, and therefore take steps to ensure that the public will still be able to access that file during normal business hours. In other words, just because most of the file will be online, the procedures for allowing the public to promptly review public file materials that remain at the main studio must remain in place, including the need to ensure that the public can access the file during lunch hours.

Also, keep in mind that ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates located in the top 50 markets were required to begin placing new political file information online on August 2, 2012. These stations are not required to upload any political file documentation that was placed in the file prior to August 2, but they are required to keep the pre-August 2 materials in their paper public inspection files for two years from the date on which the documents were created. All other TV and Class A stations must continue to maintain their political files at their main studio, unless they voluntarily choose to upload their political files in advance of the July 1, 2014 deadline to do so.

Among the items that stations are required to upload on their own from their paper files to the FCC’s online file:

  • Citizens Agreements (if any)
  • Political Files since August 2, 2012 (top 50/top 4 networks for now)
  • Annual EEO Public File Reports
  • Responses to FCC inquiries
  • Records concerning commercial limits for children’s programming
  • Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists
  • Public Notices of assignment/transfer applications and renewal of license applications
  • Carriage elections of must-carry/retransmission consent
  • Joint sales agreements or time brokerage agreements
  • Non-commercial station donor lists
  • Class A statements of continuing eligibility

There are also a number of other documents that the FCC has indicated it will upload into stations’ online public files. However, it is important that stations diligently check their online public files to ensure they are complete, as the ultimate responsibility for maintaining a complete online public file is the station’s, and not the FCC’s. Items that should be automatically uploaded by the FCC are:

  • Authorizations
  • Applications and related materials
  • Contour maps
  • Ownership Reports (FCC Form 323)
  • The Public and Broadcasting Manual
  • EEO Forms (Forms 396 and 397)
  • Investigation materials originated by the FCC
  • Children’s Programming Reports (FCC Form 398)

Given the sheer size of public inspection files, the uploading process can be very labor intensive, and stations that have not yet commenced that process should immediately turn their attention to it. Stations should also understand that their public inspection files are now open to anyone with an Internet connection, making it for less likely that any omissions will go unnoticed. As recent issues of our monthly FCC Enforcement Monitor indicate, the FCC has not been hesitant to fine even noncommercial stations for public inspection file violations, and we are definitely seeing a trend by the FCC of issuing $15,000 fines rather than the base fine of $10,000. Time to get those page scanners running at top speed.

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Earlier today, the FCC released a Sixth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking relating to its biennial broadcast ownership report filing requirements, reigniting a controversy over privacy, broadcast investment, and indeed, the very purpose of the reports.

In 2009, the FCC revamped its Form 323, the Commercial Broadcast Station Ownership Report, somewhat to address data collection shortcomings identified by the U.S. Government Accounting Office, but mostly to try to make the information more standardized and transparent for academic researchers wishing to generate industry-wide ownership statistics, particularly with regard to minority and female ownership. Unfortunately, the FCC’s initial effort to revise the form seemed to have focused on trying to create a form that researchers would applaud, rather than on the “user experience” of those required to fill it out. The result was an awkward effort at forcing complex ownership information into highly redundant machine-readable spreadsheet formats.

Causing particular consternation, however, was a new requirement that every officer, director and shareholder mentioned in those reports have a unique FCC-issued Federal Registration Number (FRN). Because the FCC wants researchers to be able to track the race, ethnicity and gender of each individual connected with a broadcast station, it requires that those registering to obtain an FRN provide either a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), or a Social Security Number (SSN). This, according to the FCC, is necessary to allow it to differentiate between individuals that may have similar names and addresses.

Not surprisingly, this requirement met with fierce opposition from numerous groups, including: (1) those who have heard the admonition of government and others to never reveal your SSN to anyone or risk identity theft; (2) broadcasters, who found less than thrilling the experience of badgering their shareholders to either hand over their SSN or take the time to apply for and deliver the FRN themselves; (iii) broadcast lawyers, trying to get ownership reports on file by the deadline despite never hearing back from a significant percentage of those asked to cooperate to provide individual FRNs; and (iv) the investor community, which is not fond of the idea of having to hand over personal information because an individual chose to buy shares of a broadcast company rather than a movie studio.

After fierce opposition and various failed efforts to get the FCC to eliminate the requirement or at least create an alternate method of obtaining an FRN that didn’t require an SSN or TIN, the FCC had a change of heart when required by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to explain itself (you can read Paul Cicelski’s discussion of that response here). The FCC defended the new ownership report filing requirements by telling the court that no one would be forced to hand over their SSN or TIN, as it was going to permit broadcasters to apply for a Special Use FRN (SUFRN, one of the most descriptive acronyms you will find) in cases where a party refuses to allow use of its SSN/TIN. In light of this representation, the court declined to intervene, and the FCC proceeded with implementation of the new ownership report form and requirements.

With the availability of SUFRNs and various other changes to the ownership report form and filing system, the FCC was finally able to make the oft-extended filing deadline stick, with commercial broadcasters filing their November 1, 2009 ownership reports by a July 8, 2010 deadline. However, the effort at making the data more accessible for researchers ended up making the form very burdensome for broadcasters required to complete and submit the reports. The biggest issue is structural–requiring the submission of the exact same information over and over in a filing system never lauded for its user-friendliness. During the numerous extensions of the filing deadline, the FCC did incorporate some features like copy and paste to lessen the burden of creating duplicative reports, but no tech feature can overcome the burden created by requiring the filing of the exact same ownership information over and over again for each station in a group rather than just reporting the ownership of that group (once) and the stations that are in it. Because of this, even a relatively small broadcast group can find itself filing well over a hundred ownership report forms.

The irony is that even media researchers–the very group for which this unwieldy reporting system was created–have begun to complain that the sheer volume of filings makes it difficult to sort through the mass of repetitive data. Many communications lawyers seem to agree, finding the “old” ownership reports far more useful in understanding a station’s ownership than the current edition.

Still, broadcasters and the FCC seemed to have reached a detente over the reports, with broadcasters quietly grumbling to themselves about the mind-numbing repetitiveness of drafting and filing the reports, but (having seen in the earlier iterations of the “new” report) knowing how much worse it could be. That detente may have ended today when the FCC released the Sixth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which tentatively concludes that the need to uniquely identify each person connected with a broadcast station is so strong that it must end the availability of SUFRNs and require that all reported individuals get an FRN based upon their SSN or TIN.

While the FCC’s conclusions are “tentative”, and it requests comment on these and many other questions relating to the ownership report, you can feel the collective chill go down broadcasters’ spines as the FCC proceeds to suggest that it could fine individuals who fail to provides an SSN/TIN-based FRN, and queries whether broadcasters should be required to warn their shareholders of that. Telling shareholders or potential shareholders that they face fines for electing to invest their money in broadcasting is not exactly the best way to attract investment to broadcasting, including investment by the minority and female investors the FCC so clearly wants.

But it is that last issue that raises the most curious point of all: to get minority and female ownership information, the FCC seeks to implement an awkward, intrusive, burdensome, privacy-insensitive ownership reporting regime premised on the need for both massive ownership filings and the tracking of individuals by their SSN to determine minority and female ownership trends in the industry. Wouldn’t it be far simpler, less intrusive, and less burdensome to just ask broadcasters to provide in their ownership reports (or elsewhere) aggregate data on their minority and female officers, directors, and shareholders? Researchers could then just utilize that data to create industry totals rather than having to wade through mountains of unrelated ownership data to derive it themselves.

Instead of this simplified approach, the FCC seems intent upon using the clumsy mechanism of ownership reports to assess minority and female representation in the industry, stating in the Sixth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that “Unlike many of our filing obligations, the fundamental objective of the biennial Form 323 filing requirement is to track trends in media ownership by individuals with particular racial, ethnic, and gender characteristics.” For those of us who have been in the industry for quite some time, that claim is surprising, as the very first sentence of Section 73.3615, the FCC rule that governs the filing of ownership reports, states: “The Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations (FCC Form 323) must be electronically filed every two years by each licensee of a commercial AM, FM, or TV broadcast station (a “Licensee”); and each entity that holds an interest in the licensee that is attributable for purposes of determining compliance with the Commission’s multiple ownership rules.”

In attempting to convert a reporting obligation designed to ensure multiple ownership rule compliance into an academic research tool on minority and female broadcast ownership, the FCC undermines both goals. Broadcasters have routinely provided the minority and female ownership data the FCC seeks without fuss, and can hardly be faulted for wishing to do so in a straightforward manner that: (a) doesn’t require unnecessarily complex and redundant filings; and (b) doesn’t require them to badger their shareholders for private information while threatening their shareholders with federal fines for failing to comply. Rather than “doubling down” on a flawed approach, perhaps it is time for the FCC to step back and reassess the most efficient way of obtaining the desired information–more efficient for broadcasters, more efficient for the FCC, and more efficient for media researchers.

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The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ public inspection files by January 10, 2013, reflecting information for the months of October, November, and December 2012.

Content of the Quarterly List
The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive to significant community needs, issues, and problems as determined by the station. The FCC gives each station the discretion to determine which issues facing the community served by the station are the most significant and how best to respond to them in the station’s overall programming.

To demonstrate a station’s compliance with this public interest obligation, the FCC requires the station to maintain and place in the public inspection file a Quarterly List reflecting the “station’s most significant programming treatment of community issues during the preceding three month period.” By its use of the term “most significant,” the FCC has noted that stations are not required to list all responsive programming, but only that programming which provided the most significant treatment of the issues identified.

Given that program logs are no longer mandated by the FCC, the Quarterly Lists may be the most important evidence of a station’s compliance with its public service obligations. The lists also provide important support for the certification of Class A station compliance discussed below. We therefore urge stations not to “skimp” on the Quarterly Lists, and to err on the side of over-inclusiveness. Otherwise, stations risk a determination by the FCC that they did not adequately serve the public interest during the license term. Stations should include in the Quarterly Lists as much issue-responsive programming as they feel is necessary to demonstrate fully their responsiveness to community needs. Taking extra time now to provide a thorough Quarterly List will help reduce risk at license renewal time.

It should be noted that the FCC has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Quarterly Lists and often brings enforcement actions against stations that do not have fully complete Quarterly Lists or that do not timely place such lists in their public inspection file.

A PDF version of this entire article can be found at Fourth Quarter Issues/Programs List Advisory for Broadcast Stations.

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Don’t forget that by December 3, 2012, all commercial and noncommercial full power television stations, as well as all digital low power, digital Class A, and digital television translator stations that are licensed, or are operating pursuant to Special Temporary Authority, must electronically file an FCC Form 317 with the FCC. The purpose of the Form 317 is to disclose whether a station provided ancillary or supplementary services on its digital spectrum at any time during the twelve month period ending on September 30, 2012.

Ancillary or supplementary services are all services provided on a portion of a station’s digital spectrum that is not necessary to provide the required single, free, over-the-air signal to viewers. Thus, any video broadcast signal provided at no charge to viewers is exempt from the fee. According to the FCC, services that are considered ancillary or supplementary include, but are not limited to, “computer software distribution, data transmissions, teletext, interactive materials, aural messages, paging services, audio signals, subscription video, and the like.”

If a station did provide such ancillary/supplementary services in the past year, then the FCC expects that station to include in its Form 317 the services provided, the amount of gross revenues derived from those services, and a remittance Form 159 submitting payment to the government of 5% of the gross revenues generated by those services.

What if your station has never used any of its digital capacity for ancillary or supplementary services? It doesn’t matter, as all digital TV stations are required to file a Form 317 annually, whether or not they have transmitted any non-broadcast services. Stations unfamiliar with this requirement will want to take a look at our Client Advisory for more information, and make sure they don’t miss the coming deadline. Missing the deadline can result in a totally different “fee” being imposed on a station by the FCC – a fine for failure to timely file required forms.

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In my last post, I discussed the FCC’s mammoth NPRM asking for public comment on an immense number of issues relating to the planned spectrum incentive auctions. In particular, I noted the challenges faced by both the FCC and commenters in trying to cover so much ground on such complex issues in such a short time. One of the emails I received in response to that post was from an old pro in the broadcast industry who wrote that “I’ve been reviewing the NPRM for 12 days and haven’t finished yet!”
Having heard that message from a number of people, the importance of the NPRM to a great many segments of the communications industry, and the inability of many of our clients to dedicate several weeks to perusing the NPRM, Paul Cicelski and I have drafted a highly condensed summary of the NPRM in a Pillsbury Client Advisory that may be found here. In condensing it, we were mindful of the quote, often attributed to Albert Einstein, that “everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” While an entirely sensible approach, it would have abbreviated the 205-page NPRM (including attachments) only marginally. So instead, we threw that bit of advice out the window and condensed our summary down to five pages, giving us an industry-leading 41:1 compression ratio.

As a result, the Advisory cannot contain the level of detail found in the NPRM itself (that’s how you cut out 200 pages!), but our hope is that it will make the NPRM’s content accessible to a much broader audience, particularly the many who will ultimately be affected by the FCC’s various auction and repacking proposals. In addition to providing a relatively painless way for those interested to learn more about this proceeding, the Advisory should provide a road map for parties seeking to identify the issues that will most greatly affect them so that they can focus their attention on those specific aspects of the NPRM when preparing comments for the FCC.

Given that the volume of issues to be addressed in the NPRM is so great, and there is literally no way any individual party could cover them all, the best chance for a well-informed outcome in this proceeding is for the FCC to hear from a large number of commenters who, cumulatively, will hopefully touch on most of the key issues in their comments and reply comments. As a reminder, the comment deadline is December 21, 2012, with reply comments due on February 19, 2013. Whether a potential seller in the reverse spectrum auction, a potential buyer in the forward auction, or a television bystander that may be buffeted by the winds of repacking, now is the time to step up and make your voice heard, rather than merely grumbling over the next several years about how the process is unfolding.

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Given that the FCC adopted its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish the parameters of its much-anticipated broadcast spectrum auctions on September 28, 2012, and released the text of that NPRM on October 2, 2012, you would think that the communications industry would now be buzzing over the details of the FCC’s long-in-the-making plan. Instead, from many corners of the industry, there has been stunned silence; not because there were any real surprises in the NPRM, but because the NPRM made clear to those not previously involved in the process the sheer enormity of the tasks ahead.

Also feeding the industry’s muted reaction is the fact that, because there were no surprises, the industry doesn’t know much more now than it did before about how the auctions will be structured. Instead, we are left with many excellent but unanswered questions asked by the NPRM, leaving the auction rules and structure a very ethereal proposition. As the annual deluge of Halloween horror movies reminds us, people are afraid of ethereal entities, and are unlikely to visit the FCC’s cabin in the woods (despite the “big money for spectrum” signs out front) until the FCC is able to remove the dark mystery from this undertaking.

On the one hand, the FCC’s staff deserves immense credit for asking the right questions on what is unquestionably the most complex undertaking the FCC has ever attempted (it makes you long for the simple-by-comparison DTV transition, which only took 13 years to accomplish). On the other hand, asking the right questions meant producing a 140 page, 425 paragraph NPRM, along with an additional 65 pages of appendices and commissioner statements.

The NPRM is a densely packed document with numerous questions and issues raised for public comment in each paragraph. Part of the problem, however, is that in order to get the entire package of materials down to 205 pages total, some of the NPRM’s questions had to be condensed so severely as to make it difficult to discern what precisely the FCC is asking about or proposing. As a result, you will note that a lot of the third-party summaries circulating are short on condensed narrative and long on direct quotes from the NPRM–often a sign that the person drafting the summary gave up on trying to figure out what the NPRM was trying to say, and decided to let the reader take a crack at it instead.

Comments on the NPRM are due on December 21, 2012, with Reply Comments due on February 19, 2013. While the FCC indicates that it intends to hold the spectrum auctions in 2014, keep in mind that once the Reply Comments are filed, if the FCC were able to resolve a paragraph’s worth of issues each and every day the FCC is open for business after that date, it would resolve the final issues in October of 2014. It would then need to release an order adopting the final policies and rules, and begin the process of setting up the reverse auction (for broadcasters interested in releasing spectrum) and the forward auction (for those interested in purchasing that spectrum for wireless broadband). Completing that process before 2015 will be extremely challenging.

Even this understates the actual time that will be required for the FCC to have a shot at a successful auction. Critically important to the success of such auctions is providing adequate time for potential spectrum sellers and buyers to analyze the final rules and assets to be sold to determine if they are interested in participating and at what price. If the FCC wants to encourage participation, it will need to ensure that potential spectrum sellers and buyers have at least a number of months to assess their options under the final rules. Otherwise, it is likely that many who might participate will not have attained an adequate level of comfort in the process to participate, or at least not at the prices the FCC is hoping to see. In that case, they will elect to remain on the sidelines.

Given the number of moving parts and these related considerations (which ignore entirely the possibility of additional delay from court appeals of the eventual rules), a 2014 auction seems very optimistic unless the FCC’s goal shifts from having a successful auction to just having any form of auction as soon as possible. While those already intent upon being a buyer or seller of spectrum would certainly prefer a fast auction since that means quicker access to spectrum and spectrum dollars and less competition for both, the FCC and the public have a vested interest in holding auctions with a broader definition of success (in terms of dollars to the treasury, less disruption of broadcast service, producing large enough swaths of spectrum to maximize spectrum efficiency, etc.).

This morning, the FCC announced an October 26, 2012 workshop focusing on broadcaster issues in the NPRM, so efforts at removing at least some of the mystery surrounding the auctions are already underway. Given that all television broadcasters will be affected by this process, whether through participation in the reverse auction or by being forced to modify their facilities in the subsequent spectrum repacking, it would be wise to participate in the workshop, which is also being streamed on the Internet.

And one last bit of good news: the workshop will be held at the Commission Meeting Room at FCC Headquarters in Washington, DC rather than at that cabin in the woods mentioned above. However, don’t be surprised if there is still a “big money for spectrum” banner over the door when you get there.

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On Thursday, the much anticipated Online Public Inspection File for television stations launched more or less successfully. To complete the task in the short time given them, the FCC staff put forth an Olympic effect, and while they were subject to some point deductions for a few stumbles in the regulatory gymnastics involved, they largely “stuck the dismount” as the system went live.

To its credit, the FCC clearly listened to the many voicemails and emails sent to FCC staff, as well as the comments and questions raised during the FCC’s online demonstrations prior to launch. Some potentially nasty pitfalls for stations were ironed out via the FAQs, and the system will hopefully continue to be refined in the weeks and months ahead.

In the meantime, here is what stations need to do now that the system is operational:

1. Be sure you can log in. The FCC’s staff reports that there were a considerable number of stations that had lost or forgotten their FRN (Federal Registration Number) and password or otherwise had trouble with the log in process. The FRN has become an all-access pass to a station’s records with the FCC and anyone who has it can file applications on the station’s behalf in any number of FCC filing systems. The potential for mischief that the FRN and password presents is worthy of another blog post, but for now, know that stations that have used multiple FRNs and passwords may find it hard to get access to their online public inspection files and need the staff’s assistance in straightening the problem out.

2. Input your station address. On the Authorizations page and again on the Letters and Emails From the Public page, stations need to fill in the station’s main studio address, telephone number and email contact information. Stations should also verify that their closed captioning contact is listed correctly.

3. Cross-reference the online public file on the station’s home page. Stations that have websites must include a link on their home page to their online public inspection file and provide the public with contact information for a station employee that can assist the disabled in accessing the public file.

4. Remove out of date documents automatically uploaded by the FCC. Since the FCC simply linked its CDBS public view to the new online public files, there may be numerous items that can safely be discarded as no longer relevant. The FCC did not do this automatically because the retention periods for the various categories of documents that seem straightforward at first blush actually vary considerably depending on a station’s individual circumstances. The FCC has given stations enough rope to hang themselves here, so care should be taken before documents are removed. Nevertheless, for most stations, a lot of material is being put out there that need not be.

5. Check the station’s Section 73.1212(e) and BCRA (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act) folders. Chances are good that confusion has surrounded your station’s 73.1212(e) folder for years, with the result that many stations’ Section 73.1212(e) folders are empty. Section 73.1212(e) is the rule requiring stations to maintain a list of the executive officers of organizations that buy time to discuss political matters or controversial issues of public importance, and to place that list in the public inspection file. Most stations have treated these types of spots no differently than they do spots purchased by candidates for elective office. As a result, often when we visit a station’s public file, we find neatly labeled folders for each candidate and each issue in the same section of the file cabinet and an empty folder labeled “Section 73.1212(e) Sponsorship Identification” at the very end of the drawer. When BCRA was implemented (requiring stations to maintain more detailed information about third-party political and issue ad buys involving controversial national issues), stations simply labeled more folders and added the BCRA materials to the political file right next to the materials on candidate ads. In addition, many stations found it difficult to distinguish between controversial national issues versus controversial state or local issues, and simply collected and maintained the same disclosure information for all ads that seemed “political” in nature, even if placing that information in the file was not actually required.

Technically (and here’s where we separate the real communications lawyers from people who have interesting lives), the paperwork kept for non-BCRA issue ads was never part of a station’s “political file”, and the BCRA paperwork, which is nowhere mentioned in either the FCC’s political or public file rules, is part of the political file. This distinction could have meant that stations that are not network affiliates located in the Top 50 markets would have been exempt from uploading candidate and BCRA paperwork until July 2014, but would still have to upload state and local issue ad paperwork immediately. Fortunately, the FCC appears to have sidestepped this problem by including in its FAQs a statement acknowledging that, because many stations simply lump all these “political” documents together, they can treat them all as part of the “political file” and only start uploading them in July 2014 (unless they are a Big 4 network affiliate in a Top 50 market).

6. Decide when to start uploading the station’s pre-August 2 documents. The FCC is giving stations six months to upload their required pre-August 2 documents to the website. While the original Report and Order only gave stations five months from the rule’s effective date to get this done, which would make final compliance due over the New Year’s holiday, the FCC through its FAQs and its staff’s advice is granting stations until February 2, 2013 to finish the upload process. Given the continuous “Recent Station History” feed on the FCC’s website notifying the public of the most recent filings, however, stations might want to time their uploading activities to times when other filings are also taking place (i.e, October 1 EEO Public File Reports or October 10 Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists). That way, their recently filed documents are likely to be moved off the front page more quickly.

7. Stations airing pre- or post-filing license renewal announcements must update the language of the spots, while understanding that the public might not appreciate the change. The FCC has now updated the language of the pre- and post-filing license renewal announcements so that, on the one hand, it directs the public to find the station’s license renewal application at www.fcc.gov, but, on the other hand, tells the public to come to the station’s main studio or to the FCC to learn more about the license renewal process. The problem is that stations which filed their license renewal applications on June 1 or August 1 have been telling their viewing public for months that their applications are available at the main studio. This may lead to some disgruntled visitors to the studio, and stations will also need to think about exactly what they can offer members of the public that show up in their lobbies asking for “further information concerning the FCC’s broadcast license renewal process.” As a matter of good public relations, stations going through license renewal may want to consider keeping a hard copy of their license renewal application and the FCC’s “The Public and Broadcasting” publication available to pacify members of the public who trek to their stations in response to the public notices. Of course, stations that have not transitioned all of the required elements of the public file into the FCC’s system must still make the public file available upon request in the traditional manner, and stations will always have to make letters and emails from the public available at the studio even after the transition has ended.

Finally, broadcasters have long noted that visitors to the public file are few and far between. As a result, it has been all too easy for stations to become rusty on the procedures for making the file immediately available to the public, despite the many fines that have been assessed by the FCC for failure to do so. It is likely that visits will become even less frequent now that much of the file will be available online. However, stations must continue to prepare their staffs to receive the public and respond to questions about what is at the station and what is online. The upcoming months will likely be a learning process for all.

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Late this afternoon, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the Stay requested by the National Association of Broadcasters that would have prevented the FCC’s new online Public Inspection File posting requirement from becoming effective. As a result, television broadcast stations must be prepared to comply with this new requirement effective on August 2, 2012.

As we have previously reported here, the FCC has moved with great speed to create a new filing system to house television stations’ online Public Inspection Files. Until now, broadcasters have had only a brief glimpse of the system they must begin using in less than one week.

This afternoon, the FCC announced that it will hold two public online “screensharing” sessions that will “provide high resolution views of the application screens and cover the material presented during the July 17, 2012 demonstration.”

The sessions will occur at 9:00 am on Monday and 4:00 pm on Tuesday. Those interested in viewing the demonstrations must visit the FCC’s site in advance and join the teleconference prior to its scheduled start time. While the online demonstration will provide the visuals, the audio portion will be done via the teleconference.

We have prepared an Advisory for clients to help them understand which specific items must be uploaded and what steps they should take to make a successful transition to the online Public Inspection File. The next week promises to be chaotic for TV broadcasters, but we hope the Advisory will help alleviate some of the regulatory pain.

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The FCC has released a Report and Order which includes its final determinations as to how much each FCC licensee will have to pay in Annual Regulatory Fees for fiscal year 2012 (FY 2012). The FCC collects Annual Regulatory Fees to offset the cost of its non-application processing functions, such as conducting rulemaking proceedings.

In May of this year, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding its FY 2012 payment process and the proposed fee amounts for each type of FCC license. In large part, the FCC adopted its proposals without material changes. With respect to the non-fee related proposals, the FCC imposed a new requirement that refund, waiver, fee reduction and/or payment deferment requests must be submitted online rather than via hardcopy. The FCC also adopted its proposal to use 2010 U.S. Census data in calculating regulatory fees. With respect to fees, Commercial UHF Television Station fees increased across the board, except for the fee associated with stations in Markets 11-25. In contrast, Commercial VHF Television Station fees decreased across the board, except for those stations in Markets 11-25. The fees for most categories of radio stations increased modestly. A chart reflecting the fees for the various types of licenses affecting broadcast stations is provided here.

The FCC will release a Public Notice announcing the window for payment of the regulatory fees. As has been the case for the past few years, the FCC no longer mails a hardcopy of regulatory fee assessments to broadcast stations. Instead, stations must make an online filing using the FCC’s Fee Filer system reporting the types and fee amounts they are obligated to pay. After submitting that information, stations may pay their fees electronically or by separately submitting payment to the FCC’s Lockbox.

Finally, as Paul Cicelski of our office noted earlier this year, the FCC is re-examining its regulatory fee program and has initiated the first of two separate NPRM proceedings seeking comment on issues related to how the FCC should allocate its regulatory costs among different segments of the communications industry. The FCC expects to release the second NPRM “in the near future” and implement any changes from those rulemakings in time for FY 2013.

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