Alert
Alert
12.20.10
Items of Note in 2011
1. Applications for Renewal of License: June 1, 2011 is the first filing date of the three-year period during which the licensees of all commercial and noncommercial AM, FM and FM Translator stations throughout the United States and its territories will be required to file their applications for renewal of broadcast station license. Licensees in the television services will commence this process in 2012. The date on which a station’s application is due depends on the state or territory of its community of license. All licensees should familiarize themselves now with the dates associated with this important filing, including the dates on which public notice announcements must air in advance of the renewal filing; the filing date itself, which is approximately four months before the date of license expiration; and the dates on which post-filing announcements must air.
2. Biennial Ownership Report Filing Requirements for Commercial Radio and Television Stations: Licensees of commercial, full-power radio and television stations as well as Class A television and low power television stations should be ready to file their biennial ownership reports on FCC Form 323 by the new, uniform filing date of November 1, 2011. While these licensees may have filed a biennial report as recently as the summer of 2010, that report fulfilled the reporting obligation for the period that ended on November 1, 2009. Only because of difficulties with the FCC's electronic filing system was the November 1, 2009 deadline ultimately extended to July 8, 2010.
3. DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report on FCC Form 388: This filing, which reports on a television station’s efforts to educate consumers as to issues surrounding the station’s transition to digital television, is no longer required to be filed by the majority of television stations because they have completed the transition to their full and final digital facilities and therefore ceased public information activities. However, for those stations that have not completed the transition, the consumer education requirements continue to apply, as does the requirement to file FCC Form 388 quarterly. Accordingly, due dates for that filing are noted for each quarter for the benefit of stations still subject to this obligation.
4. Television Station Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists: The FCC previously adopted a new form, FCC Form 355, to replace the Quarterly Issues/Programs List filings by television stations. However, use of that form has not been made effective as of the date of this publication. Accordingly, television stations should continue to timely place their issues/programs lists in their public inspection files. Television broadcasters should be alert to a future announcement regarding the effective and due dates of the Form 355.
5. Television Station Online Public File: The FCC previously adopted a requirement that television stations duplicate the content of their public inspection files on the Internet, if they have a website. As of the date of this publication, this requirement is not legally effective. Accordingly, television stations are not presently required to maintain duplicate “online” public inspection files. Broadcasters should be alert to a future announcement regarding possible implementation of the online public file requirement.
6. Broadcast Annual Employment Report on FCC Form 395-B: The FCC suspended use of this form in 2001 in connection with the revision of its EEO Rule. In 2004, the Commission announced that it would resume use of the form and would advise the broadcast industry of the due date for the first filing of the reinstated form. As of the date of this publication, no such announcement has been made. Broadcasters should be alert to a future announcement regarding the possible reinstatement of this filing requirement. While the Form 395-B is currently suspended, other important EEO outreach and reporting obligations remain in effect, and their 2011 milestone dates are noted in this Calendar.
7. Cable and Satellite Carriage Elections: Every three years, commercial television stations with must-carry rights are required to elect either retransmission consent or mandatory carriage (must-carry) on local cable and satellite systems for the upcoming three-year period. By October 1, 2011, such stations must send their election notices to affected cable and satellite providers. This election will govern stations' carriage for the period from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2014.
Disclaimer
The following deadlines are based on information known by us as of the date hereof. These deadlines may or may not apply to any particular broadcaster. These deadlines are provided for general informational purposes only and should be double-checked for currency close to each pertinent date/deadline. Actions by the FCC, Congress, or the courts could affect any of these deadlines by, for example, eliminating a particular reporting/filing obligation altogether or modifying the form used, content, deadline, fee, or manner of reporting/filing. It should also be noted that, as a general rule, when a deadline for filing a document with the FCC falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, the filing deadline will shift to the immediate next business day. The listing of deadlines below is not intended to be complete or exhaustive of all regulatory and non-regulatory deadlines that may apply to a given broadcaster year-to-year. Accordingly, broadcasters should seek the advice of communications counsel in each instance to assure timely and proper filing. This edition of our annual "Broadcasters' Calendar" supersedes all prior editions and accordingly any prior editions should no longer be used.
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