EEO 395-B Form NOT Due by September 30

Posted on September 30th, 2024 by

Speaking of EEO, we are still getting emails and calls about the potential need to file EEO Form 395-B by the end of this month, and so wanted to repeat here that the FCC officially announced about one month ago that broadcasters do NOT need to do so.  The future of that form, and any […]

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FCC Regulatory Fee Glitches Raise Questions

Posted on September 30th, 2024 by

For commercial stations, the September 26 regulatory fee deadline has passed, with any late fees having the privilege of paying a 25% penalty.  The FCC’s order adoption process was later than normal, and all of the systems came on line several days later, but with data errors.  Once those were reported to the FCC, the […]

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Dates to Remember 

Posted on August 30th, 2024 by

September 2024 All commercial broadcast stations (unless exempt) will have to pay annual regulatory fees once the FCC issues the order and related public notices. Typically, the deadline to pay falls in the last third of the month. Failure to timely pay regulatory fees results in an automatic fine equal to 25% of the owed […]

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No Regulatory Fee Payment Deadline Announced Yet

Posted on August 30th, 2024 by

As of publication time, the FCC had still not issued its Report & Order adopting annual regulatory fee amounts and setting deadlines for stations to remit those fees.  We anticipate that Order sometime next week, with a likely deadline in the last third of the month for remitting fees. The FCC does not send notices […]

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October 4 Deadline for Filing Form One in EAS Test Reporting System

Posted on August 30th, 2024 by

The FCC has issued a public notice announcing October 4, 2024 as the deadline for all EAS participants to complete and file Form One in the EAS Test Reporting System, which can be accessed here.  Filers can complete this requirement by updating previously filed forms using the “My Filings” menu option and then selecting the […]

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Is the New EEO 395-B Form Due by September 30?

Posted on August 30th, 2024 by

The FCC has officially announced that broadcasters will not have to file the new EEO Form 395-B form by this September 30.  The notice confirms that the form was only to be filed after a Media Bureau public notice was published announcing the filing requirement, and since that notice has not issued, no filing will […]

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Numerous Major Modification Applications Filed as Freeze Lifted on August 20

Posted on August 30th, 2024 by

The FCC received a significant number of Class A television, LPTV and TV translator major modification applications on August 20th, the first date that the television freeze was lifted for such filings.  As of publication time, most of those had been accepted for filing and are awaiting FCC staff determination as to whether the changes […]

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Dates to Remember 

Posted on July 31st, 2024 by

August 1, 2024 Radio and TV Stations located in Illinois, Wisconsin, California, North Carolina and South Carolina:  if five (5) full time employee threshold is met, prepare EEO public file report covering the period from August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024, upload it to the station online public inspection file and post it on […]

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FCC Amends and Clarifies Foreign Sponsorship Identification Requirements

Posted on July 31st, 2024 by

In a long-awaited decision that followed a 2022 effort to impose new foreign sponsorship identification requirements on broadcasters, and a legal challenge that followed it, the FCC has now issued a Report & Order that amends and clarifies the existing rules. One clarification related to short-form advertising was not contemplated by the FCC in its […]

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FCC Admonishes Stations for Missing Advertising Nondiscrimination Clauses

Posted on July 31st, 2024 by

Sixteen years ago, the FCC adopted a rule prohibiting stations from discriminating in advertising contracts on the basis of race or ethnicity, requiring that ad contracts contain nondiscrimination clauses.  At the time, the Commission had become aware that certain advertising sales practices on commercial stations allowed advertisers to prohibit their ads from airing on stations […]

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