EEO Mid-Term Reviews Can Trigger FCC Inquiries

The FCC Enforcement Bureau’s review of broadcast station EEO compliance at the mid-point of the 8-year license term is ongoing.  For radio, these reviews began last summer for station employment units with 11 or more full-time employees.  For television stations with five or more full-timers, reviews began this summer.  The date for review is tied to the date when stations file their renewal applications (4 months before license expiration).

For example, October 1, 2024 is the date four years after the last renewal application filing deadline for Iowa and Missouri, and therefore radio station employment units in those two states with five or more full-timers will have the EEO public file report due October 1, 2024 and the prior year’s report reviewed by the FCC staff.  The same October 1, 2024 review applies to television stations in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with five or more full-timers.

We recently received an inquiry from FCC staff during a mid-term review regarding information provided in a prior EEO public file report.  Their “audits” of these reports, as is with the case during random EEO audits, is very detailed.  If any information required to be on the report is vague, unclear, or missing, stations can expect to receive an email from the Enforcement Bureau. In the instance we experienced, an opportunity was given to “fix” the issue and reload/repost an EEO public file report, but it also came with a warning about the ways in which stations can be held responsible or fined.  In particular, lack of required detail on an EEO public file report can lead to an FCC determination that the station is not regularly reviewing its EEO program.  Stations should take any inquiry seriously and respond in a timely manner.

If you have questions about when your station’s mid-term review will be, let us know.  Radio stations with 11 or more full-timers do have to respond to an online public file question as to whether the employment unit has fewer or more than 11 employees.  This prompt appears when the EEO public file report is being uploaded.