Christmas Has Come Early: Media Bureau Waives Ancillary/Supplementary Services Report Filing Requirement

Acting with commendable promptness, the Media Bureau has relieved virtually all television stations from the requirement to file ancillary/supplementary service reports, at least for this year and likely for future years as well. These reports are traditionally due on Dec. 1 of every year.

As we reported back in October, the reports are the ones that require that all stations broadcasting in DTV (digital television) to state whether they have offered any ancillary/supplementary services detail any revenue earned from those services. In light of the fact that the reports over past years have shown that virtually no stations offer any such services, the Commission has proposed that only stations that do provide ancillary or supplementary services, which do not include broadcasts of subchannels, be required to file any reports.

Since the Commission has already tentatively concluded that the costs imposed for all DTV stations outweigh any conceivable public interest benefits, the Media Bureau applied the same reasoning and decided that there is "good cause to waive" the deadline for the report this year. The waiver will remain in effect so long as the proceeding which has proposed to eliminate the reports for most stations is still pending.

Keep in mind, though, that if your station is among the handful of digital broadcasters that does offer feeable ancillary or supplementary services, you will still need to submit the ancillary/supplementary services report by Dec. 1 to provide information about those services and the revenue received during the past fiscal year. For everyone else, enjoy Thanksgiving with a clear conscience!