Upcoming FCC Deadlines
December 1, 2022
Television License Renewal Applications Due - Applications for renewal of license for television stations located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island must be filed in LMS. These applications must be accompanied by Schedule 396, the Broadcast EEO Program Report, also filed in LMS, regardless of the number of full-time employees. Under the current public notice rules, television stations filing renewal applications must begin broadcasts of their post-filing announcements concerning their license renewal applications between the date the application is accepted for filing and five business days thereafter and must continue with broadcasts of six announcements over a period of four weeks. Once complete, a certification of broadcast, with a copy of the announcement's text, must be posted to the online public inspection file (OPIF") within seven days.
EEO Public File Reports - All television station and radio employment units with five or more full-time employees and located in Alabama, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont must place EEO Public File Reports in their OPIFs. For all stations with websites, the report must be posted there as well. Per FCC policy, the reporting period may end ten days before the report is due, and the reporting period for the next year will begin on the following day.
January 10, 2023
Issues/Programs Lists - For all commercial and noncommercial radio, television, and Class A television stations, listings of each station's most significant treatment of community issues during the fourth quarter of 2022 (October, November, December) must be placed in the station's OPIF. The lists should include brief narratives describing the issues covered and the programs which provided the coverage, with information concerning the time, date, duration, and title of each program with a brief description of the program. The issues may be either local or national, so long as they are of concern to the local community.
Foreign Government-Provided Programming Disclosures - In the event that a station, pursuant to the sale of a block of time, aired any programming provided by a foreign governmental entity during the prior quarter, copies of the required disclosures and records relating to the programming must be posted in the OPIF.
Records of Third-Party Fundraising Efforts - Any noncommercial educational broadcast station that interrupts regular programming to conduct fundraising activities on behalf of a third-party non-profit organization must post records of such activities during the prior quarter in the station's OPIF.
January 30, 2023
Children's Television Programming Reports - Each commercial TV and Class A television station must electronically file its annual Children's Television Programming Report, on FCC Form 2100 Schedule H, to report on programming aired by the station and other efforts in 2022 that were specifically designed to serve the educational and informational needs of children.
Commercial Compliance Certifications - Each commercial TV and Class A television station must also post to its OPIF a certification (or certifications) of compliance during 2022 with the statutory limits on commercial time during children's programming. The certification(s) should cover both the primary programming stream and all subchannels aired by the station.