Upcoming FCC Broadcast and Telecom Deadlines for September – November
Broadcast Deadlines:
September 16, 2019
Children's TV Programming - Support for E/I Programs on Other Stations - Comments are due in response to the FCC's Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which seeks to further revise the children's television programming rules and policies to establish standards that would give broadcasters greater flexibility to meet their obligation to serve the educational and informational needs of children, at least in part, by supporting educational and informational programming aired on other stations in the market. This option has historically been available but, without standards, has not been useful to broadcasters.
September 20, 2019
EEO Rules and Enforcement - Comments are due with regard to the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requesting comments on how to improve equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance and enforcement.
September 23, 2019
EAS National Test - Participants' ETRS Form Three Due - All EAS participants must submit Form Three, which reports the results of the EAS national test held on August 7 by this date. If a station successfully received and passed the test, it must report from which source it first received the test, when it received the test, when it passed on the alert and other details of what was received. If the station did not receive the test properly, it will be asked to explain why it did not.
September 24, 2019:
Annual Regulatory Fees - Annual regulatory fees will be due to the FCC no later than September 24, 2019. Fees will be due and payable for Fiscal Year 2019, and will be based upon a licensee's/permittee's current holdings as of the date the fee is paid and their licensed status as of October 1, 2018. The fees must be paid through the FCC's online Fee Filer, and once again this year, the FCC will not accept checks as payment of the fees but will require some form of electronic payment (credit card, ACH transfer, wire transfer, and the like). Please keep in mind that timely payment is critical, as late payment results in a 25 percent penalty, plus potential additional interest charges.
October 1, 2019
License Renewal Pre-Filing Announcements - Radio stations Alabama and Georgia must begin broadcasts of their pre-filing announcements with regard to their applications for renewal of the license. These announcements must be continued on October 16, November 1, and November 16.
Radio Post-Filing Announcements - Radio stations located in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands must begin broadcasts of their post-filing announcements with regard to their license renewal applications on October 1. These announcements then must continue on October 16, November 1, November 16, December 1, and December 16. Once complete, a certification of broadcast, with a copy of the announcement's text, must be posted to the online public file within seven days.
License Renewal Applications Due - Applications for renewal of license for radio stations located in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands must be filed in the Commission's 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.
EEO Public File Reports - All radio and television station employment units with five (5) or more full-time employees located in located in Alaska, American Samoa, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, the Mariana Islands, Missouri, Oregon, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington must place EEO Public File Reports in their online public inspection files. For all stations with websites, the report must be posted there as well. Per announced 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.
October 10, 2019
Children's Television Programming Reports - For what may be the last time a quarterly report is required, all commercial television and Class A television stations must file electronically the third quarter 2019 children's television programming reports with the Commission. These reports then should be automatically included in the online public inspection file, but we would recommend checking, as the FCC bases its initial judgments of filing compliance on the contents and dates shown in the online public file. The Commission has changed the requirement to an annual filing, but that change is not effective until after OMB approval is obtained. Comments are due for OMB consideration by October 7, 2019.
Commercial Compliance Certifications - For all commercial television and Class A television stations, a certification of compliance with the limits on commercials during programming for children ages 12 and under, or other evidence to substantiate compliance with those limits, must be uploaded to the online public inspection file. As with the children's TV programming report, the FCC has acted to change this filing requirement to be an annual rather than a quarterly obligation, but the effective date of the change must wait for OMB approval.
Website Compliance Information - Television and Class A television station licensees must upload and retain in their online public inspection files records sufficient to substantiate a certification of compliance with the restrictions on display of website addresses during programming directed to children ages 12 and under. Again, the effectiveness of the FCC action changing the filing requirement to specify annual rather than quarterly filing is awaiting OMB approval.
Issues/Programs Lists - For all commercial and noncommercial radio, television, and Class A television stations, a listing of each station's most significant treatment of community issues during the past quarter must be placed in the station's online public inspection file. The list should include a brief narrative describing the issues covered and the programs which provided the coverage, with information concerning the time, date, duration, and title of each program.
Class A Television Continuing Eligibility Documentation - The Commission requires that all Class A Television maintain in their online public inspection files documentation sufficient to demonstrate that the station is continuing to meet the eligibility requirements of broadcasting at least 18 hours per day and broadcasting an average of at least three hours per week of locally produced programming. While the Commission has given no guidance as to what this documentation must include or when it must be added to the public file, we believe that a quarterly certification which states that the station continues to broadcast at least 18 hours per day, that it broadcasts on average at least three hours per week of locally produced programming, and lists the titles of such locally produced programs should be sufficient.
October 15, 2019
Children's TV Programming - Support for E/I Programs on Other Stations - Reply comments are due in response to the FCC's Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which seeks to further revise the children's television programming rules and policies to establish standards that would give broadcasters greater flexibility to meet their obligation to serve the educational and informational needs of children, at least in part, by supporting educational and informational programming aired on other stations in the market. This option has historically been available but, without standards, has not been useful to broadcasters.
November 4, 2019
EEO Rules and Enforcement - Reply comments are due with regard to the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requesting comments on how to improve equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance and enforcement.
Telecom Deadlines:
September 1, 2019
FCC Form 477 - FCC Form 477 is filed online biannually on March 1 and September 1. The Commission collects a variety of information about broadband deployment and wireless and wired telephone service on Form 477. Broadly speaking, the following providers must fill Form 477: 1) facilities-based providers of broadband connections to end users, 2) providers of wired or fixed wireless local exchange telephone service, 3) providers of interconnected VoIP service; and 4) facilities-based providers of mobile telephony (mobile voice) services. If you have any questions about whether your company must file Form 477 or what information your company is required to submit in the filing, you should contact your telecommunications counsel.
September ??, 2019
Annual Regulatory Fees - On a date not yet determined but certainly before September 30, 2019, annual regulatory fees will be due. Virtually all licensed service providers, including interstate telecommunications carriers (e.g. interexchange carriers (IXC), resellers, local exchange carriers (LEC), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), operator service providers (OSP), I-VoIPs, etc.) are subject to the fee. These will be due and payable for Fiscal Year 2019, and will be based upon a licensee's/permittee's holdings on October 1, 2018, plus anything that might have been purchased since then and less anything that might have been sold since then. The fees must be paid through the FCC's online Fee Filer, and once again this year, the FCC will not accept checks as payment of the fees but will require some form of electronic payment (credit card, ACH transfer, wire transfer, and the like). Please keep in mind that timely payment is critical, as late payment results in a 25 percent penalty, plus potential additional interest charges.
November 1, 2019
Quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet (FCC Form 499-Q) - FCC rules require telecommunications carriers and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers to file quarterly revenue statements reporting historical revenue for the prior quarter and projecting revenue for the next quarter. The projected revenue is used to calculate contributions to the Universal Service Fund (USF) for high cost, rural, insular and tribal areas as well as to support telecommunications services for schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. USF assessments are billed monthly.