December 1st and Television License Renewal Deadlines
FCC License renewal applications and associated EEO Program Reports are due on or before Wednesday, December 1st for radio licensees located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and television licensees in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Radio and television stations must file renewals regardless of commercial or noncommercial status in the FCC's licensing Management System (LMS). Both television and radio licensees must include Schedule 396, the Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report, in their renewal application.
The FCC also requires radio and television licensees to provide local post-filing public notice of their renewal applications. Pre-filing announcements are no longer required. Listeners and viewers may review the station's filing and file comments regarding their renewal application. For more details on the procedures and timing requirements for public notice, licensees should review the Commission's Local Public Notice Requirements on their Broadcast Radio License Renewal Page and the Broadcast Television License Renewal Page.
As we have noted, a major focus of the FCC's review is a thorough inspection of the station's on-line public inspection file (OPIF). For that reason we urge all stations with upcoming license renewals to begin a thorough review of their OPIFs. Any incomplete filings or late filings in the station's OPIF will have to be disclosed in the renewal application. Fletcher Heald maintains an archive of resource materials on public file maintenance.
For more information on upcoming license renewal deadlines, licensees can view the complete deadlines by state for radio and deadlines by state for television.