Public Interest Obligations/Localism

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  • The FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice reminding broadcasters that new foreign government sponsored programming identification requirements take effect
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This week, the FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice to remind broadcasters that new foreign sponsorship identification requirements go into effect June 7, 2026.  These rules clarify the existing obligations of broadcasters to determine whether buyers of program time on a station are foreign governments or their representatives.  The obligation to get certifications from buyers of program time  as to whether they are foreign governments or their agents has actually have been in effect since 2022 (see our article here).  The June 7 effective date applies to a new method of compliance with the verification obligation, adopted by a Commission Order in 2024.  The 2024 Order also extended this certification obligation beyond leased program time, to cover commercial advertising on a station except for ads for commercial products or services and ads for political candidates (see our article here).  In other words, ads for Tide or Coca-Cola or by the John Smith for Congress official campaign committee are not subject to the rule, but ads that are not for commercial products and services or by political candidates are subject to the rule – including political issue ads and paid PSAs.  However, this week’s Public Notice put on hold the extension of the certification obligation to spot time while the Commission reassesses the costs and benefits of that requirement, except where the station has “actual knowledge” that the spots were provided by a foreign governmental entity.

This is a convoluted set of requirements, so let’s break it down.

As background, in 2021, the FCC adopted rules requiring broadcasters to determine whether any party “leasing” programming is a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government (a “foreign government entity”).  Broadcasters must also assure themselves that these foreign government entities have not paid for the furnishing of that time anywhere in the program’s production chain.  These rules became effective in March 2022.  Since then, broadcasters have been obligated to determine if buyers of program time are foreign government entities.  The FCC required that broadcasters obtain written certifications from program buyers as to whether or not they were representatives of foreign governments, but it did not specify the form of those certifications. 

Continue Reading FCC Announces Effective Date of New Certifications from Buyers of Program Time to Identify Foreign Government Sponsored Programming, But Puts Other Obligations on Hold

Though school may be letting out for many, the FCC does not take a summer recess.  Instead, regulation continues with the filing of Annual EEO Public File Reports due for some broadcasters on June 1.  There are also several other regulatory and comment deadlines coming up this June, including the deadline for all commercial full power TV, Class A TV, and AM and FM radio stations to begin complying with the FCC’s new foreign sponsorship identification requirements (with some exceptions), and comment deadlines in the FCC’s proceedings concerning its fiscal year 2026 regulatory fees, next year’s auction of vacant FM allotments, and the TV Parental Guidelines ratings system.  And there are political windows that open in June for elections that will occur in July and August. 

June 1 is the deadline for radio and television station employment units in Arizona, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming with five or more full-time employees to upload their Annual EEO Public File Report to their stations’ Online Public Inspection Files (OPIFs).  A station employment unit is a station or cluster of commonly controlled stations serving the same general geographic area with at least one common employee.  For employment units with five or more full-time employees, the annual report covers hiring and employment outreach activities for the prior year.  A link to the uploaded report must also be included on the home page of each station’s website, if the station has a website.  Be timely getting these reports into your station’s OPIF, as even a single late report can lead to FCC fines (see our article here about a $26,000 fine for a single late EEO report).  Note that, for radio stations in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, this EEO Report will be one of the two assessed by the FCC in its review of their license renewal applications that will be due by June 1, 2027 – the start of a new license renewal cycle for radio and, a year later, for TV. 

The filing of the Annual EEO Public File Reports by TV station employment units with five or more employees triggers a Mid-Term EEO Review that analyzes the last two Annual Reports for compliance with the FCC’s EEO requirements.  The Mid-Term EEO Review begins June 1 for these larger TV station employment units in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming subject to this review.  See our articles here and here on broadcasters’ Mid-Term EEO Review reporting requirements.

Continue Reading June 2026 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Foreign Sponsorship Identification Requirements Compliance Deadline, Annual EEO Public File Reports, Comment Deadlines, Political Windows, and more
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