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With the kick-off of the FCC's broadcast license renewal cycle comes some additional obligations for licensees, this time in the form of an FCC Form 396 Broadcast EEO Report.  The Form 396 is filed only at renewal time and serves to: 1.) confirm the licensee's commitment to EEO, 2.) provide a narrative statement about how the station has achieved wide outreach in the preceding two years, and 3.) provide copies of the station's two most recent Annual EEO Public File Reports (assuming that it is not exempt from the Commission's EEO rules).  By June 1st, radio stations in the first batch of license renewals -- those located in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, and West Virginia -- must file an FCC Form 396 EEO Report electronically with the Commission.  A Form 396 must be filed by every station, even if the station has fewer than five full time employees and is thus, generally exempt from the FCC's EEO Rules.  In that case, if the station has fewer than five employees, it will basically just check the box to indicate that and will not need to provide anything further.  Larger stations will need to complete the entire Form. 

And please note, the Form 396 Report must be filed before the Form 303-S License Renewal application can be submitted, as Question 2(a) in Section III of the Form 303-S requires that applicants cross-reference and specify the FCC filing number of the previously submitted Form 396 EEO Report.  For more information about the EEO Annual Public File Reports and the June 1st deadline please see our recent advisory. 

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The FCC today released a Public Notice announcing the next group of broadcast stations subject to a random audit of their compliance with the FCC’s EEO rules. The Notice lists radio and television stations across the country that nust respond to a Commission inquiry and provide information and documentation about their EEO efforts. Annually, the FCC audits approximately 5% of all broadcast licensees to assess their compliance with the FCC's EEO rules.  As hopefully all broadcasters know, these rules require the wide dissemination of information about job openings at the broadcast stations and "supplemental efforts" to educate communities about employment opportunities at broadcast stations, even in the absence of employment openings.  The FCC's audit letter requires the submission of two years worth of the Annual Public File reports that stations prepare each year on the anniversary date of the filing of their license renewal applications.  These reports are placed in the station's public file and posted on their websites (if they have websites). 

Stations subject to this round of audits have until June 1^st to respond and submit the necessary materials to the Commission. Note that information needs to be supplied not just for the station named on the list, but also for all other stations in the same "station employment unit," i.e. a group of stations under common control, that serve the same general geographic area, and which have at least one common employee. Previous audits have led to significant FCC fines, and broadcasters who are included on today’s list should take care in preparing their responses. The audit notice should also remind other licensees who were lucky enough to have avoided this round of audits to review their EEO programs for FCC compliance purposes, as they could very well find themselves less fortunate when the next FCC audit is announced.

For more information about the FCC's EEO requirements, see our comprehensive memo on the EEO requirements, available here.  In addition, today’s Public Notice is available here, with the sample Audit letter available here. The list of radio stations selected is here, and the television station list is here.

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February 1st marks the deadline for two FCC EEO requirements.  First, by February 1st, radio and television stations located in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma must prepare their Annual EEO Public File Reports. Specifically, stations or Station Employment Units (SEUs) in those states with five or more full time employees (30 hours or more per week) must:  (1) prepare their Annual EEO Public File Report; (2) place it in the public inspection file of each station comprising the SEU; and (3) post the Report on the Web site, if any station in the SEU has a Web site, all by Feb. 1. The Annual EEO Public File Report summarizes the hiring and EEO activities conducted by the station or SEU during the past 12 months. The Report provides information about the full time job positions filled in the last year, the recruitment sources used to fill those positions, and the outreach activities that the station or SEU performed during the year. In preparing their Annual Reports, stations are encouraged to carefully review their EEO activities and take the time to organize their records. Stations should have appropriate documentation to back up each of the recruitment sources used for each job opening, as well as for each outreach activity. This annual report is also a good time for the station or employment unit to assess the success of its outreach and the efficacy of its recruitment sources, and to make any adjustments necessary to improve EEO compliance in the coming year. A copy of our longer EEO primer can be found here.

Second, in addition to preparing the Annual EEO Public File Report, by February 1 television stations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma , as well as larger radio stations in New Jersey and New York (i.e., those with eleven or more full-time employees) must prepare and file electronically with the Commission an FCC Form 397 Mid-Term EEO Report.  The Form 397 provides the FCC with copies of the SEU's two most recent Annual EEO Public File Reports, and is an important part of both the station’s compliance with the EEO rules and the Commission’s monitoring procedures. While normally the Annual Report is simply prepared and placed in the station's public file and on the website, at the mid-point of the license term stations must actually provide the FCC with copies of its two most recent Reports.  More information about both of these February 1 filing deadlines can be found in our recent client advisory available here.

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