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Last month, we warned readers that the FCC application fees were going up.  And today is the day that the new fees take effect.  So, if you are planning an FCC filing today or at any time in the future, remember to pay those higher fees - or face the risk of having your application bounced by the FCC for insufficient payments.

And, while we are on the subject of fees, the agenda for next month's FCC meeting calls for a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the regulatory fees that stations pay each year in August or September to cover the costs of FCC regulation.  While this is, in most years, a somewhat routine process of authorizing the year's fees with only minor tweaks from previous years, this year it could be different.  Commissioner Robert McDowell has been questioning why the FCC collects more money than it needs to operate - and is now essentially a profit-making enterprise.  (See his speech, here, at pages 4 and 5)  So watch for that discussion next month.

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The FCC today released a Public Notice announcing that, after many false starts, it is making effective the new schedule of higher application fees on April 28.  We wrote about the on-again, off-again effectiveness of these new fees which, this time, seem quite clearly to be about to become effective.  The schedule of new fees can be found appended to the FCC's order adopting the fees, here.  Common application fees include a $940 fee for the submission of an application for a minor technical change to a broadcast station (FCC Form 301), or for a transfer of control (FCC Form 315) or assignment of license (FCC Form 314).  The fee to submit an ownership report (FCC Form 323) will be $60 per station, and a request for Special Temporary Authority will be $170.  To avoid having applications rejected for insufficient fees, be sure to be prepared for the new fees for any application submitted on or after April 28.

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The week before last, we wrote that FCC's filing fees for applications submitted to the Commission would be going up on February 18, and included a link to the FCC Fee Filing Guide for the new fees.  Well, shortly before the supposed effective date, the Filing Guide disappeared from the FCC website, and the new fees have not been programmed into the FCC's electronic filing system.  So those new fees have not become effective yet - though we would expect that they will be soon.  Stay tuned for more information. 

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Update - February 25, 2009 - The change in fees did not become effective as planned - see our post here. 

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Months ago, the FCC announced that the fees paid by broadcasters (and other services) for the processing of applications and other filings would be going up.  It was only recently that the notice was published in the Federal Register, and the FCC has now announced that the new fees will go into effect on February 18.  The new fees for broadcast and cable applications can be found in the Media Bureau filing guide, found here.  Most fees will be automatically reflected in the FCC's CDBS electronic filing website when a broadcaster submits an electronic application.  But be prepared for the fees going up.

For example, common application fees include the $940 now charged for a minor technical change in a broadcast station, or for the assignment or transfer of a station.  Call sign changes cost $95, and Special Temporary Authority carries a $170 filing fee.  Ownership Reports are $60.  Look for all of the fees in the FCC's Media Bureau Application Fee Filing Guide.

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