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Even though there has been a request to put on hold the FCC's EEO enforcement (about which we wrote here), filed by a prominent Washington DC organization that promotes the participation of minorities and new entrants in broadcast employment and ownership positions, the FCC today announced that it is launching another round of EEO audits - this time only auditing radio stations. The FCC has said that it will audit about 5% of all broadcast stations annually to make sure that they are widely disseminating information about job openings, recruiting from all community organizations in their service areas, and educating their communities about job openings through so-called "supplemental efforts."  To ensure compliance with these obligations, the Commission has launched this round of EEO audits, with responses due from audited stations on or before September 27.

The list of audited stations is available here.  The FCC's letter setting out the information sought from the audited stations is here.  The Commission also released a Public Notice reminding all broadcasters with 5 or more full-time employees that, if they have a website, that they are required to post their annual EEO report on that site.   For more information about the FCC's EEO requirements, see our comprehensive memo on the FCC's EEO requirements, available here.

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The FCC today released another Public Notice announcing the random audit of the EEO performance of a number of broadcast stations - listing both radio and television stations that have to respond, with stations spread throughout the country.  The FCC has promised to annually audit 5% of all broadcast licensees to assess their compliance with the FCC's EEO rules.  These rules require the wide dissemination of information about job openings at their stations and "supplemental efforts" to educate their 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).  The FCC's public notice about this audit emphasizes the requirement for posting the Annual Report on a station's website, perhaps confirming rumors that we have heard about the FCC's staffers browsing station websites to look for these reports.

Stations are given until May 4 to complete the audit responses and submit them 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.  As recent audits have led to significant FCC fines (see our story here about fines issues just before the holidays), broadcasters who are listed on this audit list should take care in preparing their responses.  The audit notice should also remind other licensees who are lucky enough to avoid having been selected for inclusion on this audit list to review their EEO programs for FCC compliance purposes, as they could very well find themselves not so 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, here.  Also, a PowerPoint presentation that I prepared last week in connection with a webinar on the EEO rule for the Maine Association of Broadcasters, outlining the FCC requirements, will be available here shortly. 

For ease of reference, the FCC's Public Notice of this audit is here, the text of the audit letter is here, the list of radio stations selected is here, and the television station list is here. 

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The FCC today announced another round of EEO audits of broadcast stations throughout the country.  The FCC's Public Notice of the audits, and the list of the stations that are affected, can be found here.  Broadcasters should review this list carefully, both by call letter and licensee name, as we have noted situations where the FCC's list of licensee names used in this audit is not accurate, even though the licensee is correct elsewhere in the FCC's databases.  The audit letters were dated June 12, and responses are due in 30 days.  These letters usually require answers to an extensive list of questions, as well as the submission of supporting documentation to show a licensee's compliance with the FCC's EEO rules over the last two years.  We have written a Guide to the FCC's EEO requirements, which can be found here, to help broadcasters assure their compliance with these rules.  Whether or not a broadcaster is on this audit list, this opportunity should be used to review your EEO compliance, as the Commission conducts these audits on a regular basis - so you could be next. 

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