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.