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.

June 7 is the deadline for all commercial broadcast stations to begin complying with the FCC’s new foreign sponsorship identification requirements.  In June 2024, the FCC released a Report and Order providing broadcasters with a written certification with standardized language to determine whether those who “lease” program time on their stations are foreign governments or their agents.  That order also included in the definition of “leased programming” any spot advertising that is not promoting commercial products or services or bought by political candidates—thus bringing political issue ads and paid PSAs under the requirement that broadcasters verify that their sponsors are not foreign governments or their agents (see our article here).  However, the Commission issued a Public Notice this week, delaying by as much as two years the obligation to get certifications from buyers of this spot time that they are not foreign governments or their agents, while the FCC reexamines the cost of compliance with these obligations.  Look for more on this issue on our Blog later this week. 

June 9 is the deadline for comments responding to the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) Public Notice proposing procedures to be used for the auction of new full-power FM construction permits in Auction 114, which is tentatively scheduled to begin on February 2, 2027.  The OEA states that Auction 114 will offer 132 new FM station construction permits for bidding (all for vacant non-reserved band FM allotments), including 33 construction permits that were offered but not sold or were defaulted upon in prior auctions.  The OEA proposes that the auction will be conducted using a simultaneous multiple-round auction format and seeks comment on its proposed Auction 114 procedures including the auction timeline, minimum bid amounts, bidding eligibility, and default payments.  A list of all vacant FM allotments to be auctioned in Auction 114 can be found here.  For more on Auction 114, see our discussion on our Broadcast Law Blog here.  Reply comments are due June 24.

June 12 is the deadline for reply comments responding to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing its fiscal year 2026 regulatory fees for its regulated entities, including broadcast stations.  The FCC proposes to continue to calculate full-power TV station fees using its population-based methodology and proposes a TV station fee factor of $0.006957 per population served—about a 4.2% increase from fiscal year 2025 ($0.006674).  The FCC proposes similar increases in full-power radio station fees, but proposes decreased fees for LPTV, Class A, TV/FM translators, FM boosters, and earth stations (transmit/receive and transmit only).  Comments were due May 28.

June 15 is the deadline for comments responding to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to amend the Audible Crawl Rule, which requires TV broadcasters to provide an audio description of visual, nontextual emergency information (radar maps or other graphics) displayed during non-newscast programming on a secondary audio stream (the SAP Channel).  The FCC proposes dropping the requirement if a station provides a textual crawl on screen with the same information as in the visual image and if the text is aired on the SAP Channel’s audio (as already required for such textual alerts).  Reply comments are due June 29.

June 18 is the effective date of FCC’s March Report and Order updating and clarifying several broadcast rules.  These changes include conforming rules to current licensing systems (including replacing outdated CDBS application form references with those currently used in LMS); eliminating outdated and obsolete requirements (including post-incentive auction digital transition notification requirements; deleting the rules requiring a 20% increase in AM station power for processing a power increase application and restricting Special Temporary Authorizations for technical and equipment problems to 90 days when other STAs can be granted for up to 180 days); modifying its application signatory rules to allow corporate directors and duly authorized employees of corporations, partnerships, unincorporated associations, or government entities to certify applications; and revising several broadcast rules for clarity (including clarifying when stations’ local public notice obligations are triggered for their applications).

June 22 is the deadline for reply comments responding to the FCC Media Bureau’s Public Notice requesting comment on the TV Parental Guidelines ratings system.  In 1996, Congress determined that parents should be informed about the nature of TV programming and be able to block programming they believe is harmful to their children.  TV industry representatives created the TV Parental Guidelines age ratings system, which is overseen by TV Oversight Management Board (TVOMB).  In 2019, the FCC submitted a report to Congress on the TV Parental Guidelines system, which included suggestions on increasing the system’s accuracy, accessibility, and transparency to the public, and increasing awareness of the TVOMB’s role.  The Bureau seeks comments on various issues related to these Guidelines, including if the industry has adopted the FCC’s 2019 suggestions, the TVOMB’s effectiveness in administering the system, and the public’s awareness and understanding of the system.  Notably, the Bureau asks if specific disclosures for shows with transgender and gender non-binary content are needed.  Comments were due May 22. 

June 22 is also the deadline for reply comments responding to the FCC’s biannual call for comments on the State of Competition in the Communications Marketplace.  The FCC seeks comments on a list of questions about competition in the video and audio marketplaces, including digital competitor’s impact on radio and TV stations and the role that regulation plays in the competitive landscape.  The FCC uses these comments to prepare required reports to Congress on competition issues and often references the reports in proceedings dealing with competition, including FCC proceedings dealing with its ownership rules.  Comments were due May 21.

There is a third deadline on June 22.  The Media Bureau has announced that comments and reply comments are due June 22 and July 6, respectively, on Disney/ABC’s Petition for Declaratory Ruling concerning the status of “The View” as a bona fide news interview program exempt from the FCC’s equal opportunity rules.  As we noted here, Disney/ABC contended that it was unprecedented for the Bureau to order a licensee to file a Petition for Declaratory Ruling, particularly as ABC received a ruling from Bureau in 2002 that “The View” was exempt from the equal time rules.  Disney/ABC also questioned the validity of the Bureau’s January Public Notice (which we discussed here), contending that the Bureau cannot change 40 years of FCC precedent holding that, even without an explicit FCC declaratory ruling, regularly scheduled interview programs controlled by a licensee and regularly featuring newsmakers are exempt from the equal time rules.  The Bureau seeks comment on several matters, including whether “The View” qualifies as a bona fide news interview program and whether its programming decisions are politically motivated, and the broader question as to whether the equal opportunity rules can still be applied consistent with First Amendment principles. 

June 29 is the date on which the U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration will begin its expedited administrative hearing process to consider other changes to marijuana’s status under federal law.  In May, we wrote about how, even after rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III, marijuana advertising could remain restricted under federal law.  It is possible that the DOJ could address the legality of marijuana advertising in the hearing.  The hearing will end on July 15.    

Broadcasters located in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin should also be aware of the opening of the following political windows tied to state and local elections occurring in June, July, and August 2026—meaning that Lowest Unit Rates apply to sales to candidates and their authorized committees (see our article here on the basics of computing LUR). In our summary of regulatory dates in May, we identified other political windows that are already open for LUR for elections occurring in June and early July.  The new windows opening in June are as follows: :

As a refresher, in the 45 days before a primary election, and 60 days before a general or special election, broadcasters must extend to legally qualified candidates their lowest unit rate and continue to follow all other applicable political broadcasting rules.  For a deeper dive on how to prepare for the 2026 elections, see our post here, which also includes a link to our comprehensive Political Broadcasting Guide.  Also, take a look at our 2026 Broadcasters’ Calendar to see if your state has any upcoming primary, general, or special election (and confirm that all dates for political windows, including those listed above, are accurate as some dates have changed since the calendar was prepared).

Looking ahead to July, July 10 is the deadline by which all full-power radio and TV stations (as well as Class A TV stations), both commercial and noncommercial, must upload to their OPIFs their Quarterly Issues/Program lists for the second quarter of 2026.  The lists should identify the issues of importance to the station’s community and the programs that the station aired between April 1 and June 30, 2026 that addressed those issues.  It is important that these be timely uploaded to your public file, as the untimely uploads of these documents probably have resulted in more fines in the last decade than for any other violation of the FCC’s rules.  As you finalize your lists, do so carefully and accurately, as they are the only official records of how your station is serving the public and addressing the needs and interests of its community.  See our article here for more on the importance of the Quarterly Issues/Programs list obligation.

As always, consult your own legal and technical advisors for other dates of importance that might apply to your stations in the upcoming months.