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  • The FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice reminding broadcasters that new foreign government sponsored programming identification requirements take effect
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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.

Continue Reading June 2026 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Foreign Sponsorship Identification Requirements Compliance Deadline, Annual EEO Public File Reports, Comment Deadlines, Political Windows, and more
  • The FCC announced that it will hold Auction 114, beginning on February 2, 2027, making available 132 channels on which
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The FCC this week proposed an auction for the rights to construct new FM stations on 132 FM channels – the first such auction of new FM stations since 2021.  The auction is proposed for February 2027, although interested parties will need to submit “short form” applications to participate in the auction at some point prior to that date.  The proposed procedures for the auction are set out in a Public Notice – and those procedures contain new wrinkles from those of past FM auctions. The list of available channels is in a separate document here,  That document also lists the proposed minimum bids for those channels.  The FCC also issued a Press Release about the auction and a Public Notice announcing an immediate freeze on any application or rulemaking petition that would affect any of the channels listed in the auction notice.

The channels available to be auctioned comprise a mix of channels available in previous auctions that were not sold in those auctions, plus new channels that have been allotted since the last auction, and a few channels where active licenses for operating stations had been cancelled.  Following the last auction, we wrote about the number of channels that had gone unsold, and suggested that the high minimum bids might have been one reason that some channels did not sell in that auction. The Commission seemed to take the same message from the number of unsold channels in the last auction, as the opening bids in this auction are substantially lower for some of the holdover channels.

Continue Reading FCC Proposes Auction for New FM Stations – 132 Channels to be Available in February 2027 Auction
  • FCC Chairman Carr stated in a cable news interview that the FCC could investigate broadcasters and their on-air personalities for
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  • The FCC’s Media Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking comment on how changes in the sports programming marketplace have impacted
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March may not have any of the regular FCC filing deadlines, but there are still plenty of regulatory activities going on this month that should grab the attention of any broadcast or media company.  There are a few FCC proceedings in which there are dates in March worth noting, including the main event in the process that the FCC has been going through to give Class A TV, LPTV, and TV Translator operators the opportunity for major changes and, this month, applications for new  LPTV and TV translator stations. Here is a look at some of the important broadcast regulatory dates in March, and a look ahead to the filing deadlines in early April.    

Daylight Savings Time resumes on March 8, and thus AM daytime-only radio stations and stations operating with pre-sunrise and/or post-sunset authority should check their sign-on and sign-off times on their current FCC authorizations to ensure compliance with the requirements set out in those authorizations.  As all times listed in FCC licenses are Standard Time, don’t be fooled into thinking that your daytime-only station has extra time to keep operating once Daylight Savings time kicks in.

Continue Reading March 2026 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Daylight Savings Time, Applications for New LPTV/TV Translator Stations, Political Windows, and More
  • Funding for the FCC’s operations, as well as that of many other government agencies, expired at the end of the
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Since the last opportunity for any applicant to file for FM translators in 2003, which resulted in thousands of applications and processing delays that still have not been totally eliminated (see, for instance, our articles here and here), the FCC has seemed hesitant to open another translator filing window.  The only opportunity to file for new translators since that 2003 window were the windows in the latter part of the last decade in which AM stations could file for FM translators that would be tied to those AM stations.  There have been rumors ever since that a new translator window would be opening – and now it appears that one is on its way – but it will be limited to applications by noncommercial broadcasters for new translators to operate in the Reserved Band (below 92 on the FM dial). 

The announcement of the coming window came by a draft Public Notice to be considered by the Commissioners at their next monthly open meeting on February 18.  The Notice to be considered at the February meeting would instruct the Media Bureau to open a window for the filing of new translators in the reserved band, reserved for use by noncommercial licensees (including Low Power FM stations).  Details as to when the window would be open, and other application filing procedures, will be set by the Media Bureau at some later date.  The principal issue tackled by the draft Public Notice is the question of how many applications any noncommercial operator can file in the upcoming window.

Continue Reading Noncommercial Broadcasters Looking for FM Translators – A Window to File for New Translators is Coming Soon