FCC requirement for social security numbers

Subscribe to FCC requirement for social security numbers

The FCC has just announced that the Form 323 Biennial Ownership Reports for commercial broadcasters, due to be filed on or before November 1 of this year, will now be due instead by December 2. This is the third straight time that the obligation to file these reports has been extended, due to the complexity and confusion that surrounds the completion of the information that is required on the form. All commercial broadcasters, including LPTV licensees, need to file this form by the new deadline. As set forth in more detail below, at this point, this obligation does not extend to noncommercial educational licensees.

In 2009, the FCC adopted a requirement for modified Biennial Ownership Reports for all commercial stations, requiring that such reports be filed by all commercial broadcasters – including LPTV licensees, sole proprietors, general partnerships and other licensees who had previously been exempt from such obligations. The reports were to be filed on an expanded form that gathers information not just about who the owners of broadcast stations are, but also the race or ethnicity and gender of such owners. This information was to be gathered so that the FCC could better assess the minority ownership of broadcast stations.  This was to be used for purposes such as developing new ownership rules for the broadcast industry.  In fact, the information gathered from the first set of these forms was recently the subject of comment in the ongoing multiple ownership proceeding at the FCC (see our article here).

The forms were also supposed to be searchable by individual, so that the FCC or interested parties could easily cross-reference the broadcast interests of various individuals. To do so, however, required the gathering of new information, and required that every individual obtain an FCC Registration Number (an FRN), which required that they provide a Social Security or Taxpayer ID Number (for corporate owners of licensees) to the FCC. This obligation stirred much controversy. In addition, the format of the reporting of the other broadcast interests of individuals required much more time than had previous reports.  That complexity has not disappeared over time. Continue Reading Filing Deadline for FCC Form 323 Biennial Ownership Reports Extended Until December 2 – Why the Delay?

The new FCC Form 323 Ownership Report is expected to be available in the FCC’s CDBS electronic filing database by Wednesday, December 9, according to a Public Notice released by the FCC yesterday – so that commercial broadcasters should have a month to prepare the form in time for the January 11 filing deadline.  As we’ve written before, the form and filing deadline have been much delayed as the Commission struggled to work out kinks in its electronic filing process.  In the Public Notice issued yesterday, the Commission also announced that stations can file their ownership reports on the new form even if each attributable owner of the company has not yet received an FCC Registration Number (an "FRN"), which requires the provision of a Social Security Number (for individuals) or a Taxpayer ID Number (for business entities).  Seemingly, the FCC has recognized that there has been much consternation among shareholders, officers and directors of broadcast companies about providing their Social Security Numbers to companies in which they have interests to in turn be provided to the FCC so that an FRN can be obtained.  So that licensees can have more time to deal with these issues, the provision for a temporary FRN has been adopted.  The FCC Public Notice also indicates that the FCC will host a workshop on December 9 at 2 PM Eastern time to help the public with issues as to the filing of this report.

The Social Security Number issue has perhaps created the most concern about this new form.  While the allowance for the temporary FRN will take some immediate pressure off broadcasters, these temporary numbers should not be viewed as a permanent reprieve from obtaining FRNs from all attributable owners.  The Commission in the revised Questions and Answers on the Form 323 makes clear, the temporary FRN for those holders of attributable interests in broadcast stations is a temporary measure.  Licensees are cautioned that they should use their best efforts to obtain these numbers (or to have the attributable owners, on their own, register for the FRN).  Even if that cannot be accomplished by the January 11 deadline, the licensee has an obligation to keep trying and to amend its filing when it finally obtains the required information as to the permanent FRN of each person or entity holding an attributable interest in the company .  The FCC seems to leave the door open to enforcement actions if a licensee does not obtain that information in a reasonable (though not defined) period of time.Continue Reading New Form 323 Ownership Report Expected to be Ready This Week – And FCC Provides for Temporary FRN Without Social Security Number