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Today, we would normally publish our look back at the prior week’s regulatory activity of importance to broadcasters but, as we noted last week, we are taking this week off and will publish a summary of the regulatory activity during the two week holiday period next Sunday.  But, as the start of a new month is upon us, we instead offer our regular look ahead at regulatory dates and deadlines for January.   

With each New Year, there are a host of new regulatory deadlines to keep broadcasters busy.  In January, this includes some recurring FCC deadlines like Quarterly Issues/Programs lists for all full power broadcasters, and a host of other quarterly obligations that are not as widely applicable.  For TV broadcasters, the month brings obligations including the annual children’s television reports on educational and informational programming and a public file certification on commercial limits, as well as the extension to stations in 10 additional markets of the audio description requirements. 

In addition to comments in rulemaking proceedings described below, January brings some new obligations.  For commercial broadcasters streaming audio programming on the Internet, there are new SoundExchange royalties that cover performances made on and after January 1, and a requirement for a higher minimum fee due at the end of the month.  There is also a freeze that will be imposed on applications for major changes by existing LPTV stations and TV translators related to a window that will open in March, the first window in well over a decade for the filing of applications for new LPTV stations. 

Let’s look at some of the specific dates and deadlines for broadcasters in January, starting with the routine deadlines that come up every January, and then moving to some of new obligations for 2026.  After that we provide January deadlines for comments in rulemaking proceedings (including reply comments on proposed changes to the FCC’s ownership rules and initial comments on proposals to speed the ATSC 3.0 conversion), a look at lowest unit rate windows that open in January for 2026 elections, and finally a few deadlines in early February.Continue Reading January 2026 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Children’s Television Programming Reporting, New Webcasting Royalties, Expansion of Audio Description Requirements, Comment Deadlines, Political Windows, and More

Late yesterday afternoon, the FCC issued a series of Public Notices setting out the due date for filings and uploads that were due during the shutdown. By a Public Notice released last week, most dates were already extended to today, November 18, as many FCC filing systems were not operational – and are expected only to become operational today.  The FCC yesterday issued another Public Notice stating that, in general, filings that were due during the shutdown and through yesterday, November 17, will be due today, November 18.  However, that Public Notice, and a series of additional notices also released yesterday, extend most deadlines that apply to broadcast filings – with some of those extensions listed below. 

For broadcasters, today’s due date appears to apply to station-specific deadlines like responses to pleadings that were due between October 1 and November 17, comments in certain rulemaking proceedings (including the modernization of the Disaster Information Recovery System that, at this time, is voluntary for broadcasters), filings related to Antenna Structure Registrations and related tower filings, any responses to targeted enforcement matters (which were actually to be submitted during the shutdown), and other deadlines set by the Communications Act that cannot be waived by the Commission.  Review the Public Notice for more details on these deadlines.

Many other FCC dates and deadlines have been postponed.  A summary of the broadcast deadlines that have been extended, with links to Public Notices that provide more information, are set out below:Continue Reading FCC Reopening – New Deadlines Established for Many Broadcast Applications and FCC Filings

We would normally provide you with some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.  But, as the government shutdown has drastically limited activity at the FCC, and as Congress did…

October is, on paper, a busy month of regulatory deadlines for broadcasters.  As set forth below, the month includes the requirement for almost all broadcasters to complete and upload to their public file their Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, as well as the date for broadcasters to submit to the FCC their ETRS Form One reporting basic information about their EAS equipment.  There are also routine EEO annual deadlines for stations in several states, and the response deadline for the 300 stations subject to the FCC’s first EEO audit under the new administration – which included new questions about stations’ DEI practices.  A “major change” filing window for LPTV stations and TV translators is also scheduled to open this month.  But these and other deadlines could be affected by the looming federal government shutdown beginning October 1 if Congress fails to fund the government for the coming year (or pass a “continuing resolution” to allow government agencies to function at their current levels).  If a shutdown does occur, the FCC, the FTC, the Copyright Office and other federal agencies may have to pause their operations, which may result in some of the regulatory deadlines discussed below for the FCC being delayed.  Note that, in some cases, agencies have some funds set aside that allow them to keep functioning for a few extra days, which has been the case for the FCC during several of the last government shutdowns, but that is not assured.  Because of the potential of this extended operation even if there is a shutdown, do not assume that regulatory deadlines set forth below will be postponed by a funding impasse. 

In the past, when there has been a pause in government operations and after any residual funds to keep the agency operating have been expended, agencies like the FCC ceased the processing of routine applications and paused all other routine work, staying open only to the extent necessary to deal with emergencies and other vital activity.  In at least one shutdown, the FCC even limited access to its website and online systems. In the past, FCC filings have been suspended, with additional time being provided after the government reopens to make filings that were due during the shutdown.  But details are different in each shutdown.  If Congress cannot resolve the funding issues by October 1, we would expect that the FCC and other agencies important to broadcasters to issue public notices about specific policies to be applied after funding runs out.  Stay tuned to see if any of the dates below have to be rescheduled.

October 1 is the deadline for radio and TV station employment units in Alaska, American Samoa, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington with five or more full-time employees to upload their Annual EEO Public File Report to their stations’ Online Public Inspection Files.  A station employment unit is a station or cluster of commonly controlled stations serving the same general geographic area having 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 recent $26,000 fine for a single late EEO report).Continue Reading October 2025 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters – Possible Government Shutdown, Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, EEO Public File Reports, EEO Audit Responses, ETRS Filing Deadline, LPTV/TV Translator Filing Windows, and More

Corrected 9/9/25 – to update the first date of the filing opportunity for new LPTV stations and TV translators to January 21, 2026.

The FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice announcing the opportunity to file applications for major changes in the channel and location of LPTV, Class A, and TV translator stations starting on October 22, with a subsequent opportunity to file applications for new LPTV and TV translator stations starting on January 26.  These are not technically “windows” for filing applications as they do not have defined end dates, but they are instead the lifting of freezes on applications by these stations that have been in effect for well over a decade.  Once the freezes are lifted, as explained below, with limited exceptions for temporary freezes set by the Public Notice, these filing opportunities will remain in effect until further notice.  The opportunity to make major changes in existing stations, and to file for new stations, have long been requested by LPTV advocates anxious to improve station coverage and adapt to marketplace changes – opportunities that have largely been limited for over a decade during the TV incentive auction process and the subsequent repacking of the TV spectrum.

The “major change” window will allow for channel changes by existing stations and site moves of up to 121 kilometers (roughly 75 miles).  To have a stable database from which applicants can operate, a freeze on all major changes for these stations went into effect on September 3, and all minor changes will be temporarily frozen on October 15 (details below). 

Applications for new LPTV and TV translators will be allowed starting on January 21 – with another temporary freeze on all major changes taking effect on December 3, and one on minor changes on January 14.  This will be the first opportunity to file for new LPTV and TV translator stations in 15 years as the FCC froze applications for new stations in 2010 (see our article here), and had precluded applications in larger markets well before that date.  All freezes will be lifted on January 26. Continue Reading Windows for Filing Applications for LPTV and TV Translator Major Changes and New Stations Announced By FCC

The FCC last week released a Public Notice announcing the opening of a filing window for parties interested in building new noncommercial TV stations at 12 communities in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Idaho, Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia.  Applications by nonprofit educational organizations can be filed in a window opening on December 4 and ending at 6 PM Eastern Time on December 11.  The Public Notice describes the filing procedures and eligibility requirements, and sets out how, if there are multiple applicants for any channel, the applications will be evaluated under the FCC’s “points system” for choosing between competing noncommercial applicants. 

Seeing this filing window raised questions among some broadcasters as to when there will be filing windows for other services, particularly ones where commercial stations can apply.  There has not been a window for filing for new FM stations since 2021 (see our article here noting that many channels in the auction immediately after the pandemic went unsold and could be re-auctioned in the future).  The last filing window for new commercial TV channels opened in 2022.  No filing window for new LPTV stations or TV translators has occurred since 2009, largely because applications were on hold during the TV incentive auction and repacking of the TV band (see our article here – but note that there is currently an opportunity for major channel changes by LPTV and translator stations, but not for new stations).  There has been no window for new AM stations in well over 20 years (except for special windows to allow applicants for channels where station licenses had been surrendered to the FCC).  And no window for new FM translators has been open since 2003 (see our article here about the final resolution of applications from that window – 15 years later), except for the special windows for translators to be used with AM stations, and the last of those windows closed in 2017 (see our article here).  Why have there been no commercial filing windows for so long?Continue Reading FCC Opens Window for Filing for 12 New Noncommercial TV Stations While Other Commercial Filing Windows on Hold

Last week, we wrote that the FCC is going ahead with a rulemaking looking at how broadband needs may require some reallocation of the TV spectrum to wireless uses.  The initiation of a rulemaking on that issue is planned for the next FCC meeting in late November.  With that proceeding about to begin, the FCC today froze all applications for new Low Power Television (LPTV) stations and for TV Translators, and for major changes in existing LPTV and TV translator stations.  Over a year ago, after not having accepted applications for a decade during the DTV transition, the FCC allowed the filing of applications for new LPTV stations and TV translators in rural areas.  Finding that much of the demand for new translators has been met in these rural areas in the intervening period, the FCC has now determined that, until the spectrum needs for television and broadband are more certain, it would not accept any more applications for these stations. It appears that the long-planned window for LPTV stations in major markets will not happen in the foreseeable future.

The freeze does allow for the filing of minor changes to LPTV and TV translator stations, for applications to flash cut to digital, and for displacement applications if a full-power station precludes the continued operation of such a station on its current channel.  LPTV and translator stations still operating on channels 52 through 69, which have already been reallotted for wireless uses, can also file displacement applications during the freeze.Continue Reading FCC Freezes Applications for New LPTV and TV Translator Stations While Contemplating How the Broadband Plan Will Affect the TV Spectrum