Update 11/23/2009 – the Commission has just extended the filing deadline for the Form 323 until January 11, 2010.  See our post here for more details. 

December 15 is that date on which the new FCC Form 323 Ownership Report is to be filed at the FCC – yet the revised form is not yet available in the FCC’s CDBS electronic filing database.  What is a broadcaster to do?  The form will require significantly more work to complete than was necessary on prior versions – and it requires more information provided in a different manner than on the old form.  The information on the old form cannot simply be imported into the new form – everything needs to be re-entered.  And information that used to be provided by exhibit in older versions of the form has to be manually entered into separate searchable fields on the new form.  For broadcasters with many principals who have many broadcast interests, the form will take significant time to complete.  All commercial licensees, including LPTV licensees who have never before had to file, must submit the report.  Each attributable owner of each licensee (see our Advisory for a very basic explanation of attributable interests) will also need to have his or her own FCC registration number ("FRN") in order to complete the form – all to be done by December 15.  But will that date potentially change?

While the FCC has issued a series of Questions and Answers about the form (and we have published our own Advisory to prepare for the filing of the form, here), licensees can’t start filling out the form yet as the revised for is not yet available electronically.  So the difficulties that will no doubt be discovered as hundreds of broadcasters try to complete the form for the first time have yet to even be fully identified.  Even if the form does become available today, there still will be a significant potential for a very messy filing window.  Confusion will likely occur as every commercial broadcaster must file the form, some for the first time, and many will no doubt have questions about the process.  From the calls that we are getting already, the anxiety and confusion among broadcasters is great.  The prospects of a filing "trainwreck" has been the subject of much talk in Washington among lawyers like us who represent broadcasters.  With much of next week taken up with the Thanksgiving holiday, there simply will not be time for every question to be answered, and for every broadcaster to be ready to file by the December 15 deadline.  This week, one law firm went so far as to formally request that the Commission postpone the filing date.  We would not be surprised if this petition is successful, or if the Commission on its own motion decides to extend the deadline.  But the filing deadline has not yet been delayed, so broadcasters should still plan on meeting the current deadline (and, even if extended, any delay will not be indefinite, so broadcasters still need to be getting ready).  What can a broadcaster do now?Continue Reading It’s November 20, and Still No New Form 323 Ownership Report – What’s a Broadcaster to Do?