The FCC in recent years has been upgrading their technical systems (even though, as many broadcasters and their attorneys know, the upgrades are often not without their own problems). The old CDBS database, in which broadcasters for years filed their applications, is shut down for all new filings as almost all broadcast applications have migrated to the new Licensing and Management System (“LMS”) database system. Another transition date is almost upon broadcasters as the FCC announced months ago that it will be decommissioning its legacy Commission Registration System (“CORES”) at 6 pm EST on July 15. We’ve written about that deadline in several weekly updates and in our post looking ahead at July regulatory dates for broadcasters. But with the date almost upon us, it is important to remind broadcasters to register in the new system by the July 15 deadline. By that deadline, each person associated with your licensee’s FCC Registration Number (“FRN”), including those who prepare or submit your FCC filings or submit your annual FCC regulatory fees, should register in its new CORES2 database by setting up an account and then associating their account with the relevant FRN. Once legacy CORES is retired, you will only be able to access FCC filing and payment systems using a CORES2 user account. See the FCC webpage with information about the transition here.
The new CORES2 system contains the same FRN information as the legacy system (found here ). The change to CORES2 will impact how individuals, licensees and other entities doing business before the FCC obtain and manage their FRNs, and will also affect access to various FCC databases, including the LMS used for preparing and filing routine FCC applications and reports. To maintain access to the information in CORES, all licensees need to register in the new system. Tutorial videos on navigating CORES2 can found here.
While we are mentioning changes to FCC databases, it is worth reminding broadcasters that requests for changes in the call letters of broadcast stations, previously requested in a stand-alone database, are now to be requested through the LMS database. That change was effective as of June 22, 2022. The old call letter reservation system has been decommissioned. Procedures for using LMS to request call letter changes are set out in the FCC’s Public Notice released last month.
Be sure to stay on top of all FCC database changes so that, when you are prepared to make an FCC filing, you are ready to go without having to search to find where you need to go to accomplish whatever business you need to conduct.
Courtesy Broadcast Law Blog
