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:
Quarterly Issues Programs Lists – Lists that were to be uploaded to a station’s public file by October 10, reporting on community issues and responsive programming broadcast by stations between July 1 and September 30, are now due by December 1 (though the FCC encourages earlier filings). See the Public Notice at paragraph #4 on page 2.
EEO Filings and EEO Audit Responses – Annual EEO Public Inspection File Reports for stations in Alaska, American Samoa, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington State were due to be uploaded to station public files by October 1. That deadline is now November 24. Stations subject to the FCC’s August EEO audit, which had been due by October 17, are now due by November 24 as well (including responses to certain questions on DEI issues that can be sent by email confidentially to the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau). See the Public Notice at paragraph #4 on page 2.
Special Temporary Authority – Any station operating on an STA that expired between October 1 and November 17 has an extension of that STA until December 5. See the Public Notice at page 5. Stations must file a notice that they have resumed operations by December 5, or request an extension of their temporary authority by that date, or they will be considered to be operating without FCC authority. See this Public Notice at page 2.
Silent Stations and Expiring Construction Permits. The FCC found that an extension of the statutory deadline in Section 312(g) of the Communications Act, which automatically cancels the license of any station that was silent for more than one year (unless the FCC determines that an extension is needed to promote equity and fairness), was in order. It gave silent stations until November 18 at 11:59 PM to resume operations. So, any station that has been off the air for an extended period but has now resumed operations should file a resumption of service notice immediately. Construction permits that would have expired between October 1 and November 18 must file a license to cover by November 28, showing that construction is complete, or submit a tolling request, or the CP will be cancelled. See this Public Notice issued yesterday, at pp, 1-2.
Political File Uploads – Uploads to the political file, part of station’s FCC-hosted online public inspection file, will be due on a staggered basis, apparently in an effort to avoid an overload of the FCC’s public file system. This would include documents related to political sales made in October and early November. The schedule, set out in the separate Public Notice also issued yesterday, is as follows:
| Filing Window | Affected Licensees by State |
| November 19-26, 2025 | Licensees located in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut |
| December 1-8, 2025 | Licensees located in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia |
| December 9-16, 2025 | Licensees located in California |
| December 17-24, 2025 | Licensees in all other states and territories |
LPTV/TV Translator Window – The Window that was to have opened in October for major changes in the channel and site of LPTV and TV Translator stations has been postponed. See this new Public Notice for details. The new dates for these filings are as follows:
- December 11, 2025, 6:00 p.m. ET: Temporary application filing freeze implemented on all minor change applications (including displacement applications) for Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations. Minor change applications filed once the freeze is imposed will be dismissed and need to be re-filed after the freeze is lifted.
- December 18, 2025, 12:01 a.m. ET: Major modification filing freeze lifted to permit Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations to file major change applications, on a first come, first served basis. Facility relocations are limited to no more than 121 kilometers (km), which is about 75 miles. Major change applications submitted during this filing opportunity must meet the 121 km distance limit and otherwise comply with the Commission’s part 73 and 74 rules. All other applications will be dismissed. Also on this date, the freeze will be lifted on all minor change applications (including displacement applications) for Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations.
- January 29, 2026, 6:00 p.m. ET: Temporary application filing freeze implemented for all major change applications for Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations. Major change applications filed once the freeze is imposed will be dismissed and need to be refiled after the freeze is lifted.
- March 12, 2026, 6:00 p.m. ET: Temporary application filing freeze for all minor change applications (including displacement applications) for Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations. Minor change applications filed once the freeze is imposed will be dismissed and need to be re-filed after the freeze is lifted.
- March 19, 2026, 12:01 a.m. ET: Major modification filing freeze lifted, without limit or restriction, to permit the filing of Class A, LPTV and TV translator major change applications and acceptance of applications for new LPTV and TV translator stations. Freeze lifted on all minor change applications (including displacement applications) for Class A, LPTV, and TV translator stations.
LMS Applications. The FCC’s LMS system for filing broadcast applications, including applications for technical changes or for the sale or other transfer of a broadcast station, is scheduled to be back in service today (and appears to be up and running as of this writing). This Public Notice states that, for processing priorities, all applications filed between today and November 25 will be treated as if they were filed on November 25. This is relevant as technical changes that are mutually exclusive with applications that are filed by other stations are normally processed on a first-come, first-served basis. For the next week, all applications will be treated as if they were filed on the same day, meaning that any mutually exclusive applications will need to resolve their conflicts or potentially be subject (for commercial stations) to an auction. See this Public Notice for more information.
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Stations should review the FCC’s Public Notices carefully for details about these filing deadlines, and they should talk to their legal and technical advisors for more information about these Notices and other deadlines that may affect their stations.
