With the federal government shutdown finally ending yesterday, broadcasters need to be prepared to take steps to comply with FCC rules whose enforcement has been put on hold since October 1, when the government shut down most FCC electronic filing systems, including the online public files. Now that the FCC has reopened, the FCC has recognized that its initial guidance (about which we wrote here), issued in the face of what might have been expected to be a short suspension of activities, was not realistic given the length of the shutdown and the potential issues that could arise with many broadcasters and other regulated entities all trying to upload their documents to various FCC systems by the end of the next business day after government operations resumed (see our list of concerns here).
Thus, yesterday, when the FCC reopened, it released a Public Notice postponing the deadline for filings due during the shutdown until at least Tuesday, November 18, with a promise of another public notice before that date to evaluate whether that date was in fact realistic or if a further extension for some or all filings would be warranted. In fact, that Public Notice suggests that parties not rush to upload everything immediately, but only to submit time-sensitive documents to the FCC. Given that, as of 9 AM Eastern on Friday morning (on November 14), some FCC databases including the online public file still are offline, it appears realistic to assume that some further extensions will be required. [Update, 11/14/ 2025, 4:00 PM ET, the FCC has now posted notices on the help pages for both the Online Public Inspection File and for LMS where applications are filed, saying that neither system will be available for use until November 18, seemingly insuring a further extension of the dates by which filings will be due] Consult your own legal and technical advisors as to how these deadlines affect your operations and as to what filings should be prioritized once the FCC’s systems are back up and operating.
The Public Notice also notes that Special Temporary Authorizations (STAs) under which some stations were operating during the shutdown are automatically extended until November 18 for most stations that still have not resumed their normal operations – at which time extension requests would be required unless the FCC further extends that deadline. The FCC also says that its staff will attempt to be flexible in enforcing deadlines, recognizing the unprecedented backlog of material now waiting to be uploaded. There are many documents that need to be uploaded to FCC public files (including, for all full-power broadcasters, quarterly issues/programs lists that, had the government been open, would have been filed by October 10; political file documents related to the recent elections in various states, including New Jersey and Virginia; EEO annual reports that would have been due on October 1 for stations in many states; and responses to EEO audits for 300 stations that would have been due on October 17). As the public file system often has glitches on even routinely scheduled deadlines, there is much concern that the systems will operate at a crawl with the anticipated volume of material that now needs to be uploaded.
But, also stalled by the shutdown were a number of other FCC proceedings that will need to be addressed by subsequent actions. One is the filing opportunity for certain LPTV and TV translator major changes, allowing stations to change channels and make significant site moves (see our article here), which was to have opened on October 22. But, as LPTVs and TV translators were also supposed to have had until October 15 to file minor change applications before the major change window opened, the opportunity to file some of those minor changes (which could impact what major changes would be allowable) was cut off by the shutdown. It seems as if the FCC will have to reset the deadline for minor changes and the subsequent filing freeze, so parties can see what minor changes are filed, before the Commission can open any filing opportunity for major change applications.
Rulemakings, too, were affected by the shutdown, as comment deadlines in some proceedings fell during the shutdown (e.g., comments on proposals to update the EAS system), while others have not started at all as the official notices of the comment dates could not be published in the Federal Register (as the Federal Register itself was affected by the shutdown). Two major FCC proceedings fall into this latter bucket.
First, the FCC has sought comments on its 2022 Quadrennial Review of the local ownership rules. As we wrote here, this proceeding is very significant to radio operators, as it looks to determine if the FCC should revise its local ownership restrictions that have been in place since 1996. We have written before about how those rules have become outdated by the robust and direct competition to radio from digital media that has developed in the 30 years since the rules were adopted – which now competes directly for audience and advertisers with radio and local TV. Questions as to whether local TV ownership should be limited to two TV stations are also on the table, as proposals for combinations of more than two stations in the same market will soon be pending at the FCC, including in the proposed Nexstar-TEGNA combination. FCC Chairman Carr has said that he thinks these rules are relics of another era and need to be revised, but any opportunity to do so requires that the Quadrennial Review process be completed. Comments must be filed before any revisions can take place. So, watch for Federal Register publication of that notice of proposed rulemaking soon – a publication that will start the initial 30-day comment period in the Quadrennial Review. It appears that publication may occur as early as Monday, so be prepared to file comments in this proceeding in December.
For TV, the FCC’s proposals to expedite the ATSC 3.0 transition by relaxing requirements for TV stations that convert to the new transmission standard to maintain a “lighthouse” signal in ATSC 1.0, rebroadcasting substantially the same content as the station’s primary signal to substantially the same coverage area, have not yet been published in the Federal Register for comment. This proceeding also looks at the digital rights management issues with the new transmission system, and whether that DRM restricts device manufacturers from entering the market and prevents some viewers from watching ATSC 3.0 signals. Also likely to be addressed in the comments in this proceeding are issues about MVPD carriage of ATSC 3.0; proposals for device manufacturers to include 3.0 tuners in new TVs; and even whether to mandate a hard transition deadline to ATSC 3.0 (proposed by NAB but not tentatively proposed by the FCC in its notice of proposed rulemaking). Watch for the Federal Register publication of this document as well – setting the comment deadlines for this proceeding.
Now that the government has reopened, broadcasters need to be ready to deal both with the mundane requirements to upload documents to their public file as well as the broader, almost transformational issues that will be addressed in rulemakings including those dealing with the local ownership rules and the ATSC 3.0 transition. It looks like we all can expect a very busy holiday season this year. The starting gun has fired – and the race to deal with all of these issues has now begun.
