Broadcast Station Reports Due in January 2020
By January 10, 2020, all radio and television broadcast stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare a list of important issues facing their communities of license and the programs aired during October, November, and December dealing with those issues. All TV stations and radio stations must post these documents to the FCC’s online public file database. The FCC’s online public inspection file database ("OPIF") may be accessed through this link.
By March 30, 2020 (postponed from January 30), all commercial full-power and Class A TV stations must prepare and file their initial annual Children’s Programming Report and post online documentation demonstrating compliance with the limits on commercial matter aired during children’s programming.
Although cable TV systems do not have any specific quarterly public file requirements, cable systems with more than 1000 subscribers must upload any "new" public file documents to OPIF, except for political file documents that must be uploaded only by systems with more than 5000 subscribers. The cable public file documents include those documents that show compliance with the commercial limits in children’s programming, as described more fully below.
I. Issues/Programs Lists
All radio and TV broadcast stations must prepare Issues/Programs lists within ten days after the end of each quarter. The quarterly Issues/Programs list is station-specific and, therefore, each station should have its own list, describing programming broadcast on that station addressing issues of importance to its viewers or listeners.
The quarterly Issues/Programs list should reflect the "station’s most significant programming treatment of community issues." Thus, a station needs to identify issues of importance to its community of license that it has determined to be of significance during that quarter and the programming that was responsive to those issues. In the past, the FCC had mandated identification of 5 to 10 issues per quarter. While the FCC no longer requires identifying a specific number of issues, that range remains a good target.
Although broadcasters have discretion in deciding the specific programs that address the identified issues, all stations must broadcast some programming that does so. Each program must be identified, including the title and length of the program as well as the time and date on which it was aired. The description should include a brief summary of the contents of the program sufficient to demonstrate how the program addressed the identified issue. Failure to have a complete and timely set of quarterly Issues/Programs lists can lead to significant fines at license renewal time or following an FCC inspection. Even stations that are off the air pursuant to Special Temporary Authority from the FCC must still prepare an Issues/Programs list stating as such (if off air for the entire quarter), or provide a list of programs for that portion of the quarter for which they were broadcasting.
II. Children’s TV Programming Reports
As we have advised, the FCC has made significant changes to the Children’s Programming requirements. Most of these changes went into effect on September 16, 2019, including the obligation to file annual rather than quarterly children’s programming reports. The initial annual reports must be filed by March 30, 2020, on FCC Form 2100, Schedule H (formerly FCC Form 398).
Under the Commission’s current guidelines, stations are required to air an average of at least three (3.0) hours of "core" children’s programming per week or 156 hours annually. (Former guidelines required three hours of core programming per week per digital stream. The requirement for additional core programming attributable to multicast streams was eliminated as of September 16, 2019.)
Up to one-third of a station’s children’s programming can be broadcast on a multicast stream, as described in our recent Advisory.
Core children’s television programming is defined as programming that is (1) designed to meet the educational and informational needs of children aged 16 years or younger as one of its significant purposes; (2) at least 30 minutes in length; (3) identified throughout the program with the educational/informational (E/I) symbol or "bug" (now applicable to commercial stations only); (4) aired weekly at a regularly scheduled time between the hours of 6 a.m. (formerly 7) and 10 p.m.; and (5) identified at the time of airing and to program guide publishers as being "core programming" designed for a specific age range of children.
Stations are also reminded to provide the required on-air identification of core programs that are specifically designed to educate and inform children. Thus, at the beginning of each core children’s program, stations should announce that the upcoming program satisfies the Commission’s core children’s programming requirements. Core children’s programming must also contain the E/I bug superimposed on the program to identify the program as meeting the educational and informational needs of children. (This requirement has been eliminated for noncommercial TV stations only.) Stations have been fined for insufficient documentation showing compliance with the children’s programming rules or for missing documentation during the license term. Accordingly, to avoid potential problems, stations should prepare and post all forms and certifications required by the Commission’s rules.
III. Commercial Limits
In addition to requiring programming that is responsive to the educational and informational needs of children aged 16 or younger, the FCC’s rules also limit the amount of commercial material that can be aired during programming aimed at children aged 12 and under. Specifically, the rules state that "no commercial television broadcast station licensee shall air more than 10.5 minutes of commercial matter per hour during [such] children’s programming on weekends, or more than 12 minutes of commercial matter per hour on weekdays." These limits (which have not changed) also apply to cable systems that run children’s programming. In order to demonstrate compliance with this rule, TV stations must prepare a proof of compliance with the commercial limits and post this information to their online public inspection file by Friday, January 10, 2020. This will be the last quarterly filing. After this, the next commercial limits certification of compliance will be an annual report due in January 2021.
There is no specific form for this purpose. Stations may keep program logs demonstrating compliance with the commercial limits, but if the logs are intended to satisfy the documentation requirement they must be posted online as well. Stations may also keep tapes sufficient to demonstrate compliance, and must make the tapes available for review upon request by a member of the public. Alternatively, stations may maintain lists of the number of commercial minutes per hour aired during children’s programs, including a detailed listing of any overages. Many networks and syndicators that provide children’s programming also provide certifications that their programs comply with the commercial limits. Such lists should be reviewed periodically to ensure accuracy.
The commercial limits on children’s programming apply to cable and DBS operators as well, who must also keep records verifying compliance with those limits.
Note: While children’s programming is required to serve the educational and informational needs of children up to 16 years of age, the commercial limits apply only to programs broadcast or cablecast primarily for children aged 12 and under.
IV. Special Rules for Class A TV stations
In addition to all of the requirements discussed above, the FCC requires that Class A TV stations maintain information in their (online) public files sufficient to demonstrate their continuing eligibility for Class A status, i.e., that they are on air at least 18 hours per day, that they have broadcast at least three hours per week of locally produced programming, and that they have otherwise observed the rules that apply to full power TV stations.
V. Repacking Transition Progress Report
Except in certain situations described here, full-power and Class A TV Stations repacked by the incentive auction have a quarterly obligation to file a Repacking Transition Progress Report (FCC Form 2100—Schedule 387) by January 10, 2020, informing the FCC (and the public) of steps that they have taken to implement the channel change, assuming the station has not already been licensed on its new channel. In addition to the quarterly reports, repacked stations must also file Transition Progress Reports (1) ten weeks prior to their construction deadline; (2) ten days after construction is complete; and (3) five days after ceasing operation on their pre-auction channel.
VI. AM Equipment Performance Measurements
AM Stations are required to make equipment performance measurements at least once every 14 months, and to keep the results of those measurements available for FCC inspection for two years (public file retention is not required). The end of the year may be a good time to make those measurements, if not otherwise regularly scheduled.
This article was originally featured as a communications advisory on DWT.com on December 30, 2019. Our editors have chosen to feature this article here for its coinciding subject matter.