Filing Deadline for 2013 Biennial Form 323 Extended Already!

Yikes, time is just screaming past us. Has it really been two years since the last biennial Ownership Report (FCC Form 323) was filed? Apparently so – and we know this because the FCC, apparently looking to get a jump on things, has already extended the deadline for the next biennial Form 323. In an order issued on its own motion (i.e., nobody even had to ask), the Media Bureau has announced that the 2013 biennial Ownership Reports will be due no later than December 2, 2013. (That’s a month later than the original deadline.)

The Commission provided a similar one-month extension the last time around, back in 2011.

These biennial reports must be filed by all commercial full-power AM, FM, TV, and LPTV stations (including Class A stations), as well as any entities that happen to have attributable interests in any such stations. While the deadline for filing has moved, the “as of” date – that is, the date as of which the information in the report must be accurate – has not moved. So this year’s Ownership Reports must reflect the reporting entity’s information as of October 1, 2013.

The Commission still has taken no action in the rulemaking proceeding it kicked off last New Year’s Eve. You may recall that, in that Sixth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission proposed ditching the “special use FRN” (SUFRN) that has been a feature of the biennial Form 323 since late 2009. (The SUFRN has an interesting history, which you can read about here (and in the earlier links you’ll find there). It’s a device that permits some reporting individuals to avoid having to cough up their Social Security Numbers in order to get an official FCC Registration Number (FRN) to include in the Ownership Report.) The Bureau’s order doesn’t mention SUFRNs, which is par for the course. But since the Commission has not adopted that proposal, it seems at this point that it’s a reasonable bet that the SUFRN will still be available for 2013 Form 323 filers. You can never be too sure, though, so it would probably be prudent to check back here periodically between now and then.