2022 Upcoming Broadcast Deadlines
September
Annual Regulatory Fees – On a date not yet determined, but certainly before September 30, 2022, annual regulatory fees will be due. These will be due and payable for Fiscal Year 2022 and will be based upon a licensee’s/permittee’s holdings on October 1, 2021, plus anything that might have been purchased since then and less anything that might have been sold since then. The fees must be paid through the FCC’s online Fee Filer, and once again, this year, the FCC will not accept checks as payment of the fees but will require some form of electronic payment (credit card, ACH transfer, wire transfer, and the like). Please keep in mind that timely payment is critical, as late payment results in a 25 percent penalty, plus potential additional interest charges.
September 6, 2022
Repack Invoices Due – The third and last invoice filing deadline was set for September 5, 2022. Because Labor Day, a federal holiday, falls on Monday, September 5, 2022, the third and last invoice filing deadline is Tuesday, September 6, 2022. All MVPDs, FM stations, and LPTV/translator stations who intend to seek reimbursement must submit all remaining invoices and supporting documentation using the Reimbursement Form, and initiate interim close-out procedures, no later than September 6, 2022. We urge all entities in the program to initiate interim close-out procedures as soon as they complete their construction projects and have incurred and submitted invoices for all of their reimbursable costs.
October 3, 2022
EEO Public File Reports – All television station and radio employment units with five or more full-time employees and located in Florida, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Iowa, Missouri, Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Oregon, American Samoa, Mariana Is., and Washington must place EEO Public File Reports in their OPIFs. For all stations with websites, the report must be posted there as well. Per FCC policy, the reporting period may end ten days before the report is due, and the reporting period for the next year will begin on the following day.
Television License Renewal Applications Due – Applications for renewal of license for television stations located in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Guam, Mariana Is., and American Samoa must be filed in LMS. These applications must be accompanied by Schedule 396, the Broadcast EEO Program Report, also filed in LMS, regardless of the number of full-time employees. Under the new public notice rules, television stations filing
renewal applications must begin broadcasts of their post-filing announcements concerning their license renewal applications between the date the application is accepted for filing and five business days thereafter and must continue for a period of four weeks. Once complete, a certification of broadcast, with a copy of the announcement’s text, must be posted to the online public inspection file within seven days.
October 11, 2022
Issues/Programs Lists – For all commercial and noncommercial radio, television, and Class A television stations, listings of each station’s most significant treatment of community issues during the third quarter of 2022 (July, August, September) must be placed in the station’s online public inspection file. The lists should include brief narratives describing the issues covered and the programs which provided the coverage, with information concerning the time, date, duration, and title of each program with a brief description of the program. The issues may be either local or national, so long as they are of concern to the local community.
December 1, 2022
Television License Renewal Applications Due – Applications for renewal of license for television stations located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island must be filed in LMS. These applications must be accompanied by Schedule 396, the Broadcast EEO Program Report, also filed in LMS, regardless of the number of full-time employees. Under the new public notice rules, television stations filing renewal applications must begin broadcasts of their post-filing announcements concerning their license renewal applications between the date the application is accepted for filing and five business days thereafter and must continue for a period of four weeks. Once complete, a certification of broadcast, with a copy of the announcement’s text, must be posted to the online public inspection file within seven days.
EEO Public File Reports – All television station and radio employment units with five or more full-time employees and located in Alabama, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont must place EEO Public File Reports in their online public inspection files. For all stations with websites, the report must be posted there as well. Per FCC policy, the reporting period may end ten days before the report is due, and the reporting period for the next year will begin on the following day.
2022 Upcoming Telecommunications Deadlines
September 1, 2022
FCC Form 477 – Attention to all facilities-based providers of broadband service to end user location, local exchange carriers providing local telephone service, interconnected VoIP providers, and mobile telephony service providers that are not solely resellers. FCC rules require that certain entities must report information concerning broadband connections to end users locations and wired/wireless local telephone services in order to describe the deployment of broadband infrastructure and competition to provide local telecommunications services. Data is reported on a state-by-state basis where such services are provided. See 47 C.F.R. § 43.11. See also Local Telephone Competition and Broadband Reporting, Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd. 22340 (2004). The Form 477 is filed twice a year on March 1 and September 1.
Annual Regulatory Fees – On a date not yet determined, but certainly before September 30, 2022, annual regulatory fees will be due. These will be due and payable for Fiscal Year 2022 and will be based upon a licensee’s/permittee’s holdings on October 1, 2021, plus anything that might have been purchased since then and less anything that might have been sold since then. The fees must be paid through the FCC’s online Fee Filer, and once again, this year, the FCC will not accept checks as payment of the fees but will require some form of electronic payment (credit card, ACH transfer, wire transfer, and the like). Please keep in mind that timely payment is critical, as late payment will incur a 25 percent penalty, plus potential additional interest charges.
November 1, 2022
FCC Form 499-Q – Attention to all telecommunications providers, including resellers and interconnected VoIP providers. Telecommunications providers and interconnected VoIP providers must file quarterly to report prior-quarter historical revenue and next-quarter projected revenue. Projected revenue is used to calculate the amount of USF contributions invoiced to the provider in the coming quarter. Filers that would owe less than $10,000 in USF contributions annually based upon projected quarterly revenue data (annualized by multiplying by four) are considered “de minimis” and would not be required to file the Form 499-Q. However, filers must maintain documentation to substantiate this de minimis determination on a quarterly basis. The FCC Form 499-Q is due quarterly by February 1, May 1, August 1 and November 1. See 47 C.F.R. § 54.706(b). Revisions to the Form 499-Q are due 45 days after the initial filing deadline. Total annual USF contributions are subject to a true-up process based upon the FCC Form 499-A due April 1. Wholesale providers should also verify a reseller’s USF contributor status quarterly at http://apps.fcc.gov/cgb/form499/499a.cfm prior to filing the Form 499-Q.