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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue is a special edition:

FCC Enforcement Monitor—The Government Shutdown Edition
While shutdowns of the federal government have become depressingly common, the FCC has generally been less affected than most government agencies because it is not funded by taxpayer dollars but by regulatory fees paid by broadcasters and others regulated by the FCC. However, because the FCC collects those fees in arrears—at the end of the fiscal year they fund rather than the beginning—the FCC must borrow operating funds from the federal government to operate and then repay that debt when regulatory fees are collected at the end of the fiscal year. That is the reason the FCC is never able to extend its regulatory fee collection deadline beyond September 30, the last day of the federal fiscal year.

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At today’s Open Meeting, the FCC unanimously adopted a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to accelerate the transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (NextGen TV).  The NPRM sets the stage for significant progress towards a nationwide transition, proposing to shift from mandatory to voluntary ATSC 1.0 simulcasting because broadcasters are now “best positioned to determine how to continue to serve their viewers while rolling out 3.0 services.”

Under current rules adopted in the FCC’s 2017 First NextGen TV Report and Order, full-power and Class A stations seeking to transition to the ATSC 3.0 standard must maintain an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of their primary stream through a partnership with one or more ATSC 1.0 “host” stations assigned to the same designated market area, and the ATSC 1.0 simulcast stream must be “substantially similar” to the ATSC 3.0 stream.  The simulcasting requirement was intended to be transitional, and the Commission initially scheduled the “substantially similar” requirement to sunset on July 17, 2023.  As that date approached, however, the FCC adopted the June 2023 Third Report and Order and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking extending the sunset date to July 17, 2027.

Since then, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and many individual broadcasters have continued to press the FCC for greater simulcasting flexibility in order to more effectively showcase the benefits of the ATSC 3.0 standard, including in comments submitted in the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding.  NAB also filed a Petition for Rulemaking (NAB Petition) earlier this year asking the FCC to, among other things:

  • Establish a two-phase mandatory transition under which stations in the top 55 markets would move fully to ATSC 3.0 by February 2028 and all remaining markets by February 2030, with limited exceptions for noncommercial educational or smaller, independent stations;
  • Eliminate the “substantially similar” requirement prior to the scheduled 2027 sunset date;
  • Relax the 95 percent coverage threshold required for expedited application processing;
  • Update the tuner and carriage standards to ensure that consumers can continue to receive broadcast programming as the industry transitions to ATSC 3.0; and
  • Consider updates to the MVPD carriage rules, including the “good quality signal” rule.

The Media Bureau received more than 900 comments and replies in response to the NAB Petition in a pleading cycle that closed in June 2025. Continue reading →

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Broadcasters’ next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2025, reflecting information for the months of July, August, and September 2025.

Content of the Quarterly List

The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive to significant community needs, issues, and problems as determined by the station.  The FCC gives each station the discretion to determine which issues facing the community served by the station are the most significant and how best to respond to them in the station’s overall programming.

To demonstrate a station’s compliance with this public interest obligation, the FCC requires the station to maintain and place in the Public Inspection File a Quarterly List reflecting the “station’s most significant programming treatment of community issues during the preceding three month period.”  By its use of the term “most significant,” the FCC has noted that stations are not required to list all responsive programming, but only that programming which provided the most significant treatment of the issues identified.

Given that program logs are no longer mandated by the FCC, the Quarterly Lists may be the most important evidence of a station’s compliance with its public service obligations.  The lists also provide important support for the certification of Class A television station compliance discussed below.  We therefore urge stations not to “skimp” on the Quarterly Lists, and to err on the side of over-inclusiveness.  Otherwise, stations risk a determination by the FCC that they did not adequately serve the public interest during their license term.  Stations should include in the Quarterly Lists as much issue-responsive programming as they feel is necessary to demonstrate fully their responsiveness to community needs.  Taking extra time now to provide a thorough Quarterly List will help reduce risk at license renewal time.

The FCC has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Quarterly Lists and often brings enforcement actions against stations that do not have complete Quarterly Lists in their Public Inspection File or which have failed to timely upload such lists when due.  The FCC’s base fine for missing or late Quarterly Lists is $10,000.

Preparation of the Quarterly List

The Quarterly Lists are required to be placed in the Public Inspection File by January 10, April 10, July 10, and October 10 of each year.  The next Quarterly List is required to be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2025, covering the period from July 1, 2025 through September 30, 2025. Continue reading →