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1/26/2009
Legislation has been introduced in the United States Senate which, if enacted, would delay the current February 17, 2009 DTV transition deadline for a period of four months, or until June 12, 2009. A delay in the transition date will inevitably cause uncertainty and raise many questions, such as whether a station’s decision to cease analog operations before the proposed deadline may still go forward as planned.

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January 2009
In late December 2008, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a series of six Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture against broadcasters asserting violations of the FCC’s Equal Employment Opportunity rule (“EEO rule”). In a joint statement appended to each of the six cases, FCC Commissioners Michael J. Copps (now Acting FCC Chairman) and Jonathan S. Adelstein (the “Commissioners”) signaled their strong desire that enforcement of EEO matters be stepped up by the Commission. The Commissioners noted that “Commission enforcement of EEO rules has been inconsistent and, as one consequence, employment in broadcasting does not reflect America.” Specifically, the Commissioners noted that while 251 cases resulted in 86 forfeitures between 1994 and 1997, only 10 cases resulting in 8 forfeitures were released between 2004 and 2007.

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January 2009
The following deadlines are based on information known by us as of the date hereof, may or may not apply to a particular broadcaster, are for general informational purposes only, and should be double-checked for currency close to each pertinent date/deadline. Actions by the FCC, Congress, or the courts could affect any of these deadlines by, for example, eliminating a particular reporting/filing obligation altogether or modifying the form used, content, deadline, fee, or manner of reporting/filing, such as requiring the posting of a report on the Internet or filing a report with the FCC electronically. It should also be noted that any FCC filing date which falls on a weekend or federal holiday, as a general rule, causes the filing deadline to be shifted to the immediately following business day. Furthermore, the listing of deadlines is not intended to be complete or exhaustive of all regulatory and non-regulatory deadlines that may apply to a given broadcaster year-to-year. Accordingly, broadcasters should seek the advice of communications counsel in each instance to assure timely and proper filing. This edition of our annual “Broadcasters’ Calendar” supercedes all prior editions and accordingly any prior editions should no longer be used.

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January 2009
Commercial and noncommercial Radio stations licensed to communities in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma must file their Biennial Ownership Reports with the FCC by February 1, 2009. Commercial and noncommercial Television stations licensed to communities in the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York must also file their Biennial Ownership Reports by the same deadline.

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January 2009:

Upcoming Deadlines

  • FCC Form 499-Q is Due by February 1, 2009
  • Customer Proprietary Network Information Certification is Due by March 1, 2009

Enforcement Matters:

  • Telecommunications Carrier Enters Into $10,080,600 Consent Decree for CPNI and Universal Service Fund Violations
  • Telecommunications Carrier Found Apparently Liable for More than $650,000 for Failure to Register and Obtain 214 Approval and Failure to Comply with USF Requirements

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1/6/2009
The next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ local public inspection files by January 10, 2009, reflecting information for the months of October, November and December 2008. The FCC’s action adopting the new program report Form 355, which is intended to replace the Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists for full-power and Class A television stations, will not have any effect on this fourth quarter public file requirement.

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1/6/2009
The next FCC Form 388 DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report must be filed via CDBS and placed in stations’ local public inspection files by January 10, 2009, reflecting information for the months of October, November and December 2008.

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1/6/2009
The next Children’s Television Programming Report must be filed with the FCC and placed in stations’ local Public Inspection Files by January 10, 2009, reflecting programming aired during the months of October, November and December 2008.

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January 2009
On December 23, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) proposing creation of a new replacement digital television translator service. This service will permit full-power television stations to continue to provide service to viewers who have lost or will lose service as a result of a station’s digital transition. In the NPRM, the FCC announced that it will begin accepting applications in the coming days, although processing of these applications will be withheld pending the outcome of the proceeding. In the interim, the FCC proposed that stations could request Special Temporary Authority (“STA”) to operate replacement television translator facilities during the pendency of the rulemaking proceeding.

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