Articles Tagged with Biennial Ownership Reports

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The Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice reminding broadcast licensees that the filing window for Broadcast Biennial Ownership Reports (FCC Form 323 and 323-E) will open on November 1, 2019.  All licensees of commercial and noncommercial AM, FM, full-power TV, Class A Television and Low Power Television stations must submit their ownership reports by January 31, 2020.

We previously reported that the FCC had modified the dates for the filing window.  At that time, the FCC explained that there would be “additional technical improvements” that required the FCC to delay the opening of the filing window.  Now, we know more about those improvements.

In particular, the FCC modified its filing system to permit parties to validate and resubmit previously-filed ownership reports, so long as those reports were submitted through the current filing system.  Further, filers will be able to copy and then make changes to information included in previously-submitted reports.  The FCC also created a new search page dedicated solely to reviewing submitted ownership reports.

As a reminder, biennial ownership reports submitted during this filing window must reflect the ownership interests associated with the facility as of October 1, 2019, even if an assignment or transfer of control was consummated after October 1, 2019.

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The FCC’s Media Bureau today announced changes to the filing window for submitting Biennial Ownership Reports for commercial and noncommercial stations.  The opening of the filing window will be delayed from October 1, 2019 to November 1, 2019, and the window will now close on January 31, 2020, rather than the previously-announced deadline of December 1, 2019.

According to the announcement, the reason for the one-month delay in opening the filing window relates to the implementation of “additional technical improvements” to the form, which will include “burden-reducing capabilities.”  In particular, the Media Bureau indicated that filers will have the ability to pre-fill certain forms, and copy and paste already-entered information from other forms.  In light of the one-month delay in opening the window, the Media Bureau extended the deadline for filing as well, and provided additional time due to the intervening holidays.  Even though the window will not open until November 1st, the Media Bureau made clear that the “as-of” date for the information to be reported will remain October 1st.