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FCC Modifies Ownership Report Filing Print E-mail
Wednesday, 04/29/2009
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April 2009

Process
by Richard R. Zaragoza, Christine A. Reilly, and Emily J. H. Daniels
 
 At its Open Meeting today, the Commission took action to modify its ownership
report filing processes in several important respects in order to facilitate the collection and
use of data relating to minority and female ownership of broadcast stations.  As noted in
the text of the FCC’s “News Release” that follows, biennial ownership reports will no longer
be filed on a staggered basis tied to the anniversary renewal filing deadline.  Rather,
biennial ownership reports for all filers nationwide will now be due by November 1, 2009
and every two years thereafter.  In addition, the class of biennial filers has been broadened
to include Class A television and LPTV stations, as well as individuals and partnerships of
natural persons who hold licenses for full-power radio stations and full-power, Class A and
LPTV television stations.  Because the text of the Order is not yet available, the effective
date of the new requirements is not yet known.  As you will note below, the Commission
has also launched a Notice of Proposed Rule Making proceeding looking toward changing
ownership reporting processes for noncommercial, educational stations.  Because the text
of the Notice is not yet available, the comment and reply comment deadlines are not yet
known.  Once the text of the Commission’s decisions have been released, we will publish a
further Advisory.      
 
FCC TAKES STEPS TO IMPROVE ITS COLLECTION OF 
DATA ON MINORITY AND FEMALE BROADCAST OWNERSHIP
 
 The FCC today issued an Order and a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(FNRPM) to improve its collection of data on minority and female broadcast ownership to
be able to more accurately assess and effectively promote diversity of ownership in the
broadcast industry. 
 
 In its Order, the Commission adopted changes to reporting requirements on FCC
Form 323, “Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations,” which is currently filed
by certain full power commercial AM, FM and television broadcasters to identify their
organizational and ownership structures and to provide information on owners’ race,
ethnicity, and gender. 
 
 In so doing, the Commission addressed and corrected deficiencies in its data-
gathering methods that were identified by the U.S. Government Accountability Office,
researchers, and commenters.  The Order stated, “Currently the Commission does not
possess reliable data on the precise status of minority and female ownership – data that we
Communications
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will need to establish and maintain effective policies over time that the courts will insist
upon if the Commission chooses to pursue more race- or gender-based approaches.”
 
 Changes to the FCC Form 323 reporting requirement include:
 
• Removing the filing exemptions currently applicable to full-power commercial
stations owned by individuals or partnerships of natural persons.  The Order
explains that excluding these categories of licensees overlooks a potentially
significant group of minority and female owners and prevents the FCC from
obtaining information resulting from ownership changes that do not require prior
FCC approval. 
 
• Adding LPTV and Class A television stations to the class of stations required to file
ownership information on Form 323. The Order stated, “We conclude that collecting
minority and female ownership data for these stations is essential if we are not to
overlook a potentially substantial reservoir of minority and female owners of
broadcast facilities, and we believe the benefits of collecting this information
outweigh any additional filing burdens imposed on these stations.” 
 
• Broadening the scope of reportable interests to include not only all interests in the
licensee that are attributable but also minority interests in a corporation with a
single majority shareholder and interests in an eligible entity that would otherwise
be attributable but for the operation of the higher Equity/Debt Plus attribution
threshold applicable to financial interests in eligible entities.  
 
The Order does not affect the Commission’s attribution rules, which continue in effect
unchanged, but merely requires that certain non-attributable interests be reported on the
Form 323 to ensure that the Commission’s data on minority and female ownership are
complete. This information will allow the Commission and others to assess whether
nonattributable interests could be a source of attributable minority and female ownership in
the future.
 
• Setting a uniform biennial filing date for stations filing ownership information on
Form 323. The Order established November 1, 2009, as the first uniform filing date
for all filers, and every two years thereafter. Data must be current as of October 1. 
 
• Improving data retrieval by modifying reporting procedures so that ownership data
can be incorporated into the FCC database, can be searchable, and can be
aggregated and cross-referenced electronically.
 
• Authorizing Media Bureau random audits to ensure the accuracy of the reports.
    
 The Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asks for comment on potential
changes to the Ownership Report filed by non-commercial licensees of AM, FM and TV
broadcast stations, FCC Form 323-E, which currently does not ask gender, race, or
ethnicity questions. The FNRPM also asks whether the Commission should collect similar
information from Low Power FM licensees: Specifically, the FNRPM asks for comments on:
 
• Requiring non-commercial licensees to include gender and racial/ethnic information
on FCC Form 323-E.    
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• Requiring Low Power FM licensees and permittees, who are currently exempt from
filing Form 323-E, to begin filing the reports. 
 
• How to define ownership, including minority and/or female ownership, in the
noncommercial context.  It asks what kind of information should be reported for
non-commercial educational broadcast licensees that are non-profit, non-stock
entities, or governmental organizations controlled by governing boards or trustees
who do not have a financial stake in the licensee organization. 
 
• Whether the uniform biennial filing date adopted for commercial filers of Form 323
should be applied for non-commercial filers of Form 323-E.
 
• How to minimize any potential reporting and recordkeeping burdens on non-
commercial licensees that could occur through the expanded reporting
requirements.
 
Action by the Commission April 8, 2009 by Report and Order and by Fourth Further Notice
of Proposed Rule Making (FCC 09-33).  Acting Chairman Copps, Commissioners Adelstein
and McDowell with Acting Chairman Copps, Commissions Adelstein and McDowell issuing
separate statements.
 
 
For further information, please contact:
Richard R. Zaragoza
Washington, D.C.
+1.202.663.8266
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Christine A. Reilly
Washington, D.C.
+1.202.663.8245
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Emily J. H. Daniels
Washington, D.C.
+1.202.663.9378
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T
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informed of current legal developments that may affect or otherwise be of interest to them. The comments contained herein
do not constitute legal opinion and should not be regarded as a substitute for legal advice. 
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