Stations urged to report 2017 public service efforts

posted on 1.08.2018

-Radio online public file webinar archived for viewing

Jan. 12 is the new deadline for stations to complete TAB’s 2017 Public Service Research Project survey online after a technical snafu prevented us from sending two reminders in mid and late December. Stations’ survey responses are invaluable to TAB’s ability to demonstrate to state and federal policymakers the depth and breadth of the good work stations provide local communities and how broadcasters are unique in the media marketplace.

Complete 2017 TAB Public Service Research Project Survey

The survey link above provides instructions on what information you’ll need to have at the ready before starting. Begun in 1998, the research project has documented well more than $5 BILLION in funds contributed or raised by Radio and TV stations throughout the state to support disaster relief, local schools and hospitals, college scholarships, disease prevention and awareness and a wide range of other topics.

Radio’s online public file migration: March 1
For Radio stations in markets 51 and higher, March 1 is the deadline to transfer paper files online at the FCC. TAB’s Nov. 15 webinar has been archived for members who missed it or need a refresher.

View TAB Webinar: Moving the Radio Public Inspection File Online

The program was presented by TAB’s FCC legal counsel, Lauren Lynch Flick and Scott Flick with the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman law firm. They urged stations not to wait until the last week to complete the process.

Every full power station must maintain its own public inspection file, regardless of the content of its programming, e.g., simulcasting, notes Scott Flick in response to one TAB member’s question.

The FCC has not established a system for easily moving content from one station’s public file to another’s, but typically the time-consuming step is scanning the document. Uploading the PDF to two different files is the easier step. And because the FCC uploads much of the content itself, a licensee doesn’t need to upload every document that will be in the file, making the task less daunting that it might seem initially.

Questions regarding the transition can be sent to TAB’s Michael Schneider.

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