TAB REMINDER: FCC’s Biennial Ownership Reporting Requirement is Paused Until 2027

posted on 11.24.2025

Typically, Texas broadcasters would be preparing in the latter part of November to file their biennial ownership reports which are typically due Dec. 1, but that required filing will not be happening this year.

TAB reminds stations that the FCC announced in July that it was suspending its required filing of Biennial Ownership Reports, FCC Form 323 or 323-E, for a period of 18 months. 

The commission set a new filing deadline of “June 1, 2027, or until further notice, whichever comes first.”

The reports are normally due by December 1 of odd-numbered years (like 2025) and report a broadcaster’s ownership as it existed on October 1 of that year.

TAB and other state broadcast associations, as well as the NAB, filed comments about the onerous nature of filing certain FCC reports as part of the FCC’s recent Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding.

“Multiple commenters have urged the Commission to revisit the current biennial ownership filing requirement, which they maintain is a costly and burdensome requirement without a sufficient offsetting public benefit,” said the FCC in its July 29 public notice.

Scott Flick, TAB’s FCC legal counsel with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman noted earlier this year that the “waiver does not affect the requirement that broadcasters file Ownership Reports after each station assignment or transfer, as well as after grants of initial construction permits and license.”  

Questions? Contact TAB’s Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.

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