TAB Television Station License Renewals Webinar Today

posted on 2.07.2022

There is still time to register for today’s free, 90-minute TAB member station webinar on filing the TV station license renewal application.

The renewal filing is due at the FCC by April 1. Today’s online offering takes at 1 PM CT and station staff can register here.

Attorneys Scott Flick and Lauren Lynch Flick of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, TAB’s FCC legal counsel, will brief TAB member TV station staff on what will be required to renew the station’s license this year.

The session will review the forms that will be used such as the FCC’s license renewal Form 303-S, the FCC’s Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report Form 396, and the steps broadcasters must undertake to ensure compliance with the FCC’s rules.

For those unable to attend Wednesday, the session will be recorded and archived online.

Changes To Filing Renewals Since 2015

There have been a few changes to the license renewal process since Texas television stations last went through the renewal cycle in 2015.

Stations once were required to broadcast public notice of a license renewal application both before and after the filing of that application, but in recent years, the FCC eliminated the pre-filing broadcast public notices.

These used to occur in Texas in February and March prior to the license filing.

Stations are still required to air post-renewal filing notices, but the number and timing of the on-air announcements has been changed as has the text of the announcements themselves.

Another change?

While it is not new, broadcasters, in most cases, must have and maintain a station Online Public Inspection File (OPIF).

Last year’s Texas radio stations license renewals saw a number of FCC consent decrees related to the maintenance of the Political File component of the station OPIF.
These have arisen from certifications made in the license renewal application.

Other areas of potential concern are the station Quarterly Issues Programs reports, EEO reports including EEO outreach documentation, and station technical operations.

Don’t Forget to File Form 396 Before the License Renewal Application

Television stations should also take care to file the FCC’s Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report (FCC Form 396), before the license renewal application.

Why? There are questions related to it on the license renewal application.

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

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