TV, Class A, AM & FM Stations (commercial & noncommercial): Deadline to complete and upload to online public file the 2^nd Quarter 2026 issues/program lists and any foreign sponsorship identification reports

Class A TV Stations Only: Deadline to complete and post to your online public file the 2^nd Quarter 2026 certification of ongoing Class A eligibility

Noncommercial Broadcast Stations: Deadline to complete and post to your online public file the 2^nd   Quarter 2026 report for any 3^rd Party Fundraising conducted during the quarter

LPFM, FM translator and FM Booster Stations: Minor modification filing freeze begins and will continue until 6p ET on August 25, 2026

August 1, 2026

Radio and TV Stations located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin and California: if five (5) full time employee threshold is met, prepare EEO public file report covering the period from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026, upload it to the station online public inspection file and post it on the station website

Mid-Term EEO Reviews for Radio stations have ended because all radio stations are now beyond the mid-point of their current 8-year license renewal term. License renewal applications for radio stations in the District of Colombia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia will be due in one year on June 1, 2027

Mid-Term EEO Review for Television stations located in California: if station employment unit has five (5) or more full-time employees, an independent mid-term EEO review of the station’s last two EEO public file reports by the FCC will occur in connection with your upload of the 2025-26 EEO public file report due August 1.  By uploading an EEO public file report, the FCC automatically knows that the television station meets the 5 or more full-time employee threshold for a mid-term review. So unlike for radio, there is no OPIF mechanism available or needed for TV stations to specify the number of SEU employees

August 11, 2026

Noncommercial FM Translator filing window opens at 12:01 am ET.

August 25, 2026

Noncommercial FM Translator filing window closes at 6p ET.

A news release summarized the action, and the Order itself provides important details. While most broadcast stations are already following prudent practices to protect EAS equipment, each station should now determine whether current practices are already compliant or need to be modified.

Under the new rule, EAS Participants are required to employ the following security controls with respect to EAS equipment, studio transmitter link equipment, and any remotely managed equipment that routes, processes, or inserts content into the transmission of the EAS Participant’s programming:

(1) Prior to any use to broadcast to the public, EAS Participants must change any default password, use strong passwords, and change any password if the EAS Participant has reason to believe that the password has been compromised. A strong password is any password that has a minimum of 15 characters and does not use dictionary words. Instead of using a strong password, EAS Participants may use alternative authentication measures, such as look-up secrets, out-of-band devices, single- or multi-factor one-time password devices, or single- or multi-factor cryptographic authentication, that are reasonably sufficient to mitigate the risk of unauthorized access. Passwords employed to comply with this requirement may not be reused for the EAS Participant’s other accounts, equipment, applications, or services.

(2) Install security patches and security-related software and firmware updates issued by equipment manufacturers promptly after those patches or upgrades become available. Security patches and security related software and firmware updates issued by equipment manufacturers may be tested before they are installed, provided that the testing begins promptly and is completed in a timeframe that is consistent with industry best practices.

(3) Use a network firewall or comparable network segmentation practice that limits remote management access to authorized devices and authorized users.

The effective date of the new rule will probably be in September.

Applications filed during the window must be electronically submitted in LMS using the Form 2100, Schedule 349 FM translator construction permit application, which will first become available on July 1, 2026.  The Notice and application instructions will govern application completion requirements.

To qualify for filing window participation, applicants must already be licensee of the proposed FM translator’s primary station and may only have attributable interests in 10 applications filed in the window.  Applications filed during the window will not be visible to other applicants until the end of the filing window, which will avoid predatory filings. Because the authorizations are noncommercial, there is no application filing fee.

FM translator applications proposing a 1 mV/m coverage contour entirely within the protected contour of its NCE primary station will be prioritized and granted over any other conflicting application that extends beyond the protected contour of its primary station.  For all other applications that conflict with/or mutually exclusive with other applications proposing the same service (i.e., ‘fill-in’ or ‘non-fill-in’) the FCC will use a points system and tiebreakers to determine who will be awarded the permit.

The point system is the same one used for full power NCE FM radio stations.  A total of 7 points may be awarded – 3 points for an established local applicant, 2 points for diversity of ownership or state-wide network, and up to two points for technical superiority.  Tie-breakers are applied sequentially using existing radio station authorizations, then number of pending radio station applications, and then first-filed applications.  All claimed points must be supported by documentation submitted with the application or the claimed points will not be awarded.

Any permits granted in the window will be subject to a 4-year holding period prohibiting a change in primary station or a sale of the translator without the primary station.

The FCC is implementing a limited filing freeze beginning July 10, 2026 on all LPFM, FM translator and FM booster station minor mod applications, which will continue through the close of the filing window.  So, if you were thinking of filing to modify an existing LPFM, FM translator or FM booster station, the clock is ticking.

A total of 132 construction permits will be included in the auction. You can review a list of the permits here, including preliminary upfront bidding amounts. Some of the permits were included in prior auctions but received no bids. The upfront bidding amounts for those permits have been lowered in the proposed rulemaking for Auction 114.

There are a few proposed tweaks to the auction bidding rules, including a proposal not to make applicant upfront bidding credit amounts public or the name of the highest bidder after each bidding round. Those changes will limit bidding activity which may be intended to block a particular applicant or make a known bidder’s effort to obtain a permit more expensive.

The FCC has responded to the Bridge News renewal applications and the ABC/Disney renewal application filings by issuing public notices accepting the applications for filing and setting pleading deadlines for petitions to deny the applications, as well as announcing that it will treat the proceedings under the “permit but disclose” rules.  For both the Bridge News and ABC/Disney applications, petitions to deny must be filed by June 29, 2026, with oppositions due by July 29, 2026 and replies by August 5^th.

Radio and TV Stations located in Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Maryland, the District of Colombia, Virginia and West Virginia:  if five (5) full time employee threshold is met, prepare EEO public file report covering the period from June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026, upload it to the station online public inspection file and post it on the station website

Mid-Term EEO Reviews for Radio stations have ended because all radio stations are now beyond the mid-point of their current 8-year license renewal term. License renewal applications for radio stations in the District of Colombia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia will be due in one year on June 1, 2027

Mid-Term EEO Review for Television stations located in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming: if station employment unit has five (5) or more full-time employees, an independent mid-term EEO review of the station’s last two EEO public file reports by the FCC will occur in connection with your upload of the 2025-26 EEO public file report due June 1.  By uploading an EEO public file report, the FCC automatically knows that the television station meets the 5 or more full-time employee threshold for a mid-term review. So unlike for radio, there is no OPIF mechanism available or needed for TV stations to specify the number of SEU employees

June 7, 2026

Effective date for new FCC foreign sponsorship identification compliance requirements allowing certifications via FCC-provided template in Appendix C of its Report & Order or programmer provided screen-shots, and broadening the scope to include paid issue advertising or PSAs, but the technical requirement for foreign sponsorship inquiries and certifications is suspended for two years or until further notice. However, if a broadcaster knows that an issue ad or PSA is foreign-sponsored, the disclosure and certification rules must be followed. The rule applies to all commercial broadcasters

June 22, 2026

Deadline to file comments on ABC/Disney’s Petition for Declaratory Ruling on whether The View is a bona fide news interview program making political candidate appearances exempt from equal time requests by opposing candidates

July 10, 2026

TV, Class A, AM & FM Stations (commercial & noncommercial): deadline to complete and upload to online public file the 2^nd Quarter 2026 issues/program lists and any foreign sponsorship identification reports

Class A TV Stations Only: deadline to complete and post to your online public file the 2^nd Quarter 2026 certification of ongoing Class A eligibility

Noncommercial Broadcast Stations:  deadline to complete and post to your online public file the 2^nd   Quarter 2026 report for any 3^rd Party Fundraising conducted during the quarter

One of those TV station group owners, Bridge News, LLC, filed a May 19th petition for reconsideration of the FCC’s April 27^th order, refusing to file renewal applications by the specified deadline. The filing argues that the directive to file early license renewal applications is unprecedented and unwarranted since no additional information is needed for the FCC to investigate their unauthorized transfers of control, which were admitted, and the parties were already negotiating a consent decree to resolve the matter. In addition, Bridge News argues that ordering early license renewals is not delegated to the FCC’s Media Bureau and was therefore improper.  It is not clear how or when the Media Bureau will respond.

Disney/ABC responded differently to the FCC’s separate April Order requiring it to file early renewal applications for its eight owned television stations as part of an ongoing investigation.  On May 28, 2026, it filed renewal applications for all eight stations “under protest” calling the early renewal order “inconsistent with a legitimate exercise of investigative authority” and “plainly incompatible with the First Amendment.”  Chairman Carr responded on social media, pointing to the FCC’s ongoing investigation about ABC/Disney’s alleged discriminatory use of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in hiring as the basis for the order.

On the heels of ordering early license renewals as detailed in our article above, the FCC published a 6-page “reminder” to broadcasters that they are statutorily required to serve their local communities in the “public interest” because unlike other media, they use public spectrum that comes with a public interest mandate.

In our view, every broadcaster should read the reminder, which provides the legal basis for the FCC’s application of the public interest standard through its adopted rules and application processes. Among other things, it pointedly cites to the Communications Act to note its requirement that renewal applications shall be granted only “if, among other requirements, the FCC finds that during the prior license term “the station has served the public interest, convenience, and necessity.”

The reminder also cites to the Communications Act language for transfer and assignment applications that “no station license shall be transferred or assigned except upon application and a finding by the Commission “that the public interest, convenience, and necessity will be served thereby.”

These types of “reminders” are not unusual per se, as the FCC routinely issues broad reminders to broadcast licensees of various obligations.  But the timing of this reminder in the wake of the early license renewal orders appears to be somewhat of a “response” – even if ultimately an educational one — to recent criticisms from Congress and broadcast associations about the early renewal orders.  Reasons aside, with regularly scheduled license renewal filings beginning next year for radio, now is a good time to review the ways that the FCC verifies whether stations have operated in the public interest, and be sure your station is compliant.

As for the revised rule’s applicability to the paid issue advertisements and public service announcements, a May 26^th public notice makes clear that unless a station knows that such ads or PSAs are foreign-sponsored, in which case on-air and public file disclosures are required, the FCC is suspending the rule’s technical requirements for paid issue ads and PSAs for two years or until further notice while it evaluates the costs and burdens of compliance to ensure an offsetting public benefit. This means that stations will not have to immediately begin getting certifications from all issue advertisers and PSA providers.

ABC/Disney has now filed just such a petition for declaratory ruling about its daytime news magazine/talk show “The View,” arguing first that the FCC declared the program exempt years ago, and lambasting the FCC’s new guidance as a violation of the First Amendment.  In response, the FCC issued a public notice seeking comment on the petition, with comments due June 22. The notice casts the broadcast political candidate access rules as reflecting Congress’ intent for broadcast stations to operate in the public interest, with the rules having limited exceptions subject to interpretation by the FCC.

While the FCC’s new guidance did not explicitly apply its new interpretation to radio talk shows, and Chairman Carr seemed to indicate later in public comments that radio shows were not implicated, radio stations should be following these proceedings carefully for any outcome. As a reminder, any legally qualified candidate appearance on broadcast stations triggers the right of other candidates to request, within 7 days of the appearance, equal time for their own appearance. In response to such a request, stations must then provide comparable time opportunities.  However, there are some exceptions, including when a candidate appears on a bona fide news or news interview program (that meets the criteria in the new guidance).