Digital Television Stations Must File

No later than December 2, 2013, all digital full power, Class A and low power television stations must file an annual Ancillary/Supplementary Services Report on Form 317 with the FCC.  The form reports any ancillary/supplementary services provided on a station’s excess digital capacity through September 30, 2013, along with any revenue received for such services.  Five percent of the revenue received must then be remitted to the FCC.

Services that the FCC considers “ancillary/ supplementary” are things like pay-per-view television service, teletext, computer software distribution, aural messaging, paging services, or interactive materials.  Any video broadcast signal provided at no direct charge to viewers (i.e., free over-the-air) is not considered an ancillary/ supplementary service.