FCC Permanently Eliminates Pre-Filing License Renewal Announcements
Posted on May 29th, 2020 by adminBeginning with stations filing renewal applications in August 2020, the FCC has permanently eliminated any requirement for stations to broadcast pre-filing announcements about those applications. August 2020 renewal stations would have had to begin airing such announcements on June 1, and broadcast a total of four. The FCC had previously excused stations filing June 1, 2020 renewal applications from having to air pre-filing announcements.
As a result, no broadcast stations filing for license renewal will ever again have to make any announcement in advance of their renewal application filing. The elimination of this requirement comes in connection with a broader FCC Order (summarized in the next article) that revamps the rule requiring local public notices for certain broadcast applications.
Post-filing announcements will still have to be made, but the format, timing and certification of those on-air announcements will be different.