License Renewal Tidbits

When completing or reviewing your station’s license renewal application before filing it, be absolutely certain that the certifications being answered are accurate.  The FCC has detailed instructions that help stations understand the scope and meaning of the renewal certifications.  The radio station instructions are here, and the TV station instructions are here.

If a station cannot answer “yes” to a certification, it should explain the reason in an exhibit and fully disclose the issue.  A false certification leads to more problems, and can jeopardize a station’s license.  A “no” certification is uncomfortable, but leads to forgiveness and preserves the station license.  In the age of transparency and online public files with detailed information related to a station’s compliance, now is not the time to guess at or use a “close enough” approach to completing the certifications.

Finally, for commercial stations that must pay a renewal application filing fee, LMS is not always showing a fee due button on the screen that appears just after submitting the application.  If the fee is not paid, LMS will sometimes generate a reminder to pay before the 14^th day after filing.  If the fee is not paid by then, the application will be dismissed.  Best practice:  After submitting the renewal application, scroll down on the screen that appears, select the “Submitted Applications” button, and on the next page that appears, click on the “Submitted” tab.  There, if a fee is due, a small orange rectangle will appear.  Click on it and you’ll be taken to the fee payment page to remit the fee.