Ownership Reporting 2017

Last month, we reported that NAB had filed a request with the FCC requesting that the December 1, 2017 ownership reporting deadline for all AM, FM, TV and Class A broadcast stations be delayed. Since then, we’ve heard nothing. Maybe the FCC is thinking about it. Or maybe they are scurrying about, trying to get the software added to the licensing management system to enable the filing of ownership reports there, as had been planned. Or just maybe they are figuring out how best to cook the crow that they may have to eat if they rush to implement systems and migrate information and the whole thing goes south. Being from Louisiana and all, we know how to cook (and season) most things so they’re really tasty, but no one from the FCC has contacted us for advice.

Amidst all this silence, you should plan on being ready to file biennial ownership reports this fall. The earliest that will be possible is October 1, 2017, and stations will have until December 1, 2017 to complete these filings. And if you’re a commercial station, and your officers, directors, shareholders, members, or other attributable individuals or entities do not yet have an FCC Registration Number, they’re required to get one and use it on the ownership report.