Promoting Diversification of Ownership in Broadcast Services, 56136-56137 [E9-26198]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 209 (Friday, October 30, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56136-56137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26198]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 73 and 74

[MB Docket Nos. 07-294, 06-121, 02-277, 04-228; MM Docket Nos. 01-235, 
01-317, 00-244; FCC 09-33]


Promoting Diversification of Ownership in Broadcast Services

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, 
the information collection, FCC Form 323, associated with 47 CFR 
Sections 73.6026 and 74.797. Therefore, these rules and FCC Form 323 
will take effect on October 30, 2009. The Commission published summary 
documents of Report and Order, In the Matter of Promoting 
Diversification of Ownership in the Broadcasting Services in MB Docket 
Nos. 07-294, 06-121, 02-277, 04-228; MM Docket Nos. 01-235, 01-317, 00-
244; FCC 09-33 on May 27, 2009. The published summary document of the 
Report and Order stated that the information collection requirements 
required approval by OMB and that the FCC will publish a document in 
the Federal Register announcing the effective date. The Commission 
subsequently received OMB approval. This notification is consistent 
with that statement in the summary document, published May 27, 2009. 47 
CFR 73.3615 was also included in the Report and Order. However, the 
Commission issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order which revised that 
rule section. A notice announcing the effective date of that rule 
section is published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

DATES: The amendments to 47 CFR 73.6026 and 74.797 and FCC Form 323 
published May 27, 2009, 74 FR 25163, are effective on October 30, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, please 
contact Cathy Williams, cathy.williams@fcc.gov or on (202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on October 19, 
2009, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information 
collection, FCC Form 323, associated with Sections 73.6026 and 74.797 
of the FCC rules. The Commission publishes this notice to announce the 
effective date of these rules and Form 323.

Synopsis

    As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507), the Commission is notifying the public that it received OMB 
approval on October 19, 2009, for the information collection, FCC Form 
323, associated with 47 CFR Sections 73.6026 and 74.797. Under 5 CFR 
1320, an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless it displays a current, valid OMB Control Number.
    No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply 
with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
that does not display a valid OMB Control Number. The OMB Control 
Number is 3060-0010 and the total annual reporting burdens for 
respondents for this information collection are as follows:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0010.
    OMB Approval Date: October 19, 2009.
    Expiration Date: October 31, 2012.
    Title: Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations.
    Form Number: FCC Form 323.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Not-for-profit 
institutions; State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Number of Respondents/Responses: 9,250 respondents; 9,250 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2.5 hours to 4.5 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; On occasion 
reporting requirement; Biennial reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 38,125 hours.

[[Page 56137]]

    Total Annual Costs: $26,940,000.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 
Sections 154(i), 303 and 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Form 323 collects two types 
of information (among others) from respondents: (a) Personal 
information in the form of names, addresses, job titles and demographic 
information; and (b) FCC Registration Numbers (FRNs). Confidentiality 
is an issue to the extent that individuals provide personally 
identifiable information which will be covered under the FCC's pending 
system of records (SORN), FCC/MB-1, ``Ownership Report for Commercial 
Broadcast Stations.'' FRNs are covered under FCC's system of records 
(SORN), FCC/OMD-9, ``Commission Registration System (CORES).''
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: This information collection contains 
personally identifiable information on individuals (``PII'').
    (a) As noted above, the FCC is in the process of establishing a 
System of Records, FCC/MB-1, ``Ownership Report for Commercial 
Broadcast Stations,'' to cover the collection, purpose(s), storage, 
safeguards, and disposal of the PII that individual respondents may 
submit on FCC Form 323.
    (b) The SORN will be published in the Federal Register at a 
subsequent date.

Needs and Uses

    On April 8, 2009, the Commission adopted a Report and Order and 
Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in MB Docket Nos. 07-294, 
06-121, 02-277, 01-235, 01-317, 00-244, 04-228; FCC 09-33; 24 FCC Rcd 
5896 (2009). The 323 Order directs the Commission to revise Form 323 to 
improve the quality of the data collected in order to obtain an 
accurate, reliable, and comprehensive assessment of minority and female 
broadcast ownership in the United States. Specifically, the Commission 
changed the biennial reporting requirements on Form 323 so that there 
is a uniform filing date; broadened the biennial reporting requirements 
to include commercial broadcast licensees that are sole proprietorships 
and partnerships comprised of natural persons; expanded the class of 
persons and entities that must file to include low power television 
stations (``LPTV'') licensees, including Class A stations; and provided 
that the form should be electronically searchable and that there should 
be edit checks built in. The Commission also adopted changes requiring 
certain non-attributable interests to be reported on biennially-filed 
Form 323s.
    On October 16, 2009, the Commission adopted a Reconsideration Order 
in response to a Petition for Reconsideration filed by the National 
Association of Broadcasters. In re Promoting Diversification of 
Ownership in the Broadcasting Services, Memorandum Opinion and Order 
and Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in MB Docket Nos. 07-
294, 06-121, 02-277, 01-235, 01-317, 00-244, 04-228; FCC 09-92 (Rel. 
Oct. 16, 2009). The Reconsideration Order eliminates the requirement 
that certain non-attributable interests (voting stock interests that 
would be attributable but for the operation of the single majority 
shareholder attribution exemption and equity and/or debt interests that 
would be attributable but for the exemption for certain investments in 
eligible entities) must be reported on biennially-filed Form 323s. The 
Commission agreed that it was advisable to invite additional comment 
from the public on requiring reporting of these nonattributable 
interests and issued a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
inviting such further comment.
    Consistent with actions taken by the Commission described above, 
the following changes are made to Form 323: The Instructions and 
questions in all sections of the form have been significantly revised. 
The instructions to Form 323 have been revised to incorporate a 
definition of ``eligible entity,'' which will apply to the Commission's 
existing Equity Debt Plus (``EDP'') standard, one of the standards used 
to determine whether interests in a media entity are attributable. The 
instructions to Form 323 have also been revised slightly to provide 
updated citations to the Commission's applicable rules governing media 
ownership. The instructions for Section I have been revised to state 
the Commission's revised Biennial filing requirements adopted in the 
323 Order. Many questions on the form have been reworked or reordered 
in order to (1) clarify the information sought in the form; (2) 
simplify completion of the form by giving respondents menu-style or 
checkbox-style options to select rather than submit a separate 
narrative exhibit; and (3) make the data collected on the form more 
adaptable for use in database programs used to prepare economic and 
policy studies relating to media ownership. The instructions to the 
Form have been revised to make them clearer and easier to follow by 
going question-by-question and having each instruction correspond to a 
relevant question. In addition, portions of the Form that relate only 
to non-biennial or to biennial filings separately have been placed into 
separate subsections of the Form. Respondents using the Commission's 
electronic filing system will be required to launch only the portions 
of the form that are applicable depending on the purpose of the filing 
(i.e., whether it is a biennial filing or a non-biennial filing) and 
complete only those sections.

Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
[FR Doc. E9-26198 Filed 10-29-09; 8:45 am]
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