Expansion of Online Public File Obligations to Cable and Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees, 10105-10126 [2016-04117]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 39 / Monday, February 29, 2016 / Rules and Regulations
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) (RFA) requires
agencies to prepare a final regulatory
flexibility analysis to describe the
impact of the final rule on small
entities, unless the head of the agency
can certify that the rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The Act generally defines a ‘‘small
entity’’ as (1) a proprietary firm meeting
the size standards of the Small Business
Administration (SBA); (2) a not-forprofit organization that is not dominant
in its field; or (3) a small government
jurisdiction with a population of less
than 50,000. Individuals and states are
not included in the definition of a small
entity. Few of the entities that meet the
definition of a small entity as that term
is used in the RFA would be impacted
directly by this methodology.
Because this methodology is focused
solely on Federal BHP payment rates to
states, it does not contain provisions
that would have a direct impact on
hospitals, physicians, and other health
care providers that are designated as
small entities under the RFA.
Accordingly, we have determined that
the methodology, like the previous
methodology and the final rule that
established the BHP program, will not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
Section 1102(b) of the Act requires us
to prepare a regulatory impact analysis
if a methodology may have a significant
economic impact on the operations of a
substantial number of small rural
hospitals. For purposes of section
1102(b) of the Act, we define a small
rural hospital as a hospital that is
located outside of a metropolitan
statistical area and has fewer than 100
beds. For the preceding reasons, we
have determined that the methodology
will not have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small rural
hospitals.
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D. Federalism
Executive Order 13132 establishes
certain requirements that an agency
must meet when it promulgates a final
rule that imposes substantial direct
effects on states, preempts state law, or
otherwise has federalism implications.
The BHP is entirely optional for states,
and if implemented in a state, provides
access to a pool of funding that would
not otherwise be available to the state.
Accordingly, the requirements of the
Executive Order do not apply to this
final methodology notice.
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Dated: January 6, 2016.
Andrew M. Slavitt,
Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services.
Dated: February 10, 2016.
Sylvia Burwell,
Secretary, Department of Health and Human
Services.
[FR Doc. 2016–03902 Filed 2–25–16; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4120–01–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 25, 73, and 76
[MB Docket No. 14–127; FCC 16–4]
Expansion of Online Public File
Obligations to Cable and Satellite TV
Operators and Broadcast and Satellite
Radio Licensees
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
In this document, the
Commission expand the list of entities
that will be required to post their public
inspection files to the FCC’s online
database. In 2012, the Commission
adopted online public file rules that
required broadcast television stations to
post public file documents to a central,
FCC-hosted online database rather than
maintaining paper files locally at their
main studios. Our goals were to
modernize the procedures television
broadcasters use to inform the public
about how they are serving their
communities, to make information
concerning broadcast service more
accessible to the public, and, over time,
to reduce the cost of broadcasters’
compliance. This final rule document
continues our modernization effort by
expanding the online file to other media
entities to extend the benefits of
improved public access to public
inspection files and, ultimately, reduce
the burden of maintaining these files.
DATES: Effective February 29, 2016,
except for the amendments to 47 CFR
25.701, 25,702, 73.1943, 73.3526,
73.3527, 73.3580, 76.630, 76.1700,
76.1702, and 76.1709 which contain
information collection requirements that
have not been approved by OMB. The
Commission will publish a document in
the Federal Register announcing the
effective date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim
Matthews, Media Bureau, Policy
Division, 202–418–2154, or email at
kim.matthews@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Commission’s Report
SUMMARY:
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and Order, FCC 16–4, adopted on
January 28, 2016 and released on
January 29, 2016. The full text of this
document is available for public
inspection and copying during regular
business hours in the FCC Reference
Center, Federal Communications
Commission, 445 12th Street SW., Room
CY–A257, Washington, DC 20554. This
document will also be available via
ECFS at https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/.
Documents will be available
electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word,
and/or Adobe Acrobat. Alternative
formats are available for people with
disabilities (Braille, large print,
electronic files, audio format), by
sending an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or
calling the Commission’s Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202)
418–0530 (voice), (202) 418–0432
(TTY).
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
Analysis
This Report and Order contains new
or modified information collection
requirements subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).1 The
requirements will be submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review under section 3507(d)
of the PRA. OMB, the general public,
and other Federal agencies will be
invited to comment on the new or
modified information collection
requirements contained in this
proceeding. In addition, we note that
pursuant to the Small Business
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, we
previously sought specific comment on
how the Commission might further
reduce the information collection
burden for small business concerns with
fewer than 25 employees.
Summary of Report and Order
I. Introduction
1. In this Report and Order, we
expand the list of entities that will be
required to post their public inspection
files to the FCC’s online database. In
2012, the Commission adopted online
public file rules that required broadcast
television stations to post public file
documents to a central, FCC-hosted
online database rather than maintaining
paper files locally at their main studios.
Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure
Requirements for Television Broadcast
Licensee Public Interest Obligations,
Second Report and Order, 77 FR 27631,
May 11, 2012 (‘‘Second Report and
Order’’). Our goals were to modernize
the procedures television broadcasters
1 The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
Public Law 104–13, 109 Stat. 163 (1995) (codified
in Chapter 35 of title 44 U.S.C.).
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use to inform the public about how they
are serving their communities, to make
information concerning broadcast
service more accessible to the public,
and, over time, to reduce the cost of
broadcasters’ compliance. This Report
and Order continues our modernization
effort by requiring cable operators,
satellite TV (also referred to as ‘‘Direct
Broadcast Satellite’’ or ‘‘DBS’’)
providers, broadcast radio licensees,
and satellite radio (also referred to as
‘‘Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services’’
or ‘‘SDARS’’) licensees to post their
public file documents to the FCC-hosted
online database as well. By including
these services in our transition to an
online public file, we continue our
effort to harness the efficiencies made
possible by digital technology to make
public file information more readily
available to the public, while at the
same time minimizing the burden on
covered entities of maintaining the file.
2. As the Commission has stated, this
modernization of the public inspection
file is ‘‘plain common sense.’’ The
evolution of the Internet and the spread
of broadband infrastructure have
transformed the way society accesses
information today. It is no longer
reasonable to require the public to travel
to a station or headquarters’ office to
review the public file and make paper
copies when a centralized, online file
will permit review with a quick, easy,
and almost costless Internet search.
Moreover, an online file will permit
searches by the public without requiring
assistance from station or headquarters’
staff, further reducing the burden of
maintaining the public file.
3. As we proposed in the Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking in this
proceeding, Expansion of Online Public
File Obligations To Cable and Satellite
TV Operators and Broadcast and
Satellite Radio Licensees, Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, 80 FR 8031, Feb.
13, 2015 (‘‘NPRM’’), we take the same
general approach to transitioning cable,
DBS, broadcast radio, and SDARS to the
online file that the Commission took
with respect to television broadcasters,
phasing-in and otherwise tailoring the
requirements as appropriate for the
different services. We also take similar
measures to minimize the effort and
costs entities must undertake to move
their public files online. Specifically,
we require entities to upload to the
online file only those public file
documents that are not already on file
with the Commission or that the
Commission does not currently
maintain in its own database. In order
to reduce the cost of transitioning to the
online file, we follow the approach we
took with respect to television stations
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and exempt existing political file
material from the online file
requirement and require only that
political file documents be uploaded on
a going-forward basis. In order to ease
the transition to the online file for
broadcast radio stations, particularly
those with small staffs and limited
financial resources, we commence the
transition to the online file with
commercial stations in top 50 markets
with 5 or more full-time employees. We
delay for two years, until March 1, 2018,
all online file requirements for all other
radio stations. With respect to smaller
cable systems, we exempt systems with
fewer than 1,000 subscribers from all
online public file requirements given
that they are exempt from most public
file requirements. In addition, we delay
for two years, until March 1, 2018, the
requirement that cable systems with
between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers
commence uploading new political file
material to the online file.
4. With minor exceptions, we do not
adopt new or modified public
inspection file requirements in this
proceeding. Our focus is simply to adapt
our existing public file requirements to
an online format in a manner that
appropriately reflects the differences
among the services and that minimizes
the burden for all affected entities.
II. Background
5. One of a broadcaster’s fundamental
public interest obligations is to air
programming responsive to the needs
and interests of its community of
license. To ensure that stations meet
this obligation, the Commission relies
on viewers and listeners as an important
source of information about the nature
of a station’s programming, operations,
and compliance with Commission rules.
To provide the public with access to
information about station operations,
the Commission’s rules have long
required television and radio broadcast
stations to maintain a physical public
inspection file, including a political file,
at their respective stations or
headquarters and to place in the file
records that provide information about
station operations. The purpose of the
public inspection file requirement is to
‘‘make information to which the public
already has a right more readily
available, so that the public will be
encouraged to play a more active part in
dialogue with broadcast licensees.’’
6. The requirement that broadcasters
maintain documents for public
inspection dates back to 1938, when the
Commission promulgated its first
political file rule. In 1965, following
action by Congress to allow greater
public participation in the broadcast
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licensing process, the Commission
adopted a broader public inspection file
rule to enable local inspection of
broadcast applications, reports, and
related documents. The Commission
noted that Congress’ actions ‘‘zealously
guarded the rights of the general public
to be informed’’ and that the
Commission’s goal was to make
‘‘practically accessible to the public
information to which it is entitled.’’
7. Cable, DBS, and SDARS entities
also have public and political file
requirements modeled, in large part, on
the longstanding broadcast
requirements. In 1974, the Commission
adopted a public inspection file
requirement for cable, including a
requirement to retain political file
material, noting that, ‘‘[i]f the public is
to play an informed role in the
regulation of cable television, it must
have at least basic information about a
local system’s operations and
proposals.’’ The Commission also noted
that ‘‘[r]equiring cable systems to
maintain a public file merely follows
our policy for broadcast licensees and is
necessary for similar reasons’’ and that
‘‘[t]hrough greater disclosure we hope to
encourage a greater interaction between
the Commission, the public, and the
cable industry.’’ With respect to DBS
providers, the Commission adopted
public and political inspection file
requirements in 1998 in conjunction
with the imposition of certain public
interest obligations, including political
broadcasting and children’s television
requirements, on those entities. DBS
providers were required to ‘‘abide by
political file obligations similar to those
requirements placed on terrestrial
broadcasters and cable systems’’ and
were also required to maintain a public
file with records relating to other DBS
public interest obligations. Finally, the
Commission imposed equal
employment opportunity and political
broadcast requirements on SDARS
licensees in 1997, noting that the
rationale behind imposing these
requirements on broadcasters applies
also to satellite radio.
8. In 2002, Congress adopted the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
(‘‘BCRA’’) which amended the political
file requirements in section 315 of the
Communications Act of 1934. The
amendments apply to broadcast
television and radio, cable, DBS, and
SDARS. BCRA essentially codified the
Commission’s existing political file
obligations by requiring that
information regarding any request to
purchase advertising time made on
behalf of a legally qualified candidate
for public office be placed in the
political file. In addition, BCRA
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expanded political file obligations by
requiring that television, radio, cable,
DBS, and SDARS entities also place in
the political file information related to
any advertisements that discuss a
‘‘political matter of national
importance,’’ including the name of the
person or entity purchasing the time
and a list of the chief executive officers
or members of the executive committee
or of the board of directors of any such
entity.
A. Online Public File
9. In 2012, the Commission replaced
the decades-old requirement that
commercial and noncommercial
television stations maintain public files
at their main studios with a requirement
to post most of the documents in those
files to a central, online public file
hosted by the Commission. The
television online public file rules were
the culmination of a more than decadelong effort to make information
regarding how a television broadcast
station serves the public interest ‘‘easier
to understand and more accessible,’’
‘‘promote discussion between the
licensee and its community,’’ and
‘‘lessen the need for government
involvement in ensuring that a station is
meeting its public interest obligation.’’
10. Based on commenter suggestions,
in the Second Report and Order the
Commission determined that each
television station’s entire public file
would be hosted online by the
Commission. The Commission took a
number of steps to minimize the burden
of the online file on stations.
Broadcasters were required to upload
only those items required to be in the
public file but not otherwise filed with
the Commission or available on the
Commission’s Web site. Any document
or information required to be kept in the
public file and that is required to be
filed with the Commission
electronically in the Consolidated Data
Base System (‘‘CDBS’’) is imported to
the online public file and updated by
the Commission. In addition, television
stations were not required to upload
their existing political files to the online
file; rather, stations were required only
to upload new political file content on
a going-forward basis. Because of
privacy concerns, television stations
also were not required to upload letters
and emails from the public to the online
file; rather, they must continue to retain
them in a correspondence file at the
main studio.
11. In addition, to smooth the
transition for both television stations
and the Commission and to allow
smaller broadcasters additional time to
begin posting their political files online,
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the Commission phased-in the new
political file posting requirement.
Stations affiliated with the top four
national networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, and
Fox) and licensed to serve communities
in the top 50 Designated Market Areas
(‘‘DMAs’’) were required to begin
posting their political file documents
online starting August 2, 2012, but other
stations were exempted from posting
their political file documents online
until July 1, 2014. In the Second Report
and Order, the Commission also
rejected several proposals in the FNPRM
to increase public file requirements in
conjunction with implementation of the
online file. Rather, the Commission
determined that stations would be
required to place in their online files
only material that is already required to
be placed in their local files.
12. The Commission stated in the
Second Report and Order that it was
deferring consideration of whether to
adopt online posting requirements for
radio licensees and multichannel video
programming distributors (‘‘MVPDs’’)
until it had gained experience with
online posting of public files of
television broadcasters. The
Commission noted that starting the
online public file process with the much
smaller number of television licensees,
rather than with all broadcasters and
MVPDs, would ‘‘ease the initial
implementation of the online public
file.’’
B. Petition for Rulemaking and Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking
13. In July 2014, the Campaign Legal
Center, Common Cause, and the
Sunlight Foundation (collectively,
‘‘Petitioners’’ or ‘‘CLC et al.’’) filed a
joint Petition for Rulemaking requesting
that the Commission initiate a
rulemaking to expand to cable and
satellite systems the requirement that
public and political file documents be
posted to the FCC’s online database. The
Petitioners argued that cable and
satellite services have increasingly
become outlets for political advertising
and that the ability of satellite television
providers to sell household-specific
‘‘addressable advertising’’ would likely
accelerate that trend. Petitioners
asserted that moving the television
public file online has resulted in
‘‘unquestionably substantial’’ public
benefits, which would also occur if
cable and satellite systems were
required to upload their public and
political files online. In addition,
Petitioners argued that television
broadcasters experienced few problems
moving to the online file, and cable and
satellite systems would also likely not
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be burdened by the online filing
requirement.
14. On August 7, 2014, the Media
Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking
comment on the Petition for Rulemaking
and, in addition, on whether it should
initiate a rulemaking to expand online
public file obligations to broadcast radio
stations. See Public Notice, Commission
Seeks Comment on Petition for
Rulemaking Filed by the Campaign
Legal Center, Common Cause, and the
Sunlight Foundation Seeking Expansion
of Online Public File Obligations to
Cable and Satellite TV Operators,
Bureau Also Seeks Comment on
Expanding Online Public File
Obligations to Radio Licensees, 79 FR
51136, August 27, 2014 (‘‘Public
Notice’’). After reviewing the comments
filed in response to the Public Notice,
the Commission issued the NPRM in
this proceeding proposing to expand the
online file to cable operators, DBS
providers, and broadcast and satellite
radio licensees.
III. Discussion
15. The rules we adopt today will
modernize the outdated procedures for
providing public access to cable, DBS,
broadcast radio, and SDARS public files
in a manner that avoids imposing
unnecessary burdens on these entities.
By taking advantage of the efficiencies
made possible by digital technology, we
will make information that cable, DBS,
and broadcast and satellite radio
licensees are already required to make
publicly available more accessible while
also reducing costs both for the
government and the private sector. The
Internet is an effective, low-cost means
of maintaining contact with, and
distributing information to, viewers and
listeners. Placing the public file online
will permit 24-hour access from any
location, thereby improving access to
information about how cable, satellite,
broadcast radio, and SDARS entities are
serving their communities and meeting
their public interest obligations.
Maintaining this information online will
also either eliminate or substantially
reduce the number of public visits to
stations or headquarters offices to view
public file material, reducing the burden
on staff who would otherwise have to
assist during these visits and enabling
entities to improve security and
minimize risks to employees. As the
Commission has stated previously, the
public benefits of posting public file
information online, while difficult to
quantify with exactitude, are
unquestionably substantial.
16. Expansion of the online public file
to cover more services is particularly
important with respect to improving
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access to political files. While broadcast
television remains the dominant
medium for political advertising, the
quantity of such advertising on cable
and satellite television continues to
increase, and the advent of
technological advances such as
addressable advertising is likely to
further this trend. Political advertising
on radio is also on the rise. Adding
cable, satellite TV, and broadcast and
satellite radio political file material to
the existing online file database will
facilitate public access to disclosure
records for all these services and allow
the public to view and analyze political
advertising expenditures more easily in
each market as well as nationwide.
17. Similar to the approach we took
to transitioning television stations to the
online file, we take steps here to
minimize the effort and cost that all
entities must undertake to move their
public files online. Entities will be
required to upload to the online file
only documents that are not already on
file with the Commission or that the
Commission maintains in its own
database. Any document or information
required both to be kept in the public
file and to be filed with the Commission
electronically in Commission databases
such as CDBS or the Cable Operations
and Licensing System (‘‘COALS’’)
database will be imported to the online
public file and updated by the
Commission. In addition, entities being
added to the online file will not be
required to upload their existing
political files to the online file; rather,
they will be required only to upload
new political file content on a goingforward basis. We note that the size of
the political file likely correlates with
an entity’s political advertising
revenues. Accordingly, entities with
little or no political advertising
revenues will likely have few
obligations under our rules, while
entities with more documents in their
political files will likely also have
greater political advertising revenues.
18. Some commenters responding to
the NPRM argue that the goal of the
public inspection file requirements is to
make documents available to members
of the public in the station’s community
of license and that requiring these
documents to be placed online will
encourage the filing of complaints by
individuals unconnected to the local
community. While we agree that the
public file is first and foremost a tool for
community members, it is also a tool for
the larger media policy community.
Easy access to public file information
will also assist the Commission,
Congress, and researchers as they
fashion public policy recommendations
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relating to media issues. For this reason,
we also reject the suggestion of NAB
that the Commission focus its
enforcement efforts on complaints
submitted by actual viewers and
listeners about the public files of their
local stations and decline to consider
public file complaints from entities
unrelated to the licensee’s local
community. The Commission will
consider and fairly evaluate any
complaint related to our public
inspection file rules. Our primary goal,
however, is to improve access to public
information file material.
A. Online File Capacity and Technical
Issues
19. The Commission has taken a
number of steps to ensure that the
online file will be capable of
accommodating the significant increase
in network traffic as well as the volume
of public file material that will result
from the expansion of online filing
requirements. We recognize that adding
cable, DBS, broadcast radio, and SDARS
to the online file will greatly increase
the number of users of the file and the
volume of material that must be
uploaded. We also recognize that there
is likely to be a heavy demand on the
online file during certain filing
windows and in peak political seasons,
when many broadcast stations take new
advertising orders and modify existing
orders on a daily basis. The
improvements we have made to the
operation of the online file will facilitate
use of the database by members of the
public as well as by the entities required
to maintain an online file, including
existing TV station users.
20. Technical improvements to the
online file. The Commission has made
several technical improvements to the
online file database. First, the
Commission has finished the transition
to cloud-based computing solutions for
purposes of managing the online public
file database. Cloud computing
technology will not only ensure that we
maintain sufficient capacity to store the
increased number of public file
materials in the database, it will also
permit us to increase network capacity
during times of high demand to relieve
network congestion and avoid delays or
backups in uploading documents to the
database. As the Commission stated in
the Second Report and Order, cloudbased computing will permit the
Commission to implement an online
public file that is highly available,
scalable, and eliminates user wait times
associated with processing documents
after upload. Second, as requested by
NCTA, the Commission has added to
the database the ability to place a
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document in multiple files using a
single upload. This functionality should
greatly facilitate maintenance of the
online file, especially for cable operators
or station group owners that place
similar documents in the public file for
multiple cable systems or broadcast
stations. Third, when entities move a
document from one folder to another in
the online file, the database will now
display both the date the document was
first uploaded to the online file as well
as the date it was moved to a different
online file location. This will permit
entities to move files within the online
file if, for example, the file was initially
placed in the wrong folder or the entity
is creating new or different subfolders
for purposes of improving the
organization of the file, while
maintaining a record of the date the
document was first uploaded to the
online file. Fourth, the database now
will permit entities easily to delete files
and empty folders when documents in
the file are past their retention period or
the entity wishes to delete them for
another reason. Entities will be able to
select one or more files and/or folders
for deletion at one time, permitting
them to efficiently remove documents
from the online file.
21. Finally, as advocated by a number
of commenters, the Commission has
completed the development and
implementation of an application
programming interface (‘‘API’’) that can
connect the online file database to thirdparty web hosting services and that will
permit such services to efficiently load
documents into the online file on behalf
of client broadcast stations and other
entities. We recognize that third-party
web hosting services may offer valuable
assistance to entities in uploading
documents to the online file and
otherwise maintaining the file,
particularly smaller entities that may
choose to outsource this effort because
of cost savings and other resource
constraints. The Media Bureau and the
Office of the Managing Director will
provide further information about the
API in the near future and will conduct
one or more demonstrations. The API
library will also be made available for
testing by covered entities and their
third-party service providers prior to the
effective date of the online filing
requirements adopted in this
proceeding. While we recognize the
benefits that web hosting services may
provide in assisting entities in
uploading materials to the online file,
we emphasize that each entity remains
responsible for ensuring that its own
online public file is complete. While
entities are free to enter into contractual
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arrangements with third parties to
upload information into the online file,
and to require as part of those
arrangements that the third party ensure
compliance with the FCC’s rules, we
decline to relieve entities of their
responsibility to ensure that their own
online public file is complete and
otherwise complies with our rules.
While we decline to provide a safe
harbor for entities that choose to engage
a third party to assist with the online
file, we note that our primary goal in
this proceeding is to improve access to
public file information. Our
enforcement efforts initially will be
focused on ensuring that entities
understand and comply with the online
file requirements adopted herein, rather
than on imposing fines for minor
failures to comply with the rules,
particularly during the period when
entities being added to the online file
are becoming familiar with online filing.
22. Links to other Web sites. With the
exception of the channel lineup
information that cable systems must
retain in the online file, we will not
permit entities to provide a link in the
online file to an alternative online
location where political file or other
public file material may be maintained
in lieu of uploading documents to the
Commission’s database. The
Commission’s online file database is
intended to serve as a single source of
public file material for entities required
to use the file, and not as a collection
of links to other Web sites. The online
database is organized with folders and
subfolders that provide a consistent
display of public file material for
entities in each service. Members of the
public who access the online file will be
able to locate documents more easily if
they are organized in a similar manner
for each service. We agree with CLC et
al. that allowing entities to substitute a
link to another Web site, which may
follow a different organizational
structure, instead of uploading
documents to the online file, would
likely make the file more confusing,
harder to navigate, and less useful to the
public. With respect to channel lineups,
however, we believe it is appropriate to
permit cable operators that maintain a
lineup on their own Web site to provide
a link to that existing online lineup in
lieu of also maintaining a lineup in the
Commission’s online file database.
Operators may elect to provide channel
lineup information both in the
Commission’s online file as well as on
their own Web sites, but will not be
required to do so.
23. We will permit those entities that
maintain their own electronic public
and/or political files to include in the
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Commission’s online database a link to
that private file database, in addition to
uploading to the Commission’s database
the materials required to be retained in
the online public file. Such links would
provide a further source of public file
information that could prove to be a
useful supplement to the information
available on the Commission’s online
database.
24. Filing windows. We decline at this
time to extend or otherwise alter our
current filing windows, as advocated by
several commenters. We are confident
that the online file will be capable of
handling the increased number of filers
and the volume of material required to
be uploaded as a result of the expansion
of the Commission’s online database.
We may reconsider expanding or
otherwise altering filing windows at a
later time if we believe that such efforts
will either assist filers in maintaining a
complete, up-to-date online file or help
avoid congestion in the online database.
25. Orderly online files. Consistent
with our requirement for television
stations, we will require that cable, DBS,
broadcast radio, and SDARS entities
maintain orderly public files and
remove expired contracts when and if
replacement agreements are uploaded.
While we otherwise do not require that
files that are past their retention period
or otherwise out-of-date be deleted, we
urge all entities to actively manage their
online files to ensure that they do not
become so overgrown with out-of-date
documents that it is difficult to access
relevant materials. The Commission will
take no action under the public file
rules based on any public file document
that is outside the mandatory retention
period.
B. Political File
26. As proposed in the NPRM, cable
operators, broadcast radio licensees,
DBS operators, and SDARS entities will
not be required to upload their existing
political files to the online file. Instead,
as we require with television licensees,
these entities will be permitted to
maintain locally those documents
already in place in their political file at
the time the new rules become effective,
and upload documents to the online
political file only on a going-forward
basis. Existing political file material
must be retained in the local political
file at the station, cable system, or DBS
or SDARS headquarters’ office for the
remainder of the two-year retention
period, unless entities voluntarily elect
to upload these materials to the online
file. Given this limited two-year
retention period, exempting the existing
political file from the online database
will require entities to continue to
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maintain this file locally for only a
relatively short period of time after the
effective date of the online political file
requirements established in this order.
Thus, exempting the existing political
file from online posting will reduce the
initial burden of moving public files
online. In addition, as discussed below,
with respect to smaller cable systems
(those with between 1,000 and 5,000
subscribers) we are delaying for two
years, until March 1, 2018, the
requirement that they commence
uploading new political file material to
the online file. We also delay all online
file requirements until March 1, 2018
for radio stations with fewer resources,
which we define as all NCE stations,
commercial stations in markets below
the top 50 or outside all radio markets,
and commercial stations in the top 50
markets with fewer than five full-time
employees. We believe that providing
these entities with additional time to
complete their transition to the online
file will ease implementation for these
smaller entities and also give the
Commission time to address any
concerns that may arise as larger entities
commence using the online file.
27. Consistent with our current
political file rules, and as proposed in
the NPRM, we will require that new
political file materials be uploaded to
the online file ‘‘immediately absent
unusual circumstances.’’ The contents
of the political file are time-sensitive.
Therefore, it is essential that there be no
delay in posting political file materials
to the online file. In addition, consistent
with our approach to the television
online file, we will create and propagate
subfolders for federal and state
candidate ad purchases, as appropriate,
as well as issue ads that relate to a
political matter of national importance.
We will also provide entities with the
ability to create additional subfolders
and subcategories in compliance with
their own practices.
C. Voluntary Use of the Online Public
File
28. As we proposed in the NPRM, we
will permit entities that are temporarily
exempt from part or all online public
file requirements to upload material to
the online public file voluntarily before
the delayed effective date of their online
file requirement. For example, an NCE
broadcast radio station that is not
required to commence using the online
file until March 1, 2018, as discussed
below, could elect voluntarily to
commence using the online file prior to
this date. We will also permit entities to
elect voluntarily to upload to the online
file existing political file material that
would otherwise be required to be
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retained in the entity’s local public file
until the end of the two-year retention
period. To avoid any confusion
regarding the location and completeness
of the public and political file, any
entity that voluntarily elects to
commence using the online file early
must ensure that the online file contains
all new public file material on a goingforward basis, including all new
political file material. That is, all new
public and political file material must
be uploaded to the online file on a
going-forward basis commencing on the
date the entity elects to transition to the
online file. The online file database will
require users to indicate that they have
transitioned to the online file.
D. Back-Up Files
29. As proposed in the NPRM, cable,
DBS, broadcast radio, and SDARS
entities will not be required to maintain
back-up copies of all public file
materials. Instead, as we do for the
existing television online file, an entity
may request that the Commission create
a mirror copy of its public file to ensure
that, if the data in the online file are
compromised, the file can be
reconstituted using the back-up copy. If
the Commission’s online file becomes
temporarily inaccessible for the
uploading of new documents, we will
require entities to maintain those
documents and upload them to the file
once it is available again for upload.
30. As proposed in the NPRM and
consistent with the approach we take
with respect to television broadcasters,
however, we will require cable, DBS,
broadcast radio, and SDARS entities to
make back-up files for the political file
available to the public to ensure that
they can comply with their statutory
obligation to make that information
available to candidates, the public, and
others immediately. Entities will be
required to make these backups
available only if and during such rare
times as the Commission’s online public
file is unavailable. To minimize any
burden caused by this requirement,
entities may choose to meet the political
file back-up requirement by periodically
downloading a mirror copy of the public
file, including the political file, housed
on the FCC’s database. To ensure that
the political file is complete, entities
that choose this option must retain any
political file records that have not yet
been uploaded to the FCC’s online file
database or that were uploaded after
their last download of a mirror copy of
the online public file.
31. These back-up files may be
retained either in paper or electronic
form at the entity’s local public file
location. Alternatively, entities may
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elect to make these back-up political
files accessible to the public online via
the entity’s own Web site. Cable
operators or other entities with their
own electronic political files may elect
to use these files as a back-up in the
event the Commission’s online database
is unavailable.
32. In the event the Commission’s
online file becomes temporarily
inaccessible, we will require DBS and
SDARS entities to make their back-up
political files available to the public
through the entity’s choice of either an
online method, via the entity’s own Web
site, or by answering questions and
accommodating requests for copies of
political file materials made by
telephone. Copies requested by
telephone may be sent by fax, email, or
mail, at the caller’s request. If a
requester prefers access by mail, the
DBS or SDARS entity may require the
individual requesting documents to pay
for photocopying. We believe it is
necessary to require DBS and SDARS
entities to provide alternative means to
access back-up political file documents,
either online or by telephone, as these
entities provide service nationwide and
are required to maintain only one public
and political file for the entire U.S. at
their headquarters office, making inperson access very difficult. This
requirement for online or telephone
access will apply only to DBS and
SDARS back-up political file materials
during times when the Commission’s
online database is unavailable.
Accordingly, we do not believe this
requirement will be unduly
burdensome.
E. Format
33. As proposed in the NPRM, cable,
DBS, and broadcast and satellite radio
entities will be required to upload any
electronic documents to the online file
in their existing format to the extent
feasible. The Commission will display
the documents in both the uploaded
format and in a pdf version. If a required
document already exists in a searchable
format, documents must be uploaded in
that format to the extent technically
feasible.
34. We decline at this time to
implement a standard format for the
online file, including for political
advertising data, as requested by CLC et
al. As discussed above, the Commission
has made a number of upgrades to its
online file database to accommodate
additional users and make the file easier
to use. We will continue to prioritize
these and other efforts to ensure that the
database is reliable and user-friendly
before considering further
improvements.
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F. Announcements and Links
35. We will require cable operators,
DBS providers, and broadcast and
satellite radio licensees that have Web
sites to place a link to the online public
file on their home pages, consistent with
our proposal in the NPRM and our
requirement for television stations. This
link must connect to the first page of the
entity’s online public file. We will also
require entities that have Web sites to
include on their home page contact
information for a representative who
can assist any person with disabilities
with issues related to the content of the
public file.
36. As proposed in the NPRM, we will
not require cable, DBS, broadcast radio,
or SDARS entities to make on-air
announcements regarding the change in
location of their public file. Consistent
with the approach taken with respect to
television stations in the Second Report
and Order, we will require broadcast
radio stations, however, to revise their
on-air pre- and post-filing renewal
announcements to reflect the
availability of a station’s renewal
application on the Commission’s Web
site.
G. EEO Materials
37. As we proposed in the NPRM, we
will continue to require that cable, DBS,
and broadcast and satellite radio entities
make their EEO materials available on
their Web sites, if they have one. Similar
to our requirements for television
stations, entities may fulfill this Web
site posting requirement by providing,
on their own Web site, a link to the EEO
materials on their online public file
page on the Commission’s Web site.The
link to EEO materials must be a direct
link to such materials on the FCC’s Web
site, and not simply a link to the first
page of the entity’s online public file. As
discussed above, all entities that have
Web sites must also place a link to the
first page of their online public file on
the home page of their Web site.
H. Local Public Inspection File
38. Entities that have fully
transitioned to the online public file—
that is, entities that have uploaded all
public file material to the FCC’s online
file database including all political file
material required to be retained in the
public file—and that also provide online
access to back-up political file material
via the entity’s own Web site when the
FCC’s online database is temporarily
unavailable, will not be required to
maintain a local public file. This option
is not available to commercial broadcast
licensees who must continue to retain a
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correspondence file that cannot be made
available online for privacy reasons.
39. NTCA, Verizon, and DIRECTV
request that we clarify that entities do
not need to maintain a local public
inspection file once they have fully
transitioned to the online file. We note
that, unlike commercial broadcast
stations who must retain a
correspondence file at the station, cable,
DBS, and SDARS entities will have fully
transitioned to the online file once the
retention period for existing political
files expires. As discussed above,
however, all entities must maintain a
back-up file for the political file in the
event the online file becomes
unavailable and make this back-up file
available to the public. As discussed
above, we will permit entities to retain
back-up political file materials either in
paper or electronic form at their local
file location or make such materials
available to the public online via the
entity’s own Web site. Entities with
their own Web sites must indicate
clearly on that Web site either the Web
site or physical address of their back-up
political files. Entities that have fully
transitioned to the online file and that
make their back-up political file
materials available online will not be
required to maintain a local public file.
40. We will require all cable and DBS
operators and broadcast and satellite
radio licensees to provide information
in the online public file about the
individual who may be contacted for
questions about the file. This
information must be provided when the
operator or licensee first establishes its
online public file and should be
updated if and when staffing or location
changes occur. In addition, entities that
have not fully transitioned to the FCC’s
online public file—that is, entities that
do not post online all public and
political file material required to be
maintained in the public inspection
file—and that do not also provide online
access via their own Web sites to backup political file materials must also
provide information in the FCC’s online
public file about the location of the
entity’s local public file. This
information is necessary to inform the
public of the location of the existing
political file (until its retention period
expires) and/or the location where the
public can access back-up political file
materials in the event the Commission’s
database is unavailable. All commercial
broadcast licensees must include
information in the FCC’s online file
about the location of their local public
file so the public is aware of the location
of the correspondence file retained by
these broadcasters.
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I. Compliance Dates
41. New Public File Materials. In order
to facilitate a smooth transition to the
online public file, we will provide
entities a period of time after the
effective date of the online file
requirements adopted in this order to
begin uploading files. Cable systems
with 1,000 or more subscribers, DBS
providers, SDARS licensees, and
commercial radio broadcast stations in
the top 50 markets with five or more
full-time employees will be required to
begin using the online public file 30
days after the Commission announces in
the Federal Register that OMB has
completed its review of this Order
under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(‘‘PRA’’) and approved the collection.
Commencing on this effective date,
these entities must begin uploading new
public file materials to the
Commission’s online public file
database and, with the exception of
cable systems with between 1,000 and
5,000 subscribers, these entities must
also upload new political file material to
the Commission’s online file. Entities
will not be permitted to commence
uploading material to the online file
prior to this effective date. We decline
NAB’s request that we give radio
stations 60 days from the effective date
to commence uploading new public file
material. Only commercial radio
broadcast stations in the top 50 radio
markets with 5 or more full-time
employees are required to commence
uploading documents to the online file
beginning 30 days after the effective
date of this Order. We believe these
larger radio stations have the necessary
resources to be able to commence using
the online file within this time frame
without imposing an undue burden.
42. In recognition of their more
limited resources, we provide more time
for smaller entities to transition to the
online file. Thus, as discussed further
below, commercial broadcast radio
stations in the top 50 markets with
fewer than five full-time employees, all
commercial broadcast radio stations in
markets below the top 50 and outside all
radio markets, and all NCE broadcast
radio stations will not be required to
begin uploading new public and
political file material to the online file
until March 1, 2018. In addition, cable
systems with 1,000 or more but fewer
than 5,000 subscribers will not be
required to commence uploading new
political file material to the online file
until March 1, 2018. Cable systems with
fewer than 1,000 subscribers are exempt
from all online filing requirements.
43. Existing Public File Materials. We
will give cable systems with 1,000 or
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more subscribers, DBS providers,
SDARS licensees, and commercial radio
broadcast stations in the top 50 markets
with five or more full-time employees
six months from the effective date of the
rules (i.e., six months after the
Commission publishes a notice in the
Federal Register announcing OMB
approval under the PRA as discussed
above) to complete the process of
uploading to the online file their
existing public file materials, with the
exception of existing political files. This
approach is similar to that taken by the
Commission in the Second Report and
Order to transition television stations to
the online public file. Entities will be
permitted to begin uploading existing
public file materials immediately on the
effective date, at the same time that they
must begin posting new materials to the
online public file on a going-forward
basis. These entities must complete the
process of uploading the existing public
file—but not the existing political file,
which is not required to be transitioned
to the online file—within six months of
the effective date. We believe that giving
these entities six months to upload
existing files will provide adequate time
and flexibility to complete this process.
J. Waiver
44. While we do not believe online
posting of the public file, including
prospective posting of the political file,
will impose an unreasonable burden on
the vast majority of entities subject to
the rules adopted in this Order, we
recognize that there may be a few
entities for which the transition to an
online public inspection file may prove
especially difficult. In this regard, we
note that some small radio stations in
remote locations may not have access to
reliable Internet service or may be
without Internet access altogether. In
addition, there may be rare instances in
which a small radio station or cable
operator faces undue economic or other
resource limitations that make the
transition to the online public file
especially challenging. If an entity
believes that the transition to the online
file will impose an undue hardship, it
may seek a waiver of the requirements
adopted in this order. An entity seeking
a waiver should provide the
Commission with information
documenting the economic hardship the
station would incur in complying with
online file requirements, its technical
inability to do so, or such other reasons
as would warrant waiver under our
general waiver standards.2
2 As discussed below, we are phasing-in the
online file requirements for radio beginning with
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K. Requirements and Issues Unique to
Each Service
45. Because each service for which we
are implementing online public file
requirements is unique, we address each
service separately below. We address
any service-specific issues raised in the
NPRM and by commenters, and also
address the manner in which we will
phase-in online file requirements for
each service.
1. Cable Public Inspection File
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a. Current Rules
46. The FCC’s rules regarding records
to be maintained by cable systems
distinguish between records that must
be retained for inspection by the public
and those that must be made available
to Commission representatives or local
franchisors only. The rules also impose
different recordkeeping requirements
based on the number of subscribers to
the cable system. Operators of cable
systems with fewer than 1,000
subscribers are exempt from many
public inspection file requirements,
including the political file, sponsorship
identification, EEO records, and records
regarding children’s commercial
programming. Operators of systems with
between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers
must provide certain information ‘‘upon
request’’ but must also ‘‘maintain for
public inspection’’ a political file, while
operators of systems having 5,000 or
more subscribers must ‘‘maintain for
public inspection’’ a political file and
records regarding, among other things,
sponsorship identification, EEO, and
advertisements in children’s
programming. The rules state that the
public inspection file must be
maintained ‘‘at the office which the
system operator maintains for the
ordinary collection of subscriber
charges, resolution of subscriber
complaints, and other business or at any
accessible place in the community
served by the system unit(s).’’
47. Cable system political file
requirements are similar to those for
broadcast stations. The political file
commercial stations in the top 50 Nielsen Audio
markets with 5 or more full-time employees. See,
infra, para. 83. We delay online filing for all other
radio stations for approximately two years, until
March 1, 2018. Id. In the event a commercial radio
station with between 5 and 10 full-time employees,
otherwise required to transition to online filing in
the first group, finds the transition especially
difficult, the Commission will give careful
consideration to requests by these stations for
additional time to commence online filing. The
Commission also will be favorably inclined to grant
requests for additional time to commence online
filing from very small radio stations with fewer than
five full-time employees, as these stations may have
limited resources and, therefore, find the transition
to the online file particularly challenging.
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must contain a ‘‘complete and orderly
record . . . of all requests for cablecast
time made by or on behalf of a
candidate for public office’’ including
the disposition of such requests. The file
must also show the ‘‘schedule of time
purchased, when spots actually aired,
the rates charged, and the classes of
time purchased.’’ With respect to certain
issue advertisements, the file must
disclose the name of the purchasing
organization and a list of the board of
directors. These records must be filed
‘‘immediately absent unusual
circumstances,’’ and must be retained
for at least two years.
b. Online Public File Requirements
(i) Content Required To Be Maintained
in the Online File
48. As discussed above, consistent
with the rules we adopted for television
broadcasters and that we adopt for other
entities, we will require that cable
operators upload to the online public
file all documents and information that
are required to be in the public file but
which are not also filed in COALS or
maintained by the Commission on its
own Web site. The Commission will
import these latter documents or
information into the online public file
itself. As noted in the NPRM, the only
document that cable operators file with
the Commission that must also be
retained in their public inspection file is
the EEO program annual report, which
the Commission will upload to the
online file. We will require cable
systems with 1,000 or more subscribers
to upload to the online file other
material currently required to be
maintained for public inspection.
49. While cable systems with 1,000 or
more subscribers but fewer than 5,000
subscribers are currently required to
provide certain materials to the public
only ‘‘upon request,’’ as proposed in the
NPRM we will also require these
systems to place these materials in the
online public file to facilitate public
access to these materials, except as
clarified in paragraph (ii) below. The
documents these systems are currently
required to make available ‘‘upon
request’’ are those required by 47 CFR
76.1701 (sponsorship identification),
76.1702 (EEO records available for
public inspection), 76.1703 (commercial
records for children’s programming),
76.1704 (proof-of-performance test
data), and 76.1706 (signal leakage logs
and repair records). We disagree with
NCTA that moving from an ‘‘upon
request’’ regime to an affirmative
requirement to upload documents to the
online file for these systems represents
a burdensome change in regulation.
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While our current rules do not require
that these records be maintained at a
particular local site, cable operators
must make this information ‘‘promptly
available once a request is received.’’
Our decision to require instead that
these records be maintained in the
online file does not materially alter the
burden of maintaining these records and
making them available upon request and
is consistent with our transition to an
online public file regime.
50. Exemption from all online file
requirements for small cable systems.
As we proposed in the NPRM, we will
exempt cable systems with fewer than
1,000 subscribers from all online public
file requirements. As noted above, these
systems have far fewer public file
requirements than larger systems and
are not required to maintain a political
file. NCTA and ACA support this
exemption from online public file
requirements. We decline, however, to
adopt ACA’s proposal that we extend to
cable systems with fewer than 2,500
subscribers the same public file
exemptions currently applicable to
cable systems with fewer than 1,000
subscribers and, in addition, exempt
systems with fewer than 2,500
subscribers from all online public file
requirements. It is beyond the scope of
this proceeding to consider expanding
the number of cable systems that are
exempt from current public inspection
file requirements. Our goal is simply to
adapt our existing public file
requirements to an online format, while
clarifying and streamlining certain
requirements as necessary. We also
decline to adopt ACA’s proposal that we
exempt systems with fewer than 15,000
subscribers and not affiliated with a
multichannel video programming
distributor (‘‘MVPD’’) serving more than
ten percent of all MVPD subscribers
from the requirement to maintain their
public inspection files in the online
database and instead permit these
systems to make information in these
files available upon request. These
entities must retain records in order to
be able to make them available upon
request, and we believe any additional
burden resulting from a requirement
that they instead be posted online is
minimal and is outweighed by the
benefit of making information more
readily accessible without requiring
members of the public to make a
specific request for records from each
system. We also believe ACA’s proposal
would confuse the public about the
location of public file materials.
51. We believe that the cumulative
impact of the online file requirements
will not prove overly burdensome to
cable systems, particularly in light of
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the clarification we make below that
proof-of-performance and signal leakage
information is exempt from the public
file. As discussed above, any system for
which the transition to online filing
would impose an undue hardship may
request a waiver.
52. Political file. Consistent with the
approach we adopted for television
broadcasters, cable operators will not be
required to upload their existing
political files to the online file; rather,
they will be permitted to maintain
existing material in their physical
political file and upload documents to
the online political file only on a goingforward basis. This approach will
minimize the burden of transitioning to
the online file for cable operators while
providing convenient access to the
information most likely to be of interest
to the public.
53. Delay in political file requirements
for small cable systems. To smooth the
transition for cable operators and the
Commission and to allow smaller cable
systems additional time to begin posting
their political files online, as proposed
in the NPRM we will phase in the
political file posting requirements for
small cable systems. For the next two
years, we will require only systems with
5,000 or more subscribers to post their
new political file documents online. We
temporarily exempt other cable systems
from posting their political documents
to their online public file until March 1,
2018. NCTA supports delaying for two
years the requirement to post new
political file material online for smaller
cable systems, and this delay is also
consistent with the additional time we
gave smaller television stations to begin
posting political files online in the
Second Report and Order.
54. We believe that it is appropriate
to commence online political file
requirements with larger cable systems
with more subscribers as these systems
are more likely to have the resources
needed to address any implementation
issues, should they arise. Allowing
other systems additional time to begin
uploading the political file will ease
implementation for these smaller
systems and also give the Commission
time to address any concerns that may
arise as larger cable systems transition
to the online file. Applying this delay in
online political file requirements to
cable systems with fewer than 5,000
subscribers establishes a threshold that
is clear and easy to implement. As
discussed above, this 5,000 subscriber
threshold is currently used in the public
file rules to provide regulatory relief
from certain recordkeeping
requirements. Cable systems are
therefore familiar with the use of this
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threshold in the context of public file
requirements, which should help avoid
confusion regarding which systems are
eligible for the temporary exemption.
55. As an alternative to the 5,000
subscriber cutoff, we sought comment in
the NPRM on whether we should
instead define ‘‘small cable system’’ for
purposes of the temporary exemption
from the online political file
requirement as a system with fewer than
15,000 subscribers that is not affiliated
with a larger operator serving more than
10 percent of all MVPD subscribers.
While NCTA supports this latter
definition, we believe the 5,000
subscriber cutoff is both less
complicated, as it does not require
calculation of the total number of MVPD
subscribers as well as the percentage
served by any multi-system operator,
and easier to administer and implement
as systems are already familiar with this
cutoff in connection with public
inspection file requirements. We believe
that uploading new political file
material to the online file will not prove
significantly more burdensome than
maintaining paper files, and will prove
less burdensome over time as operators
become more familiar with the online
file.
56. Geographic information. We will
require cable operators, when first
establishing their online public file, to
provide a list of the five-digit ZIP codes
served by the cable system. Cable
operators with more than one physical
system identifier (‘‘PSID’’) will be
required to identify the ZIP code(s)
served by each PSID. As discussed in
the NPRM, the Commission currently
lacks precise information about the
geographic areas served by cable
systems, and we believe that providing
information about ZIP codes served will
make the information in the online file,
and especially the political file, more
useful to subscribers, advertisers,
candidates, and others. While we
proposed in the NPRM to require
operators to provide information
regarding both the ZIP codes and
Designated Market Areas (‘‘DMAs’’)
served by each system, we will require
only ZIP code information at this time.
ZIP codes correlate to geographic areas
that are easily identified by the
Commission and the general public. In
addition, zip code areas are smaller than
DMAs, providing more granular data to
users of the online file. Information
about ZIP codes served should also be
relatively easy for operators to obtain
from their billing records. We note that
operators will be required to identify the
ZIP codes served by each cable system
only when they first establish their
public files on the Commission’s
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database, and to update this information
only to reflect changes. Therefore, we do
not believe this requirement will be
unduly burdensome.
57. We reject the suggestion of NCTA
and ACA that, instead of requiring cable
operators to upload information about
the geographic area served by the
system, the FCC instead import that
information from FCC Form 322 (Cable
Community Registration). The
communities identified on Form 322
often do not correspond to locations
with defined political and/or geographic
boundaries. In addition, while Form 322
does contain information about counties
served by each system, this information
is not as granular as ZIP code data,
which is not available on Form 322. We
also decline Verizon’s suggestion that
we refer to franchise areas in the online
file, as we believe this information is
less likely to be recognizable by the
public than ZIP codes.
58. We sought comment in the NPRM
on whether, in lieu of ZIP code or DMA
data, we should instead require cable
operators to provide information about
the census block(s) or census tract(s)
served by each system. We do not
require cable operators to provide this
information
59. Cable employment units. We will
also require cable operators, when first
establishing the online public file for
each cable system, to identify the
employment unit number or numbers
associated with each system. This
information is required to permit the
Commission to associate EEO reports
filed with the Commission, which are
identified by employment unit number,
with the system or systems covered by
each report and employment unit. As
cable operators will be required to
provide this information only when
they first establish the online public file
and when any updates are required, we
do not believe this requirement will be
unduly burdensome.
60. Channel lineups. We will require
cable operators either to upload
information regarding their current
channel lineup to the online file, and
keep this information current, or
provide a link in their online file to the
channel lineup maintained by the
operator. While we recognize that cable
systems may currently provide channel
lineup information to subscribers in
various ways in addition to putting it in
the public file, we decline to eliminate
the requirement that such information
also be made available in the online
public file, as advocated by NCTA and
ACA. We agree with NCTA and ACA,
however, that we should allow
operators the option of including a link
in the online public file to their own
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online channel lineups in lieu of
uploading channel lineups to the online
file. This option will ease the burden on
cable operators who maintain their
channel lineups on their own Web sites
and will help ensure that the channel
lineup information accessible through
the online public file is up to date. We
emphasize that cable systems may take
advantage of the option of including a
link to the cable system’s channel
lineup in the online file in lieu of
uploading the lineup only if the link is
made available to all members of the
public.
61. Headend location information.
Our rules currently require the operator
of every cable television system to
maintain in the public inspection file
the ‘‘designation and location of its
principal headend.’’ As we proposed in
the NPRM, we will not require cable
operators to include principal headend
location information in the online
public file. Instead, operators will have
the option to instead continue to retain
this information in their local public
file. In comments filed in response to
the Public Notice, NCTA asked that we
consider whether we should exclude
headend location information from the
online public file as it is of little interest
to the general public and revealing this
information in a centralized database
available to Internet users ‘‘raises
potentially serious security risks.’’
While we reserve judgment as to
whether there are valid security
concerns associated with posting the
location of the principal headend
online, we agree that the general public
is unlikely to be interested in this
information and, therefore, will permit
operators who prefer to retain this
information locally rather than posting
it online to do so. We remind operators
who choose not to post principal
headend location information to the
Commission’s online public file that the
local file where this information is
retained must be made available for
public inspection at any time during
regular business hours.
62. Commercial limits in children’s
programming. We decline to adopt
NCTA’s request that we revise our
public file rules to permit cable
operators to provide documentation
regarding compliance with the
commercial limits in children’s
programs only in the event of a
complaint. NCTA’s proposal is beyond
the scope of this proceeding, which is
intended to adapt our current public file
rules to an online format rather than
changing underlying requirements.
While we recognize that our current
rules require cable operators operating
multiple systems carrying the same
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children’s programs to retain in their
files similar commercial limits
information for these systems, we
believe the transition to the online
public file will significantly reduce the
burden of complying with this aspect of
the current children’s television rules.
As discussed above, the Commission
has upgraded the online file database to
permit entities to populate multiple files
using a single upload. This feature will
permit cable operators to use a single
upload to post required commercial
limits documentation to the online file
for multiple cable systems, making
compliance with the commercial limits
rules easier in the online database than
in the current local public file regime.
In addition, as discussed above, entities
are free to negotiate with third-party
vendors for assistance in uploading
documents to their online public
inspection file using the API interface.
63. FCC Form 325. We invited
comment in the NPRM on whether the
Commission should make FCC Form
325 (Annual Cable Operator Report)
available in the online public file. That
form is filed annually by cable systems
with 20,000 or more subscribers. We
decline to include FCC Form 325 in the
online file at this time as these forms are
not currently required to be included in
the public inspection file.
64. State and local public file
requirements. We decline to adopt
Verizon’s request that we preempt
public file requirements imposed
pursuant to agreements between a cable
operator and state and local franchising
authorities. While such agreements may
require cable operators to maintain a
local file with content that may
duplicate or differ from that required by
the FCC’s public file requirements, we
do not believe it is appropriate in this
proceeding to preempt such local or
state requirements. We will, however,
enable entities to add a separate folder
to their FCC online file for content that
is required to be retained by the
operator for public inspection pursuant
to a franchising agreement. Cable
operators may choose to take advantage
of this option in order to maintain in a
single location all materials required to
be made available to the public,
pursuant to either the FCC’s rules or
franchising requirements. Any material
uploaded to the online file solely for
purposes of compliance with state or
local franchise requirements must be
placed in a separate folder that is clearly
labeled by the operator to distinguish it
from FCC public and political file
materials. Entities may not place
materials solely intended to comply
with franchise requirements in the same
folder(s) used for FCC online public and
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political file materials, as this could be
confusing to users of the online file.
However, by creating this option, we are
not changing any obligations that local
franchising authorities may have
imposed with respect to local inspection
files. If the franchising authority has a
requirement to maintain a local file that
would not be satisfied by posting those
documents to the FCC’s online file, the
cable operator must continue to
maintain such a local file in compliance
with the franchising agreement unless
the franchising authority allows it to
move those files online.
(ii) Clarification and Reorganization of
the Cable Public Inspection File Rules
65. Proof-of-performance and signal
leakage information. We clarify that
proof-of-performance and signal leakage
information does not need to be retained
in the public inspection file or uploaded
to the online file. This material must be
maintained and made available to the
Commission and franchisor, however,
upon request. We noted in the NPRM
that the current recordkeeping rules
regarding this information are unclear.
We agree with NCTA and ACA that
proof-of-performance and signal leakage
information is highly technical and
unlikely to be of interest to the general
public and does not need to be retained
in the public inspection file or be made
available online. We will, however,
continue to require that systems retain
this information and make it available to
the Commission and franchisor upon
request.
66. Reorganization of 47 CFR 76.1700.
As proposed in the NPRM, we are
reorganizing section 76.1700 of the rules
both to reflect the online public file
requirements adopted in this Order and
to clarify cable public inspection file
requirements. The cable recordkeeping
requirements are currently spread over
several rule sections in Part 76, Subpart
U (Documents to be Maintained for
Inspection), with some requirements
contained in a separate rule subpart.
While section 76.1700 currently cross
references many of these recordkeeping
requirements, it does not cite them all.
The revised rule section 76.1700 in
Appendix B cross references all cable
public recordkeeping requirements and
more clearly addresses which records
must be maintained in the public
inspection file, and therefore uploaded
to the Commission’s online file, versus
those that must be made available only
to the Commission or franchising
authority.
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2. DBS Public Inspection File
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a. Current Rules
67. DBS providers are required to
maintain a public inspection file
containing four categories of
information: Information regarding
compliance with the carriage obligation
for noncommercial programming (the
‘‘noncommercial set-aside’’);
Information regarding compliance with
the commercial limits in children’s
programming; certain EEO materials;
and a political file. With respect to the
noncommercial set-aside, the rules
require that DBS providers ‘‘keep and
permit public inspection of a complete
and orderly record of,’’ among other
things, measurements of channel
capacity, a record of entities to whom
noncommercial capacity is being
provided, the rates paid by the entity to
whom capacity is provided, and a
record of entities requesting capacity
and the disposition of those requests.
With respect to compliance with the
children’s programming commercial
limits, DBS providers airing children’s
programming must maintain records
sufficient to verify compliance with the
rules and ‘‘make such records available
to the public.’’ With respect to EEO
materials, DBS operators are required to
maintain in their public file EEO reports
and certain EEO program information.
68. DBS providers are also required to
‘‘keep and permit public inspection of a
complete and orderly political file’’ and
to ‘‘prominently disclose the physical
location of the file and the telephonic
and electronic means to access’’ it. The
file must include, among other things,
records of ‘‘all requests for DBS
origination time’’ and the schedule of
time purchased, when spots actually
aired, the rates charged, and the classes
of time purchased for each request.
These records must be placed in the file
‘‘as soon as possible’’ and must be
retained for at least two years. Unlike
broadcasters and cable systems, DBS
providers must ‘‘make available via fax,
email, or by mail upon telephone
request, photocopies of documents in
their political files and shall assist
callers by answering questions about the
contents of their political files.’’
b. Online Public File Requirements
69. Similar to our existing online
public file requirements for television
stations and the requirements we adopt
for cable, broadcast radio, and satellite
radio entities, we will require DBS
providers to upload to the online file
only material that is not already on file
at the Commission. Similar to cable
operators, the only document that DBS
providers file with the Commission that
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must also be retained in their public
inspection files is the EEO program
annual report, which the Commission
will upload to the online file. DBS
operators will be required to post to the
online file channel capacity
measurements and other records related
to the use of and requests for
noncommercial capacity, records related
to compliance with children’s
commercial limits, certain EEO
materials, and new political file
material.
70. We do not believe that requiring
DBS providers to upload this material to
the online file will be onerous. As
compared to television and radio
broadcasters and cable operators, DBS
providers have the fewest number of
public file requirements. We believe
that the transition to an online file is
particularly important for DBS because
of that service’s nationwide reach. Each
DBS provider is required to maintain
only one public and political file for the
entire U.S. at its headquarters, making
in-person access very difficult. Moving
this material to the online database will
facilitate access to the public file by
viewers nationwide.
71. Consistent with our approach for
television stations and the rules we
adopt for cable, broadcast radio, and
satellite radio entities, we will not
require DBS providers to upload their
existing political files to the FCC’s
online file but will permit them to
maintain existing material in their
physical political file and upload
documents to the online political file
only on a going-forward basis. DBS
providers must begin uploading new
public and political file material to the
online public file 30 days after the
Commission announces in the Federal
Register that OMB has completed its
review of this Order under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’) and
approved the collection. These entities
will have six months from the effective
date of the rules (i.e., six months after
the Commission publishes a notice in
the Federal Register announcing OMB
approval under the PRA) to complete
the process of uploading existing public
file materials to the online file, with the
exception of existing political files
which entities are permitted, but not
required, to upload to the Commission’s
online public file.
72. We will eliminate the requirement
that DBS providers honor requests by
telephone for copies of political file
materials if those materials are made
available online. Thus, with respect to
existing political file materials not
required to be posted to the FCC’s
online database, DBS providers must
continue to answer telephone inquiries
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regarding those materials, as well as
requests for copies, unless they elect to
post those existing political files to the
FCC’s online database. In addition, as
discussed above, if the FCC’s online
public file database is temporarily
unavailable, we will require DBS
providers to make their back-up
political files available to the public by,
at their own choice, either an online
method, via the entity’s own Web site,
or by answering questions and
accommodating requests for copies of
political file materials made by
telephone. Copies requested by
telephone may be sent by fax, email, or
mail, at the caller’s request. If a
requester prefers access by mail, the
DBS or SDARS entity may require the
individual requesting documents to pay
for photocopying.
73. We sought comment in the NPRM
on how DBS political files should be
organized, particularly with respect to
advertisements shown on a local or
hyper-local basis. We agree with
DIRECTV that DBS providers should
have the flexibility to organize their
political files in any manner that
reasonably allows users to view their
contents. DBS providers offer
advertisers the option to purchase
advertising both nationwide and locally,
and we will permit these entities to
create folders for the political file that
reflect the manner in which ads were
purchased and shown.
74. DIRECTV notes that the political
file rules require DBS providers to
include in the political file a significant
amount of information about certain
political ad buyers and, in some cases,
the nature of the issue being advertised.
According to DIRECTV, some political
advertising buyers have refused to
provide this information. DIRECTV
requests that the Commission clarify
that political advertisers must present
DBS providers with sufficient
information to comply with the political
file requirements. We remind DBS
providers, as well as other entities
subject to our political broadcasting
rules, that they are responsible for
ensuring that their political files are
complete and accurate as required by
the Communications Act and the
Commission’s rules.
3. Broadcast Radio Public Inspection
File
a. Current Rules
75. The public inspection file rules for
radio broadcasters are generally similar
to those for television broadcasters.
Every permittee or licensee of an AM or
FM station in the commercial or
noncommercial educational broadcast
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service must maintain a public
inspection file containing, among other
things, FCC authorizations,
applications, contour maps, ownership
reports, EEO materials, issues/programs
lists, and time brokerage (also known as
‘‘local marketing’’) and joint sales
agreements. The file must be maintained
at the station’s main studio.
76. Radio stations are required to
maintain a political file as part of their
public inspection file. The political file
must contain a ‘‘complete and orderly
record’’ of requests for broadcast time
made by or on behalf of a candidate for
public office. The file must also show
the ‘‘schedule of time purchased, when
spots actually aired, the rates charged,
and the classes of time purchased.’’
With respect to issue advertisements,
stations must disclose the name of the
purchasing organization and a list of the
board of directors. These records must
be filed ‘‘as soon as possible, meaning
immediately, absent unusual
circumstances,’’ and must be retained
for at least two years.
b. Online Public File Requirements
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(i) Content Required To Be Maintained
in the Online File
77. We will require radio broadcast
licensees to upload to the online public
file all documents and information that
are required to be in the public file but
that are not also filed in CDBS (or LMS)
or otherwise maintained by the
Commission on its own Web site. Thus,
radio stations must upload citizen
agreements, certain EEO materials,
issues/programs lists, local public
notice announcements, time brokerage
agreements, joint sales agreements,
materials related to FCC investigations
or complaints (other than investigative
information requests from the
Commission), and any new political file
material. The Commission will import
to the online file documents and
information required to be in the public
file that are electronically filed in CDBS
(or LMS), including authorizations,
applications and related materials,
ownership reports and related materials,
EEO Reports, The Public and
Broadcasting manual, and Letters of
Inquiry and other investigative requests
from the Commission, unless otherwise
directed by the inquiry itself.
78. FCC Form 302–AM. FCC Form
302–AM (Application for AM Broadcast
Station License) is available for paper
filing only, unlike the application for
FM station licenses (FCC Form 302–FM)
which must be filed electronically. We
will permit AM stations that must retain
Form 302–AM in their public inspection
file to choose either to retain the form
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locally for public inspection or upload
the form themselves to the
Commission’s online database. NAB
urges the Commission to upgrade its
database to reduce the unequal burden
on AM stations that are unable to file
forms electronically. We are working on
upgrading our broadcast licensing
database, including FCC Form 302–AM,
but we will not make changes to the
filing requirements in this item. Our
focus is on moving the public
inspection file to the Commission’s
online database; other broadcast
licensing database improvements are
beyond the scope of this proceeding.
79. Political file. As proposed in the
NPRM, and consistent with the
approach we adopted for television
broadcasters and that we adopt here for
other entities, broadcast radio licensees
will not be required to upload their
existing political files to the online file,
but instead will be permitted to
maintain existing material in their local
political file and upload documents to
the online political file only on a goingforward basis. This approach will
minimize the burden of transitioning to
the online file.
80. Delay in implementation for
stations with fewer resources. In light of
the unique economic circumstances
faced by radio broadcasters, we believe
it is appropriate to implement the
online public file by imposing
requirements, at first, only on stations
with more resources. Some radio
commenters expressed opposition to the
Commission’s proposal to include radio
broadcasters in the online file. Some
argue that the radio industry already
faces significant economic challenges as
the result of competition from other
services that would be exacerbated by
the imposition of further regulatory
requirements. Others question the need
to expand the online file to radio, noting
the limited number of requests radio
stations receive to view the public file,
or noting that the Petition for
Rulemaking did not address broadcast
radio and advocated only that cable
operators and DBS providers be added
to the online file.
81. Most radio commenters focus in
particular on the impact on small
stations, including small NCE stations,
of including broadcast radio stations in
the online file. In general, these
commenters argue that many radio
stations are very small with limited
financial and other resources, face
constant economic pressure, and would
find the transition to the online file very
burdensome.
82. With respect to NCE radio
stations, many commenters advocate
that all such stations be permanently
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exempt from online filing. Many NCE
radio commenters argue that these
stations are prohibited from accepting
paid political and issue advertising,
making access to their political file
records less necessary than for
commercial stations. Others contend
that NCE stations often have more
limited financial resources and smaller
staffs than commercial stations and rely
on donations for the majority of their
funding, making the burden of
transitioning to the online file
particularly challenging. If NCE stations
are not exempt from online filing, the
Educational Media Foundation argues
they should be in the last group of
stations required to transition to the
online file so that any issues with the
online filing process can be resolved
before NCEs are required to utilize
scarce resources in uploading online
files.
83. As we proposed in the NPRM, we
will commence online public file
requirements for radio with commercial
stations in markets 1 through 50, as
defined by Nielsen Audio (formerly
Arbitron), that have five or more fulltime employees. We will delay all
mandatory online filing for other radio
stations for approximately two years,
until March 1, 2018. Commencing on
this date, all NCE radio stations, all
commercial stations in markets below
the top 50 as well as those outside all
markets, and all commercial top 50
market stations with fewer than five
full-time employees must begin placing
all new public and political file material
in the online file. In addition, as of this
date, these stations must have placed all
their existing public file material in the
online file, with the exception of their
existing political file material. Stations
transitioning to the online file in the
second wave will have approximately
two years in which to upload their
existing public file material to the
online file. Accordingly, we do not
believe these stations need an additional
six months beyond the March 1, 2018
transition date in which to upload
existing public file material.
84. We decline to permanently
exempt any category of radio stations
from online filing. All broadcasters have
public and political inspection file
requirements, and we believe that all
these files should ultimately be moved
to the Commission’s online database to
improve accessibility and, over time,
reduce the covered entities’
administrative costs of maintaining
these files. We note that, unlike small
cable systems which are exempt from
the political file as well as other public
file requirements, small radio stations
are not exempt from the political file
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requirement. We also decline to
categorically exempt part of the public
inspection file from online filing, as
proposed by some commenters, with the
exception of the existing political file
and the correspondence file. Our
experience to date with television
stations suggests that most entities will
not encounter undue difficulties in
completing the transition to online
filing. While we recognize that some
radio broadcasters face significant
economic and other resource
constraints, we believe that most radio
stations will be capable of completing
the transition to the online file and are
more likely to reap benefits over time in
terms of reduced administrative costs if
they post their entire public and
political files online. Stations that face
unique economic or other impediments
that make transitioning to the
Commission’s online file especially
difficult may request a waiver.
85. We believe that commencing
online file requirements with
commercial stations in the top 50
markets with 5 or more full-time
employees will ensure that the first
group of radio stations to transition to
the online file will have sufficient
financial and staff resources to address
any implementation issues that may
arise. Commenters who addressed this
issue generally agreed that it is
reasonable to phase in online filing for
radio stations starting with larger,
commercial stations in the top 50
markets. We believe that it is
appropriate to delay online filing for
other radio stations as they are likely to
have fewer financial and other resources
and may need additional time to
prepare for their transition to the online
file. As we discussed in the NPRM,
radio stations with fewer than 5 fulltime employees are exempt from many
EEO requirements, including the
requirement to file FCC Form 396
(Broadcast Equal Employment
Opportunity Program Report). We
believe that defining the class of small
radio stations based on this EEO
exemption makes sense as it is a
standard with which stations are
already familiar and it provides a clear,
bright line test for determining which
stations are temporarily exempt from
online filing. In addition, information
regarding the stations that are exempt
from certain EEO requirements is
readily available to the Commission and
the public, as this information is filed
with the FCC and is available on the
FCC’s Web site.
86. The 5 full-time employee
threshold in our EEO rules applies to
station employment units. A station
employment unit is defined as ‘‘a
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station or a group of commonly owned
stations in the same market that share at
least one employee.’’ We will apply the
5 full-time employee threshold for
purposes of the temporary exemption
from radio online file requirements to
station employment units. Thus, where
a radio station is commonly owned with
one or more other radio or television
stations in the same market that share at
least one employee, and the station
employment unit has five or more fulltime employees, each radio station in
the group will be considered to exceed
the threshold for the temporary
exemption from the online public file.
87. We reject the suggestion that we
instead use a ten or fifteen-employee
threshold for purposes of the temporary
exemption from online public file
requirements. The commenters that
advocate a standard based on a larger
number of employees argue generally
that this approach better reflects the
economic reality of radio versus
television broadcasting and will better
protect against adverse impacts to
smaller radio stations. We believe,
however, that a top-50 market
commercial station with a staff of five or
more full-time employees will have
sufficient resources to be able to manage
the transition to the online public file in
the first wave of radio stations. Stations
that face undue economic or other
impediments to the transition may
request a waiver.
88. We will permit radio stations that
are not required to transition to the
online file until March 1, 2018
voluntarily to transition to the online
file before that date. As discussed above,
entities that choose to transition to the
online file early must upload all new
public and political file documents to
the online file on a going-forward basis.
All commenters who addressed this
issue agree that radio stations that are
exempt from online filing should be
permitted to use the online file
voluntarily.
89. Contour map and main studio
information. The Commission will
create contour maps for the online file
for both AM and FM stations based on
existing data. Radio stations are
currently required to include in their
public inspection files ‘‘any service
contour maps submitted with any
application’’ together with ‘‘any other
information in the application showing
service contours and/or main studio and
transmitter location.’’ While we sought
comment in the NPRM on whether we
should require AM stations to upload
contour maps to the online file given the
complexities of AM contour mapping,
we conclude that it is not necessary to
require AM stations to upload contour
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maps. Instead, the Media Bureau will
create contour maps for purposes of the
online file for both AM and FM stations.
90. As we proposed in the NPRM, we
will require stations to provide
information to the online file regarding
the location of the station’s main studio.
The Commission’s rules do not
currently require the reporting of this
information, and it is not included on
contour maps. We believe that
information regarding the location of the
main studio will help members of the
public to engage in an active dialogue
with radio licensees regarding their
service, which is one of the goals of this
proceeding. This information is also
necessary to inform the public of the
location of the correspondence file and
existing political file (until its retention
period expires in two years), both of
which will be publicly available at the
station. In addition, back-up political
files will be available at the main studio
(unless placed on a station Web site) if
the online file database becomes
unavailable. Therefore, consistent with
the approach we took with respect to
television stations, we will require
broadcast radio stations to include in
the online public file the station’s main
studio address and telephone number,
and the email address of the station’s
designated contact for questions about
the public file. In addition, stations with
a main studio located outside of their
community of license must list the
location of the correspondence file and
existing political file, as well as the
required local or toll free number.
91. Donor Lists. NCE stations are
required to retain in the public
inspection file lists of donors supporting
specific programs. As we proposed in
the NPRM and as we required for
television broadcasters in the Second
Report and Order, we will require
noncommercial radio broadcasters to
include donor lists in their online
public files. A number of NCE radio
commenters argued that donor lists
should not be included in the online file
in order to protect the privacy of
supporters of noncommercial radio
broadcasting. National Religious
Broadcasters and other commenters
argue generally that donors will be less
likely to contribute if their names are
made public online rather than only in
the local public file. National Religious
Broadcasters also argues that donors to
these stations could become targets of
unwanted attention or even crime if
donor information is available online.
92. We are not persuaded that making
donor information available online will
affect contributions to noncommercial
radio programming or create significant
problems for donors. NCE television
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stations have been posting donor lists in
their online public files and have not
reported any problems. The benefits of
placing the public file online, thereby
facilitating public access to this
information, are substantial, and we
decline to exclude donor lists from this
requirement on the basis of
unsubstantiated claims of commercial
harm. We are not requiring broadcasters
to make any information publicly
available that stations are not already
required to make public. Moreover,
unlike letters from the public, donor
lists do not contain personal
information other than the name of the
donor. They are not required to include
information about the amounts
contributed, the donor’s address or
email, or other potentially sensitive
information. Thus, we do not believe
that requiring that the list of donor
names be posted online, rather than
maintained at the station, raises
fundamental privacy concerns.
Nonetheless, we recognize the concerns
expressed by the National Religious
Broadcasters. To the extent a licensee
fears that online disclosure of donor
information with respect to particular
programs could discourage a donor from
making contributions to the station or
subject donors to unwanted attention or
crime, the licensee may seek a waiver of
the online posting requirement.3
93. National Religious Broadcasters
also argues that mandatory Internet
posting of the identity of donors to NCE
radio stations raises First Amendment
concerns. They argue that many NCE
stations rely on a talk format and carry
programming addressing political or
social issues that are unpopular or
controversial. According to National
Religious Broadcasters, the First
Amendment has been held to require, in
3 As with any of our rules, stations may request
a waiver of the requirement to post donor
information to the online public file under our
general waiver standards. See 47 CFR 1.3. Waivers
of the requirement to post donor lists to the online
public file will be provided, on a program by
program basis to stations that submit a showing that
meets the general waiver standards. Any such
waiver granted by the Commission will be limited
to two years. A party may seek a renewal of the
waiver after the two-year period. Stations who seek
a waiver of the requirement to include information
regarding the donors to particular programs in the
online file are not required to post this donor
information to the online file but may instead retain
this information in the station’s local public file
until Commission review of the waiver request (and
any further judicial review) is complete.
Information regarding donors supporting particular
programs must at all times be retained either in the
online file or, if a waiver request has been filed or
has been granted or is still under review, in the
local public file. If donor information is not
included in the online public file the station must
include a notation in the online file that this
information is available in the station’s local public
file.
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some instances, protection of the
privacy of persons who support certain
social or political causes, particularly
from Internet disclosure. We disagree
that the First Amendment requires that
information regarding donors to specific
NCE programs be excluded from the
online file. Making such already-public
records available via the Internet does
not change the existing requirement that
donors be disclosed in the public file; it
only changes how they are disclosed.
The donor list provides the only
complete information regarding program
sponsorship on noncommercial stations,
public disclosure of which is premised
on the basic concept that the public is
entitled to know by whom they are
being persuaded.
(ii) Content Exempt From the Online
File
94. Letters from the public. We will
exempt letters and emails from the
public from the online file and instead
require broadcast radio stations to retain
such material at the station in a
correspondence file. This is the
approach we took with respect to
television stations in the Second Report
and Order and the approach we
proposed to take with respect to radio
broadcasters in the NPRM. In the
Second Report and Order, the
Commission determined that including
letters and emails from the public in the
online file could risk exposing
personally identifiable information and
that requiring stations to redact such
information prior to uploading these
documents would be overly
burdensome. The Commission
determined that letters and emails from
the public should be maintained at the
station’s main studio either in a paper
file or electronically on a computer.
Further, the Commission clarified that,
as required under the current public
inspection file rules, this file should
include all letters and emails from the
public regarding operation of the station
unless the letter writer has requested
that the letter not be made public or the
licensee feels that it should be excluded
due to the nature of its content. Finally,
the Commission determined that it
would not require stations to retain
social media messages in their
correspondence file. We will apply
these same determinations to radio
broadcasters.
95. Named State Broadcasters
Associations urges us to consider
eliminating the requirement that
broadcasters retain letters from the
public in the public inspection file,
noting that this requirement does not
apply to cable operators. This
commenter argues that if a station could
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move its entire public file online and
eliminate the need to host a local public
file and ensure public access to it, the
overall burden of maintaining the public
inspection file would be reduced.
Consistent with our decision regarding
the television correspondence file,4 we
decline to eliminate in this proceeding
the requirement that commercial radio
stations retain correspondence from the
public, as our focus is on moving the
public file to an online regime and not
on changing its underlying
requirements. While we recognize that
our decision to require a
correspondence file to be retained
locally will prevent stations from
realizing the full cost savings of moving
their public files online, as a practical
matter stations appear to receive few
requests to view letters from the public,
relieving to some extent the impact of
the requirement to retain a local
correspondence file.
4. Satellite Radio Public Inspection File
a. Current Rules
96. Licensees in the satellite radio
service are required to maintain a public
file with two categories of material.
First, SDARS licensees are required to
comply with EEO requirements similar
to those imposed on broadcasters,
including the requirement to file EEO
reports and to maintain those reports in
their public file together with other EEO
program information. Second, satellite
radio licensees are required to maintain
a political file. In addition, SiriusXM,
the current, sole U.S. SDARS licensee,
is required to retain a third category of
material in the public file. SiriusXM
made a voluntary commitment to make
capacity available for noncommercial
educational and informational
programming, similar to the
requirement imposed on DBS providers,
in connection with its merger
application. As part of its approval of
the merger, the Commission required
that the merged entity reserve channels
for educational and informational
programming, offer those channels to
qualified programmers, and comply
with the public file requirements of
section 25.701(f)(6) of the Commission’s
rules, which sets forth public file
requirements for the noncommercial setaside for DBS providers.
b. Online Public File Requirements
97. As we proposed in the NPRM, we
will treat satellite radio licensees in the
same manner as television, cable, DBS,
4 As noted above, however, the Commission will
initiate a separate proceeding to consider whether
to eliminate the correspondence file requirement for
commercial broadcasters.
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and broadcast radio entities by requiring
them to upload to the online file only
material that is not already on file at the
Commission. The only documents that
DBS providers file with the Commission
that must also be retained in their
public inspection files are EEO forms
396 and 397. The Commission will
upload these documents to the online
file. We do not believe that requiring
SDARS licensees to upload other public
file materials to the online file will be
unduly burdensome as the number of
public file requirements for this service
is fewer than for other services
discussed in this item and because the
current, sole U.S. SDARS licensee has
ample financial resources to comply
with this online file requirement. We
also believe that, as with DBS, the
transition to an online file is
particularly important for satellite radio
because of that service’s nationwide
reach and the fact that the current
licensee maintains only one public and
political file for the entire U.S., making
in-person access very difficult.
98. With respect to the political file,
we will treat satellite radio similar to
DBS, as they are both nationwide
services with few licensed service
providers. Similar to the requirement
we adopt for the DBS political file and
consistent with our approach for
television stations, cable systems, and
radio broadcasters, SDARS licensees
will not be required to upload their
existing political files to the online file
but will instead be permitted to
maintain existing material in their
physical political file, and upload
documents to the online political file
only on a going-forward basis. SDARS
licensees must begin uploading new
public and political file material to the
online public file 30 days after the
Commission announces in the Federal
Register that OMB has completed its
review of this Order under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’) and
approved the collection. These licensees
will have six months from the effective
date of the rules (i.e., six months after
the Commission publishes a notice in
the Federal Register announcing OMB
approval under the PRA) to complete
the process of uploading existing public
file materials to the online file, with the
exception of existing political files
which entities are permitted, but not
required, to upload to the Commission’s
online public file.
99. As discussed above, if the FCC’s
online public file database is
temporarily unavailable, we will require
SDARS licensees to make their back-up
political files available to the public by,
at their own choice, either an online
method, via the entity’s own Web site,
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or by answering questions and
accommodating requests for copies of
political file materials made by
telephone. We believe it is appropriate
to require SDARS licensees to provide
access to political file documents either
online or by telephone as these entities
provide service nationwide making inperson access to these files difficult for
most subscribers. In addition, SDARS
licensees have the option to provide
online access to back-up political file
materials in lieu of responding to
telephone inquiries regarding these
materials. Finally, similar to our
decision regarding the organization of
DBS political files, we will permit
SDARS licensees the flexibility to
organize their political files in any
manner that reasonably allows users to
review their contents and reflects how
ads were purchased and shown.
5. Open Video System Operators
100. We decline at this time to require
Open Video System (‘‘OVS’’) operators
to use the Commission’s online public
inspection file. We noted in the NPRM
that OVS operators have several public
file obligations and sought comment on
whether these entities should be
required to make this information
available in the online public file. No
commenters addressed this issue. We
may revisit the issue of OVS use of the
online file at a later time.
IV. Procedural Matters
A. Final Regulatory Flexibility Act
Analysis
101. As required by the Regulatory
Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended
(‘‘RFA’’) an Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Act Analysis (‘‘IRFA’’) was incorporated
in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in
this proceeding. The Commission
sought written public comment on the
proposals in the NPRM, including
comment on the IRFA. The Commission
received no comments on the IRFA.
This Final Regulatory Flexibility Act
Analysis (‘‘FRFA’’) conforms to the
RFA.
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the Commission’s rules have long
required television and radio broadcast
stations to maintain a physical public
inspection file, including a political file,
at their respective stations or
headquarters and to place in the file
records that provide information about
station operations. Cable operators,
satellite TV (also referred to as ‘‘Direct
Broadcast Satellite’’ or ‘‘DBS’’)
providers, broadcast radio licensees,
and satellite radio (also referred to as
‘‘Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services’’
or ‘‘SDARS’’) licensees also have public
and political file requirements modeled,
in large part, on the longstanding
broadcast requirements.
103. In 2012, the Commission adopted
online public file rules for broadcast
television stations that required them to
post public file documents to a central,
FCC-hosted online database rather than
maintaining the files locally at their
main studios. Our goal was to
modernize the procedures television
broadcasters use to inform the public
about how they are serving their
communities, to make information
concerning broadcast service more
accessible to the public and, over time,
to reduce the cost of broadcasters’
compliance. This Report and Order
extends our modernization effort to
include the public file documents that
cable operators, satellite TV (also
referred to as ‘‘Direct Broadcast
Satellite’’ or ‘‘DBS’’) providers,
broadcast radio licensees, and satellite
radio (also referred to as ‘‘Satellite
Digital Audio Radio Services’’ or
‘‘SDARS’’) licensees are required to
maintain. By including these services in
our transition to an online public
inspection file regime, our goal is to
continue our effort to harness the
efficiencies made possible by digital
technology to make public file
information more readily available
while at the same time minimizing the
burden of maintaining the file.
1. Need for, and Objectives of, the
Second Report and Order
2. Summary of Significant Issues Raised
by Public Comments in Response to the
IRFA
104. No comments were filed in
response to the IRFA.
102. One of a television broadcaster’s
fundamental public interest obligations
is to air programming responsive to the
needs and interests of its community of
license. To ensure that stations meet
this obligation, the Commission relies
on viewers and listeners as an important
source of information about the nature
of a station’s programming, operations,
and compliance with Commission rules.
To provide the public with access to
information about station operations,
3. Description and Estimate of the
Number of Small Entities To Which the
Proposed Rules Will Apply
105. The RFA directs agencies to
provide a description of and, where
feasible, an estimate of the number of
small entities that may be affected by
the proposed rules, if adopted. The RFA
generally defines the term ‘‘small
entity’’ as having the same meaning as
the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small
organization,’’ and ‘‘small governmental
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jurisdiction.’’ In addition, the term
‘‘small business’’ has the same meaning
as the term ‘‘small business concern’’
under the Small Business Act. A small
business concern is one which: (1) Is
independently owned and operated; (2)
is not dominant in its field of operation;
and (3) satisfies any additional criteria
established by the SBA. Below, we
provide a description of such small
entities, as well as an estimate of the
number of such small entities, where
feasible.
106. Cable Companies and Systems.
The Commission has developed its own
small business size standards for the
purpose of cable rate regulation. Under
the Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small cable
company’’ is one serving 400,000 or
fewer subscribers nationwide. Industry
data shows that there were are currently
660 cable operators. Of this total, all but
ten cable operators nationwide are small
under this size standard. In addition,
under the Commission’s rate regulation
rules, a ‘‘small system’’ is a cable system
serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers.
Current Commission records show 4,629
cable systems nationwide. Of this total,
4,057 cable systems have less than
20,000 subscribers, and 572 systems
have 20,000 or more subscribers, based
on the same records. Thus, under this
standard, we estimate that most cable
systems are small entities.
107. Cable System Operators
(Telecom Act Standard). The
Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, also contains a size standard
for small cable system operators, which
is ‘‘a cable operator that, directly or
through an affiliate, serves in the
aggregate fewer than 1 percent of all
subscribers in the United States and is
not affiliated with any entity or entities
whose gross annual revenues in the
aggregate exceed $250,000,000.’’ There
are approximately 54 million cable
video subscribers in the United States
today. Accordingly, an operator serving
fewer than 540,000 subscribers shall be
deemed a small operator if its annual
revenues, when combined with the total
annual revenues of all its affiliates, do
not exceed $250 million in the
aggregate. Based on available data, we
find that all but ten incumbent cable
operators are small entities under this
size standard. We note that the
Commission neither requests nor
collects information on whether cable
system operators are affiliated with
entities whose gross annual revenues
exceed $250 million. Although it seems
certain that some of these cable system
operators are affiliated with entities
whose gross annual revenues exceed
$250,000,000, we are unable at this time
to estimate with greater precision the
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number of cable system operators that
would qualify as small cable operators
under the definition in the
Communications Act.
108. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)
Service. DBS service is a nationally
distributed subscription service that
delivers video and audio programming
via satellite to a small parabolic ‘‘dish’’
antenna at the subscriber’s location.
DBS, by exception, is now included in
the SBA’s broad economic census
category, Wired Telecommunications
Carriers, which was developed for small
wireline businesses. Under this
category, the SBA deems a wireline
business to be small if it has 1,500 or
fewer employees. Census data for 2007
shows that there were 3,188 firms that
operated for that entire year. Of this
total, 2,940 firms had fewer than 100
employees, and 248 firms had 100 or
more employees. Therefore, under this
size standard, the majority of such
businesses can be considered small
entities. However, the data we have
available as a basis for estimating the
number of such small entities were
gathered under a superseded SBA small
business size standard formerly titled
‘‘Cable and Other Program
Distribution.’’ As of 2002, the SBA
defined a small Cable and Other
Program Distribution provider as one
with $12.5 million or less in annual
receipts. Currently, only two entities
provide DBS service, which requires a
great investment of capital for operation:
DIRECTV and DISH Network. Each
currently offers subscription services.
DIRECTV and DISH Network each
report annual revenues that are in
excess of the threshold for a small
business. Because DBS service requires
significant capital, we believe it is
unlikely that a small entity as defined
under the superseded SBA size standard
would have the financial wherewithal to
become a DBS service provider.
109. Radio Broadcasting. The SBA
defines a radio broadcast station as a
small business if such station has no
more than $38.5 million in annual
receipts. Business concerns included in
this industry are those ‘‘primarily
engaged in broadcasting aural programs
by radio to the public.’’ According to
review of the BIA Publications, Inc.
Master Access Radio Analyzer Database
as of November 26, 2013, about 11,331
(or about 99.9 percent) of the then
number of commercial radio stations
(11,341) have revenues of $35.5 million
or less and thus qualify as small entities
under the SBA definition. The
Commission has estimated the number
of licensed noncommercial radio
stations to be 4,090. The Commission
does not compile and otherwise does
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not have access to information on the
revenue of NCE stations that would
permit it to determine how many such
stations would qualify as small entities.
These stations rely primarily on grants
and contributions for their operations,
so we will assume that all of these
entities qualify as small businesses. We
note that in assessing whether a
business entity qualifies as small under
the above definition, business control
affiliations must be included. This
estimate, therefore, likely overstates the
number of small entities that might be
affected, because the revenue figure on
which it is based does not include or
aggregate revenues from affiliated
companies.
110. In addition, an element of the
definition of ‘‘small business’’ is that the
entity not be dominant in its field of
operation. The Commission is unable at
this time to define or quantify the
criteria that would establish whether a
specific radio station is dominant in its
field of operation. Accordingly, the
estimate of small businesses to which
rules may apply does not exclude any
radio station from the definition of a
small business on this basis and
therefore may be over-inclusive to that
extent. Also, as noted, an additional
element of the definition of ‘‘small
business’’ is that the entity must be
independently owned and operated.
The Commission notes that it is difficult
at times to assess these criteria in the
context of media entities and the
estimates of small businesses to which
they apply may be over-inclusive to this
extent.
111. Satellite Radio. The rules
proposed in this NPRM would affect the
sole, current U.S. provider of satellite
radio (‘‘SDARS’’) services, XM-Sirius,
which offers subscription services. XMSirius reported revenue of $3.8 billion
in 2013 and a net income of $377
million. In light of these figures, we
believe it is unlikely that this entity
would be considered small.
4. Description of Projected Reporting,
Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance
Requirements
112. The rule changes adopted in the
Report and Order affect reporting,
recordkeeping, or other compliance
requirements. Cable, DBS, broadcast
radio, and SDARS entities are currently
required to maintain a ‘‘local’’ copy of
their public inspection files. The Report
and Order requires these entities to
submit documents, including political
file materials, for inclusion in an online
public file hosted on the Commission’s
Web site. Items in the public file that are
required to be filed with the
Commission will be automatically
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imported into the entity’s online public
file. Entities will only be responsible for
uploading to the online file items that
are not required to be filed with the
Commission under any other rule. The
Report and Order also excludes some
items from the online public file
requirement, such as the existing
political file, which must continue to be
maintained locally until the end of the
retention period unless voluntarily
uploaded to the online file. Office staff
will be able to upload documents to the
online file in most cases; no
professional skills will generally be
necessary to perform that task.
5. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant
Economic Impact on Small Entities, and
Significant Alternatives Considered
113. The RFA requires an agency to
describe any significant alternatives that
it has considered in reaching its
proposed approach, which may include
the following four alternatives (among
others): (1) The establishment of
differing compliance or reporting
requirements or timetables that take into
account the resources available to small
entities; (2) the clarification,
consolidation, or simplification of
compliance or reporting requirements
under the rule for small entities; (3) the
use of performance, rather than design,
standards; and (4) an exemption from
coverage of the rule, or any part thereof,
for small entities.
114. The Report and Order includes a
number of measures designed to
minimize the effort and cost entities
must undertake to move their public
files online. Specifically, we require
entities to upload to the online file only
public file documents that are not
already on file with the Commission or
that the Commission maintains in its
own database. We also exempt existing
political file material from the online
file requirement and require only that
political file documents be uploaded on
a going-forward basis. In addition, with
only minor exceptions—requiring cable
operators to provide information about
the geographic areas they serve and the
employment units associated with each
cable system, clarifying the documents
required to be included in the cable
public file, and requiring cable, DBS,
broadcast radio, and SDARS entities to
provide certain location and contact
information for their local file—we do
not adopt new or modified public
inspection file requirements in this
proceeding. Our goal is to adapt our
existing public file requirements to an
online format. While we recognize that
entities may incur a modest, one-time
transitional cost to upload some
portions of their existing public file to
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the online database, we believe this
initial expense will be offset by the
public benefits of online disclosure. We
also believe that, over time, entities will
benefit from the lower costs of sending
documents electronically to the
Commission as opposed to creating and
maintaining a paper file at the local or
headquarters’ office or main studio and
assisting the public in accessing it.
115. In addition, with respect to radio
licensees the Report and Order
commences the transition to an online
file with commercial stations in larger
markets with five or more full-time
employees, while postponing for two
years all online file requirements for
other radio stations. This delay will give
these stations additional time to
familiarize themselves with the online
filing requirements and will permit
them to spread out their transition to the
online file over a period of two years.
The Report and Order also exempts
small cable systems temporarily from
the requirement to commence uploading
new political file material to the online
public file and exempts very small cable
systems from all requirements to upload
documents to the Commission’s online
database.
116. Overall, we believe that the
Report and Order appropriately
balances the interests of the public
against the interests of the entities who
will be subject to the rules, including
those that are smaller entities.
6. Federal Rules That May Duplicate,
Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed
Rule
None.
B. Report to Congress
117. The Commission will send a
copy of this Order to Congress and the
Government Accountability Office
pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
C. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis
118. This document contains new or
modified information collection
requirements subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The
requirements will be submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review under section 3507(d)
of the PRA. OMB, the general public,
and other Federal agencies will be
invited to comment on the new or
modified information collection
requirements contained in this
proceeding. In addition, we note that
pursuant to the Small Business
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, we
previously sought specific comment on
how the Commission might further
reduce the information collection
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10121
burden for small business concerns with
fewer than 25 employees.
V. Ordering Clauses
119. Accordingly, it is ordered that,
pursuant to the authority contained in
sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 303(r), 315, and 335
of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j),
303(r), 315, and 335 this Report and
Order is adopted.
120. It is further ordered that the
requirement that cable systems with
1,000 or more subscribers, DBS
providers, SDARS licensees, and large
market commercial radio stations with
five or more full-time employees place
their new public inspection file
documents on the Commission-hosted
online public file shall be effective 30
days after the Commission publishes a
notice in the Federal Register
announcing OMB approval. These
entities will be responsible for placing
existing public file documents into the
Commission-hosted online public file
within six months after the Commission
published a notice in the Federal
Register announcing OMB approval.
Entities will not be required to place in
the online public file existing political
file material. Cable systems with 1,000
or more subscribers but fewer than
5,000 subscribers will not be required to
place new political file material in the
Commission’s online file until March 1,
2018. In addition, until March 1, 2018,
all NCE radio broadcast stations,
commercial radio broadcast stations in
the top 50 markets with fewer than five
full-time employees, and all commercial
radio broadcast stations in markets
below the top 50 or outside all markets
are exempt from all requirements to
place public file materials in the online
public file. As of March 1, 2018 these
entities must place all existing public
file material in the online public file,
with the exception of existing political
file material, and must begin placing all
new public and political file material in
the online file. Commercial broadcast
radio licensees must continue to retain
letters and emails from the public in the
local public file and will not be
permitted to upload those materials to
the online public file.
121. It is further ordered that the
Commission’s Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference
Information Center, shall send a copy of
this Report and Order including the
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to
the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration.
122. It is further ordered that the
Commission shall send a copy of this
Report and Order in a report to Congress
and the Government Accountability
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Office pursuant to the Congressional
Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects
47 CFR Part 25
Direct Broadcast Satellite, Satellite
radio, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements
47 CFR Part 73
Radio, Recording and recordkeeping
requirements
47 CFR Part 76
Cable television, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
Final Rules
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Federal Communications
Commission amends 47 CFR parts 25,
73, and 76 as follows:
PART 25—SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONS
1. The authority citation for part 25
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: Interprets or applies sections 4,
301, 302, 303, 307, 309, 319, 332, 705, and
721 of the Communications Act, as amended,
47 U.S.C. 154, 301, 302, 303, 307, 309, 319,
332, 705, and 721, unless otherwise noted.
2. Section 25.601 is amended by
revising the last sentence to read as
follows:
■
§ 25.601
Equal employment opportunities.
* * * Notwithstanding other EEO
provisions within these rules, a licensee
or permittee of a direct broadcast
satellite station operating as a
broadcaster, and a licensee or permittee
in the satellite DARS service, must
comply with the equal employment
opportunity requirements set forth in 47
CFR part 73.
■ 3. Section 25.701 is amended by
revising the section heading, paragraph
(d) introductory text, and paragraph
(d)(2), removing paragraph (d)(3), and
revising paragraphs (e)(3) and (f)(6) to
read as follows:
§ 25.701 Other DBS Public interest
obligations.
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*
*
*
*
*
(d) Political file. Each DBS provider
shall maintain a complete and orderly
political file.
*
*
*
*
*
(2) All records required to be retained
by this section must be placed in the
political file as soon as possible and
must be retained for a period of two
years. After the effective date of this
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section, DBS providers shall place all
new political file material required to be
retained by this section in the online file
hosted by the Commission.
(e) * * *
(3) DBS providers airing children’s
programming must maintain in the
online file hosted by the Commission
records sufficient to verify compliance
with this rule. Such records must be
maintained for a period sufficient to
cover the limitations period specified in
47 U.S.C. 503(b)(6)(B).
*
*
*
*
*
(f) * * *
(6) Public file. (i) In addition to the
political file requirements in § 25.701,
each DBS provider shall maintain in the
online file hosted by the Commission a
complete and orderly record of:
(A) Quarterly measurements of
channel capacity and yearly average
calculations on which it bases its four
percent reservation, as well as its
response to any capacity changes;
(B) A record of entities to whom
noncommercial capacity is being
provided, the amount of capacity being
provided to each entity, the conditions
under which it is being provided and
the rates, if any, being paid by the
entity;
(C) A record of entities that have
requested capacity, disposition of those
requests and reasons for the disposition.
(ii) All records required by paragraph
(i) of this paragraph shall be placed in
the online file hosted by the
Commission as soon as possible and
shall be retained for a period of two
years.
(iii) Each DBS provider must also
place in the online file hosted by the
Commission the records required to be
placed in the public inspection file by
§ 25.701(e) (commercial limits in
children’s programs) and by § 25.601
and 47 CFR part 76, subpart E (equal
employment opportunity requirements)
and retain those records for the period
required by those rules.
(iv) Each DBS provider must provide
a link to the online public inspection
file hosted on the Commission’s Web
site from the home page of its own Web
site, if the provider has a Web site, and
provide on its Web site contact
information for a representative who
can assist any person with disabilities
with issues related to the content of the
public files. Each DBS provider also
must include in the online public file
hosted by the Commission the address
of the provider’s local public file, if the
provider retains documents in the local
public file that are not available in the
Commission’s online file, and the name,
phone number, and email address of the
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provider’s designated contact for
questions about the public file.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 4. Section 25.702 is added to read as
follows:
§ 25.702 Other SDARS Public interest
obligations.
(a) Political broadcasting
requirements. The following political
broadcasting rules shall apply to all
SDARS licensees: 47 CFR 73.1940
(Legally qualified candidates for public
office), 73.1941 (Equal opportunities),
73.1942 (Candidate rates), and 73.1944
(Reasonable access).
(b) Political file. Each SDARS licensee
shall maintain a complete and orderly
political file.
(1) The political file shall contain, at
a minimum:
(i) A record of all requests for SDARS
origination time, the disposition of
those requests, and the charges made, if
any, if the request is granted. The
‘‘disposition’’ includes the schedule of
time purchased, when spots actually
aired, the rates charged, and the classes
of time purchased; and
(ii) A record of the free time provided
if free time is provided for use by or on
behalf of candidates.
(2) SDARS licensees shall place all
records required by this section in the
political file as soon as possible and
shall retain the records for a period of
two years. After the effective date of this
section, SDARS licensees shall place all
new political file material required to be
retained by this section in the online
public file hosted by the Commission.
(c) Public inspection file. (1) Each
SDARS applicant or licensee must also
place in the online public file hosted by
the Commission the records required to
be placed in the public inspection file
by 47 CFR 25.601 and 73.2080 (equal
employment opportunities (EEO)) and
retain those records for the period
required by those rules.
(2) Each SDARS licensee must
provide a link to the public inspection
file hosted on the Commission’s Web
site from the home page of its own Web
site, if the licensee has a Web site, and
provide on its Web site contact
information for a representative who
can assist any person with disabilities
with issues related to the content of the
public files. Each SDARS licensee also
must include in the online public file
the address of the licensee’s local public
file, if the licensee retains documents in
the local public file that are not
available in the Commission’s online
file, and the name, phone number, and
email address of the licensee’s
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designated contact for questions about
the public file.
*
*
*
*
*
PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST
SERVICES
5. The authority citation for part 73
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336,
and 339.
6. Section 73.1943 is amended by
revising paragraph (d) to read as
follows:
■
§ 73.1943
Political file.
*
*
*
*
*
(d) Location of the file. A licensee or
applicant must post all of the contents
added to its political file after the
effective date of this paragraph in the
political file component of its online
public file hosted by the Commission. A
station must retain in its political file
maintained at the station, at the location
specified in § 73.3526(b) or § 73.3527(b),
all material required to be included in
the political file and added to the file
prior to the effective date of this
paragraph, unless the station elects
voluntarily to place these materials in
the Commission’s online public file.
The online political file must be
updated in the same manner as
paragraph (c) of this section.
■ 7. Section 73.3526 is amended by
revising paragraph (b)(1) through (3) to
read as follows:
§ 73.3526 Local public inspection file of
commercial stations.
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*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(1) For radio licensees temporarily
exempt from the online public file
hosted by the Commission, as discussed
in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, a
hard copy of the public inspection file
shall be maintained at the main studio
of the station, unless the licensee elects
voluntarily to place the file online as
discussed in paragraph (b)(2) of this
section. For all licensees, letters and
emails from the public, as required by
paragraph (e)(9) of this section, shall be
maintained at the main studio of the
station. An applicant for a new station
or change of community shall maintain
its file at an accessible place in the
proposed community of license or at its
proposed main studio.
(2)(i) A television station licensee or
applicant, and any radio station licensee
or applicant not temporarily exempt as
described in this paragraph, shall place
the contents required by paragraph (e) of
this section of its public inspection file
in the online public file hosted by the
Commission, with the exception of
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Jkt 238001
letters and emails from the public as
required by paragraph (e)(9) of this
section, which shall be retained at the
station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section; and the
political file as required by paragraph
(e)(6) of this section, as discussed in
paragraph (b)(3) of this section. Any
radio station not in the top 50 Nielsen
Audio markets, and any radio station
with fewer than five full-time
employees, shall continue to retain the
public inspection file at the station in
the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section until March 1,
2018. However, any radio station that is
not required to place its public
inspection file in the online public file
hosted by the Commission before March
1, 2018 may choose to do so, instead of
retaining the public inspection file at
the station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
(ii) A station must provide a link to
the public inspection file hosted on the
Commission’s Web site from the home
page of its own Web site, if the station
has a Web site, and provide contact
information on its Web site for a station
representative that can assist any person
with disabilities with issues related to
the content of the public files. A station
also is required to include in the online
public file the station’s main studio
address and telephone number, and the
email address of the station’s designated
contact for questions about the public
file. To the extent this section refers to
the local public inspection file, it refers
to the public file of an individual
station, which is either maintained at
the station or on the Commission’s Web
site, depending upon where the
documents are required to be
maintained under the Commission’s
rules.
(3)(i) A licensee or applicant shall
place the contents required by
paragraph (e)(6) of this section of its
political inspection file in the online
public file hosted by the Commission.
Political inspection file material already
in existence 30 days after the effective
date of this provision, if not placed in
the online public file hosted by the
Commission, shall continue to be
retained at the station in the manner
discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section until the end of its retention
period.
(ii) Any television station not in the
top 50 DMAs, and any station not
affiliated with one of the top four
broadcast networks, regardless of the
size of the market it serves, shall
continue to retain the political file at the
station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section until July
1, 2014. For these stations, effective July
PO 00000
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10123
1, 2014, any new political file material
shall be placed in the online file hosted
by the Commission, while the material
in the political file as of July 1, 2014, if
not placed in the Commission’s Web
site, shall continue to be retained at the
station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section until the
end of its retention period. However,
any station that is not required to place
its political file in the online file hosted
by the Commission before July 1, 2014
may choose to do so, instead of
retaining the political file at the station
in the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section.
(iii) Any radio station not in the top
50 Nielsen Audio markets, and any
radio station with fewer than five fulltime employees, shall continue to retain
the political file at the station in the
manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of
this section until March 1, 2018. For
these stations, effective March 1, 2018,
any new political file material shall be
placed in the online public file hosted
by the Commission, while the material
already existing in the political file as of
March 1, 2018, if not placed in the
online public file hosted by the
Commission, shall continue to be
retained at the station in the manner
discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section until the end of its retention
period. However, any station that is not
required to place its political file on the
Commission’s Web site before March 1,
2018, may choose to do so, instead of
retaining the political file at the station
in the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 8. Section 73.3527 is amended by
revising paragraph (b)(1) and (2) to read
as follows:
§ 73.3527 Local public inspection file of
noncommercial educational stations.
*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(1) For radio licensees, a hard copy of
the public inspection file shall be
maintained at the main studio of the
station until March 1, 2018, except that,
as discussed in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of
this section, any radio station may
voluntarily place its public inspection
file in the online public file hosted by
the Commission before March 1, 2018,
if it chooses to do so, instead of
retaining the file at the station. An
applicant for a new station or change of
community shall maintain its file at an
accessible place in the proposed
community of license or at its proposed
main studio.
(2)(i) A noncommercial educational
television station licensee or applicant
shall place the contents required by
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paragraph (e) of this section of its public
inspection file in the online public file
hosted by the Commission, with the
exception of the political file as required
by paragraph (e)(5) of this section,
which may be retained at the station in
the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section until July 1, 2014.
Effective July 1, 2014, any new political
file material shall be placed in the
online public file hosted by the
Commission, while the material in the
political file as of July 1, 2014, if not
placed in the Commission’s online
public file, shall continue to be retained
at the station in the manner discussed
in paragraph (b)(1) of this section until
the end of its retention period. However,
any noncommercial educational station
that is not required to place its political
file in the online public file hosted by
the Commission before July 1, 2014 may
choose to do so instead of retaining the
political file at the station in the manner
discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section.
(ii) Beginning March 1, 2018,
noncommercial educational radio
station licensees and applicants shall
place the contents required by
paragraph (e) in the online public
inspection file hosted by the
Commission. For these stations,
effective March 1, 2018, any new
political file material shall be placed in
the Commission’s online public file,
while the material in the political file as
of March 1, 2018, if not placed in the
Commission’s online public file, shall
continue to be retained at the station in
the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section until the end of its
retention period. However, any radio
station that is not required to place its
public inspection file in the online
public file hosted by the Commission
before March 1, 2018, may choose to do
so, instead of retaining the public
inspection file at the station in the
manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1).
(iii) A station must provide a link to
the online public inspection file hosted
by the Commission from the home page
of its own Web site, if the station has a
Web site, and provide contact
information for a station representative
on its Web site that can assist any
person with disabilities with issues
related to the content of the public files.
A station also is required to include in
the online public file hosted by the
Commission the station’s main studio
address and telephone number, and the
email address of the station’s designated
contact for questions about the public
file. To the extent this section refers to
the local public inspection file, it refers
to the public file of an individual
station, which is either maintained at
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the station or on the Commission’s Web
site, depending upon where the
documents are required to be
maintained under the Commission’s
rules.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 9. Section 73.3580 is amended by
revising paragraph (d)(4)(i) introductory
text and paragraph (d)(4)(ii)
introductory text to read as follows:
§ 73.3580 Local public notice of filing of
broadcast applications.
*
*
*
*
*
(d) * * *
(4) * * *
(i) Pre-filing announcements. During
the period and beginning on the first
day of the sixth calendar month prior to
the expiration of the license, and
continuing to the date on which the
application is filed, the following
announcement shall be broadcast on the
1st and 16th day of each calendar
month. Stations broadcasting primarily
in a foreign language should broadcast
the announcements in that language.
Radio announcement: On (date of last
renewal grant) (Station’s call letters) was
granted a license by the Federal
Communication Commission to serve
the public interest as a public trustee
until (expiration date).
Our license will expire on (date). We
must file an application for renewal
with the FCC (date four calendar
months prior to expiration date). When
filed, a copy of this application will be
available for public inspection at
www.fcc.gov. It contains information
concerning this station’s performance
during the last (period of time covered
by the application). Individuals who
wish to advise the FCC of facts relating
to our renewal application and to
whether this station has operated in the
public interest should file comments
and petitions with the FCC by (date first
day of last full calendar month prior to
the month of expiration).
Further information concerning the
FCC’s broadcast license renewal process
is available at (address of location of the
station) or may be obtained from the
FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
Television announcement: On (date of
last renewal grant) (Station’s call letters)
was granted a license by the Federal
Communication Commission to serve
the public interest as a public trustee
until (expiration date).
Our license will expire on (date). We
must file an application for renewal
with the FCC (date four calendar
months prior to expiration date). When
filed, a copy of this application will be
available for public inspection at
www.fcc.gov. It contains information
concerning this station’s performance
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during the last (period of time covered
by the application).
Individuals who wish to advise the
FCC of facts relating to our renewal
application and to whether this station
has operated in the public interest
should file comments and petitions with
the FCC by (date first day of last full
calendar month prior to the month of
expiration).
Further information concerning the
FCC’s broadcast license renewal process
is available at (address of location of the
station) or may be obtained from the
FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
*
*
*
*
*
(ii) Post-filing announcements. During
the period beginning of the date on
which the renewal application is filed to
the sixteenth day of the next to last full
calendar month prior to the expiration
of the license, all applications for
renewal of broadcast station licenses
shall broadcast the following
announcement on the 1st and 16th day
of each calendar month. Stations
broadcasting primarily in a foreign
language should broadcast the
announcements in that language.
Television announcement: On (date of
last renewal grant) (Station’s call letters)
was granted a license by the Federal
Communications Commission to serve
the public interest as a public trustee
until (expiration date).
Our license will expire on (date). We
have filed an application for renewal
with the FCC.
A copy of this application is available
for public inspection at www.fcc.gov. It
contains information concerning this
station’s performance during the last
(period of time covered by application).
Individuals who wish to advise the
FCC of facts relating to our renewal
application and to whether this station
has operated in the public interest
should file comments and petitions with
the FCC by (date first day of last full
calendar month prior to the month of
expiration).
Further information concerning the
FCC’s broadcast license renewal process
is available at (address of location of the
station) or may be obtained from the
FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
Radio announcement: On (date of last
renewal grant) (Station’s call letters) was
granted a license by the Federal
Communications Commission to serve
the public interest as a public trustee
until (expiration date).
Our license will expire on (date). We
have filed an application for renewal
with the FCC.
A copy of this application is available
for public inspection at www.fcc.gov. It
contains information concerning this
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station’s performance during the last
(period of time covered by application).
Individuals who wish to advise the
FCC of facts relating to our renewal
application and to whether this station
has operated in the public interest
should file comments and petitions with
the FCC by (date first day of last full
calendar month prior to the month of
expiration).
Further information concerning the
FCC’s broadcast license renewal process
is available at (address of location of the
station) or may be obtained from the
FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
*
*
*
*
*
PART 76—MULTICHANNEL VIDEO
AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE
10. The authority citation for part 76
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 153, 154,
301, 302, 302a, 303, 303a, 307, 308, 309, 312,
315, 317, 325, 339, 340, 341, 503, 521, 522,
531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 537, 543, 544, 544a,
545, 548, 549, 552, 554, 556, 558, 560, 561,
571, 572, 573.
11. Section 76.630 is amended by
revising the first undesignated
paragraph below paragraph (a)(2)
introductory text to read as follows:
■
§ 76.630 Compatibility with consumer
electronics equipment.
(a) * * *
(2) * * *
On (date of waiver request was filed
with the Commission), (cable operator’s
name) filed with the Federal
Communications Commission a request
for waiver of the rule prohibiting
scrambling of channels on the basic tier
of service. 47 CFR 76.630(a). The
request for waiver states (a brief
summary of the waiver request). A copy
of the request for waiver shall be
available for public inspection at
www.fcc.gov.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 12. Section 76.1700 is revised to read
as follows:
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
§ 76.1700 Records to be maintained by
cable system operators.
(a) Public inspection file. The
following records must be placed in the
online public file hosted by the
Commission, except as indicated in
paragraphs (a)(6) and (d) of this section
and except that the records listed in
paragraph (a)(1) of this section (political
file) that are in existence 30 days after
the effective date of this provision, if not
placed in the online file, shall continue
to be retained at the system and made
available to the public in the manner
discussed in paragraph (e) of this
section until the end of the retention
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Jkt 238001
period. In addition, any cable system
with fewer than 5,000 subscribers shall
continue to retain the political file at the
system in the manner discussed in
paragraph (e) of this section until March
1, 2018. For these systems, effective
March 1, 2018, any new political file
material shall be placed in the online
file hosted by the Commission, while
the material in the political file as of
March 1, 2018, if not placed on the
Commission’s Web site, shall continue
to be retained at the system in the
manner discussed in paragraph (e) of
this section until the end of its retention
period. However, any system that is not
required to place its political file on the
Commission’s Web site before March 1,
2018 may choose to do so, instead of
retaining the political file at the
system.in the manner discussed in
paragraph (e) of this section.
(1) Political file. All requests for
cablecast time made by or on behalf of
a candidate for public office and all
other information required to be
maintained pursuant to § 76.1701;
(2) Equal employment opportunity.
All EEO materials described in
§ 76.1702 except for any EEO program
annual reports, which the Commission
will link to the electronic version of all
systems’ public inspection files;
(3) Commercial records on children’s
programs. Sufficient records to verify
compliance with § 76.225 in accordance
with § 76.1703;
(4) Performance tests (channels
delivered). The operator of each cable
television system shall maintain a
current listing of the cable television
channels which that system delivers to
its subscribers in accordance with
§ 76.1705;
(5) Leased access. If a cable operator
adopts and enforces written policy
regarding indecent leased access
programming, such a policy shall be
published in accordance with § 76.1707;
(6) Principal headend. The operator of
every cable system shall maintain in its
public inspection file the designation
and location of its principal headend in
accordance with § 76.1708. Cable
systems may elect not to post this
information to the Commission’s online
file but instead retain this information
in their local public file maintained in
the manner discussed in paragraph (e)
of this section;
(7) Availability of signals. The
operator of every cable television system
shall maintain a list of all broadcast
television stations carried by its system
in fulfillment of the must-carry
requirements in accordance with
§ 76.1709;
(8) Operator interests in video
programming. Cable operators shall
PO 00000
Frm 00069
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
10125
maintain records regarding the nature
and extent of their attributable interests
in all video programming services as
well as information regarding their
carriage of such vertically integrated
video programming services on cable
systems in which they have an
attributable interests in accordance with
§ 76.1710;
(9) Sponsorship identification.
Whenever sponsorship announcements
are omitted pursuant to § 76.1615(f) of
Subpart T, the cable television system
operator shall maintain a list in
accordance with § 76.1715;
(10) Compatibility with consumer
electronics equipment. Cable system
operators generally may not scramble or
otherwise encrypt signals carried on the
basic service tier. Copies of requests for
waivers of this prohibition must be
available in the public inspection file in
accordance with § 76.630.
(b) Information available to the
franchisor. These records must be made
available by cable system operators to
local franchising authorities on
reasonable notice and during regular
business hours, except as indicated in
paragraph (d) of this section.
(1) Proof-of-performance test data.
The proof of performance tests shall be
made available upon request in
accordance with § 76.1704;
(2) Complaint resolution. Cable
system operators shall establish a
process for resolving complaints from
subscribers about the quality of the
television signal delivered. Aggregate
data based upon these complaints shall
be made available for inspection in
accordance with § 76.1713.
(c) Information available to the
Commission. These records must be
made available by cable system
operators to the Commission on
reasonable notice and during regular
business hours, except as indicated in
paragraph (d) of this section.
(1) Proof-of-performance test data.
The proof of performance tests shall be
made available upon request in
accordance with § 76.1704;
(2) Signal leakage logs and repair
records. Cable operators shall maintain
a log showing the date and location of
each leakage source in accordance with
§ 76.1706;
(3) Emergency alert system and
activations. Every cable system shall
keep a record of each test and activation
of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).
The test is performed pursuant to the
procedures and requirements of part 11
of this chapter and the EAS Operating
Handbook. The records are kept in
accordance with part 11 of this chapter
and § 76.1711;
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 39 / Monday, February 29, 2016 / Rules and Regulations
(4) Complaint resolution. Cable
system operators shall establish a
process for resolving complaints from
subscribers about the quality of the
television signal delivered. Aggregate
data based upon these complaints shall
be made available for inspection in
accordance with § 76.1713;
(5) Subscriber records and public
inspection file. The operator of a cable
television system shall make the system,
its public inspection file, and its records
of subscribers available for inspection
upon request in accordance with
§ 76.1716.
(d) Exceptions to the public
inspection file requirements. The
operator of every cable television system
having fewer than 1,000 subscribers is
exempt from the online public file and
from the public record requirements
contained in § 76.1701 (political file);
§ 76.1702 (EEO records available for
public inspection); § 76.1703
(commercial records for children’s
programming); § 76.1704 (proof-ofperformance test data); § 76.1706 (signal
leakage logs and repair records);
§ 76.1714 (FCC rules and regulations);
and § 76.1715 (sponsorship
identification).
(e) Location of records. Public file
material that continues to be retained at
the system shall be retained in a public
inspection file maintained at the office
in the community served by the system
that the system operator maintains for
the ordinary collection of subscriber
charges, resolution of subscriber
complaints, and other business and, if
the system operator does not maintain
such an office in the community, at any
accessible place in the communities
served by the system (such as a public
registry for documents or an attorney’s
office). Public file locations will be open
at least during normal business hours
and will be conveniently located. The
public inspection file shall be available
for public inspection at any time during
regular business hours for the facility
where they are kept. All or part of the
public inspection file may be
maintained in a computer database, as
long as a computer terminal capable of
accessing the database is made
available, at the location of the file, to
members of the public who wish to
review the file.
(f) Links and contact and geographic
information. A system must provide a
link to the public inspection file hosted
on the Commission’s Web site from the
home page of its own Web site, if the
system has a Web site, and provide
contact information on its Web site for
a system representative who can assist
any person with disabilities with issues
related to the content of the public files.
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16:24 Feb 26, 2016
Jkt 238001
A system also is required to include in
the online public file the address of the
system’s local public file, if the system
retains documents in the local file that
are not available in the Commission’s
online file, and the name, phone
number, and email address of the
system’s designated contact for
questions about the public file. In
addition, a system must provide on the
online public file a list of the five digit
ZIP codes served by the system. To the
extent this section refers to the local
public inspection file, it refers to the
public file of a physical system, which
is either maintained at the location
described in paragraph (e) or on the
Commission’s Web site, depending
upon where the documents are required
to be maintained under the
Commission’s rules.
(g) Reproduction of records. Copies of
any material in the public inspection
file that is not also available in the
Commission’s online file shall be
available for machine reproduction
upon request made in person, provided
the requesting party shall pay the
reasonable cost of reproduction.
Requests for machine copies shall be
fulfilled at a location specified by the
system operator, within a reasonable
period of time, which in no event shall
be longer than seven days. The system
operator is not required to honor
requests made by mail but may do so if
it chooses.
■ 13. Section 76.1702 is amended by
revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
system associated with the headquarters
employment unit.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 14. Section 76.1709 is amended by
revising paragraphs (a) and (b) to read
as follows:
§ 76.1702
AGENCY:
Equal employment opportunity.
(a) Every employment unit with six or
more full-time employees shall maintain
for public inspection a file containing
copies of all EEO program annual
reports filed with the Commission
pursuant to § 76.77 and the equal
employment opportunity program
information described in paragraph (b)
of this section. These materials shall be
placed in the Commission’s online
public inspection file(s), maintained on
the Commission’s database, for each
cable system associated with the
employment unit. These materials shall
be placed in the Commission’s online
public inspection file annually by the
date that the unit’s EEO program annual
report is due to be filed and shall be
retained for a period of five years. A
headquarters employment unit file and
a file containing a consolidated set of all
documents pertaining to the other
employment units of a multichannel
video programming distributor that
operates multiple units shall be
maintained in the online public
inspection file(s), maintained on the
Commission’s database, for every cable
PO 00000
Frm 00070
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
§ 76.1709
Availability of signals.
(a) The operator of every cable
television system shall maintain for
public inspection a file containing a list
of all broadcast television stations
carried by its system in fulfillment of
the must-carry requirements pursuant to
§ 76.56. Such list shall include the call
sign, community of license, broadcast
channel number, cable channel number,
and in the case of a noncommercial
educational broadcast station, whether
that station was carried by the cable
system on March 29, 1990.
(b) Such records must be maintained
in accordance with the provisions of
§ 76.1700.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2016–04117 Filed 2–26–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
49 CFR Part 236
[Docket No. FRA–2016–0012, Notice No. 1]
RIN 2130–AC56
Positive Train Control Systems
Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Final rule.
FRA is amending its
regulations to address changes in
deadlines for positive train control
(PTC) system implementation required
by the Positive Train Control
Enforcement and Implementation Act of
2015. FRA is also making conforming
amendments and removing portions of
its PTC regulations that are no longer
applicable.
SUMMARY:
This final rule is effective April
29, 2016. Petitions for reconsideration
must be received on or before April 19,
2016. Petitions for reconsideration will
be posted in the docket for this
proceeding. Comments on any
submitted petition for reconsideration
must be received on or before June 3,
2016.
DATES:
Petitions for reconsideration
and comments on petitions for
reconsideration: Any petitions for
reconsideration or comments on
ADDRESSES:
E:\FR\FM\29FER1.SGM
29FER1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 39 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10105-10126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04117]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 25, 73, and 76
[MB Docket No. 14-127; FCC 16-4]
Expansion of Online Public File Obligations to Cable and
Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission expand the list of entities
that will be required to post their public inspection files to the
FCC's online database. In 2012, the Commission adopted online public
file rules that required broadcast television stations to post public
file documents to a central, FCC-hosted online database rather than
maintaining paper files locally at their main studios. Our goals were
to modernize the procedures television broadcasters use to inform the
public about how they are serving their communities, to make
information concerning broadcast service more accessible to the public,
and, over time, to reduce the cost of broadcasters' compliance. This
final rule document continues our modernization effort by expanding the
online file to other media entities to extend the benefits of improved
public access to public inspection files and, ultimately, reduce the
burden of maintaining these files.
DATES: Effective February 29, 2016, except for the amendments to 47 CFR
25.701, 25,702, 73.1943, 73.3526, 73.3527, 73.3580, 76.630, 76.1700,
76.1702, and 76.1709 which contain information collection requirements
that have not been approved by OMB. The Commission will publish a
document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Matthews, Media Bureau, Policy
Division, 202-418-2154, or email at kim.matthews@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Report
and Order, FCC 16-4, adopted on January 28, 2016 and released on
January 29, 2016. The full text of this document is available for
public inspection and copying during regular business hours in the FCC
Reference Center, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street
SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. This document will also be
available via ECFS at https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/. Documents will be
available electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe
Acrobat. Alternative formats are available for people with disabilities
(Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), by sending an
email to fcc504@fcc.gov or calling the Commission's Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432
(TTY).
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis
This Report and Order contains new or modified information
collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA).\1\ The requirements will be submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review under section 3507(d) of the
PRA. OMB, the general public, and other Federal agencies will be
invited to comment on the new or modified information collection
requirements contained in this proceeding. In addition, we note that
pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, we
previously sought specific comment on how the Commission might further
reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns
with fewer than 25 employees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-
13, 109 Stat. 163 (1995) (codified in Chapter 35 of title 44
U.S.C.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary of Report and Order
I. Introduction
1. In this Report and Order, we expand the list of entities that
will be required to post their public inspection files to the FCC's
online database. In 2012, the Commission adopted online public file
rules that required broadcast television stations to post public file
documents to a central, FCC-hosted online database rather than
maintaining paper files locally at their main studios. Standardized and
Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee
Public Interest Obligations, Second Report and Order, 77 FR 27631, May
11, 2012 (``Second Report and Order''). Our goals were to modernize the
procedures television broadcasters
[[Page 10106]]
use to inform the public about how they are serving their communities,
to make information concerning broadcast service more accessible to the
public, and, over time, to reduce the cost of broadcasters' compliance.
This Report and Order continues our modernization effort by requiring
cable operators, satellite TV (also referred to as ``Direct Broadcast
Satellite'' or ``DBS'') providers, broadcast radio licensees, and
satellite radio (also referred to as ``Satellite Digital Audio Radio
Services'' or ``SDARS'') licensees to post their public file documents
to the FCC-hosted online database as well. By including these services
in our transition to an online public file, we continue our effort to
harness the efficiencies made possible by digital technology to make
public file information more readily available to the public, while at
the same time minimizing the burden on covered entities of maintaining
the file.
2. As the Commission has stated, this modernization of the public
inspection file is ``plain common sense.'' The evolution of the
Internet and the spread of broadband infrastructure have transformed
the way society accesses information today. It is no longer reasonable
to require the public to travel to a station or headquarters' office to
review the public file and make paper copies when a centralized, online
file will permit review with a quick, easy, and almost costless
Internet search. Moreover, an online file will permit searches by the
public without requiring assistance from station or headquarters'
staff, further reducing the burden of maintaining the public file.
3. As we proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this
proceeding, Expansion of Online Public File Obligations To Cable and
Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 80 FR 8031, Feb. 13, 2015 (``NPRM''), we
take the same general approach to transitioning cable, DBS, broadcast
radio, and SDARS to the online file that the Commission took with
respect to television broadcasters, phasing-in and otherwise tailoring
the requirements as appropriate for the different services. We also
take similar measures to minimize the effort and costs entities must
undertake to move their public files online. Specifically, we require
entities to upload to the online file only those public file documents
that are not already on file with the Commission or that the Commission
does not currently maintain in its own database. In order to reduce the
cost of transitioning to the online file, we follow the approach we
took with respect to television stations and exempt existing political
file material from the online file requirement and require only that
political file documents be uploaded on a going-forward basis. In order
to ease the transition to the online file for broadcast radio stations,
particularly those with small staffs and limited financial resources,
we commence the transition to the online file with commercial stations
in top 50 markets with 5 or more full-time employees. We delay for two
years, until March 1, 2018, all online file requirements for all other
radio stations. With respect to smaller cable systems, we exempt
systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers from all online public file
requirements given that they are exempt from most public file
requirements. In addition, we delay for two years, until March 1, 2018,
the requirement that cable systems with between 1,000 and 5,000
subscribers commence uploading new political file material to the
online file.
4. With minor exceptions, we do not adopt new or modified public
inspection file requirements in this proceeding. Our focus is simply to
adapt our existing public file requirements to an online format in a
manner that appropriately reflects the differences among the services
and that minimizes the burden for all affected entities.
II. Background
5. One of a broadcaster's fundamental public interest obligations
is to air programming responsive to the needs and interests of its
community of license. To ensure that stations meet this obligation, the
Commission relies on viewers and listeners as an important source of
information about the nature of a station's programming, operations,
and compliance with Commission rules. To provide the public with access
to information about station operations, the Commission's rules have
long required television and radio broadcast stations to maintain a
physical public inspection file, including a political file, at their
respective stations or headquarters and to place in the file records
that provide information about station operations. The purpose of the
public inspection file requirement is to ``make information to which
the public already has a right more readily available, so that the
public will be encouraged to play a more active part in dialogue with
broadcast licensees.''
6. The requirement that broadcasters maintain documents for public
inspection dates back to 1938, when the Commission promulgated its
first political file rule. In 1965, following action by Congress to
allow greater public participation in the broadcast licensing process,
the Commission adopted a broader public inspection file rule to enable
local inspection of broadcast applications, reports, and related
documents. The Commission noted that Congress' actions ``zealously
guarded the rights of the general public to be informed'' and that the
Commission's goal was to make ``practically accessible to the public
information to which it is entitled.''
7. Cable, DBS, and SDARS entities also have public and political
file requirements modeled, in large part, on the longstanding broadcast
requirements. In 1974, the Commission adopted a public inspection file
requirement for cable, including a requirement to retain political file
material, noting that, ``[i]f the public is to play an informed role in
the regulation of cable television, it must have at least basic
information about a local system's operations and proposals.'' The
Commission also noted that ``[r]equiring cable systems to maintain a
public file merely follows our policy for broadcast licensees and is
necessary for similar reasons'' and that ``[t]hrough greater disclosure
we hope to encourage a greater interaction between the Commission, the
public, and the cable industry.'' With respect to DBS providers, the
Commission adopted public and political inspection file requirements in
1998 in conjunction with the imposition of certain public interest
obligations, including political broadcasting and children's television
requirements, on those entities. DBS providers were required to ``abide
by political file obligations similar to those requirements placed on
terrestrial broadcasters and cable systems'' and were also required to
maintain a public file with records relating to other DBS public
interest obligations. Finally, the Commission imposed equal employment
opportunity and political broadcast requirements on SDARS licensees in
1997, noting that the rationale behind imposing these requirements on
broadcasters applies also to satellite radio.
8. In 2002, Congress adopted the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
(``BCRA'') which amended the political file requirements in section 315
of the Communications Act of 1934. The amendments apply to broadcast
television and radio, cable, DBS, and SDARS. BCRA essentially codified
the Commission's existing political file obligations by requiring that
information regarding any request to purchase advertising time made on
behalf of a legally qualified candidate for public office be placed in
the political file. In addition, BCRA
[[Page 10107]]
expanded political file obligations by requiring that television,
radio, cable, DBS, and SDARS entities also place in the political file
information related to any advertisements that discuss a ``political
matter of national importance,'' including the name of the person or
entity purchasing the time and a list of the chief executive officers
or members of the executive committee or of the board of directors of
any such entity.
A. Online Public File
9. In 2012, the Commission replaced the decades-old requirement
that commercial and noncommercial television stations maintain public
files at their main studios with a requirement to post most of the
documents in those files to a central, online public file hosted by the
Commission. The television online public file rules were the
culmination of a more than decade-long effort to make information
regarding how a television broadcast station serves the public interest
``easier to understand and more accessible,'' ``promote discussion
between the licensee and its community,'' and ``lessen the need for
government involvement in ensuring that a station is meeting its public
interest obligation.''
10. Based on commenter suggestions, in the Second Report and Order
the Commission determined that each television station's entire public
file would be hosted online by the Commission. The Commission took a
number of steps to minimize the burden of the online file on stations.
Broadcasters were required to upload only those items required to be in
the public file but not otherwise filed with the Commission or
available on the Commission's Web site. Any document or information
required to be kept in the public file and that is required to be filed
with the Commission electronically in the Consolidated Data Base System
(``CDBS'') is imported to the online public file and updated by the
Commission. In addition, television stations were not required to
upload their existing political files to the online file; rather,
stations were required only to upload new political file content on a
going-forward basis. Because of privacy concerns, television stations
also were not required to upload letters and emails from the public to
the online file; rather, they must continue to retain them in a
correspondence file at the main studio.
11. In addition, to smooth the transition for both television
stations and the Commission and to allow smaller broadcasters
additional time to begin posting their political files online, the
Commission phased-in the new political file posting requirement.
Stations affiliated with the top four national networks (ABC, NBC, CBS,
and Fox) and licensed to serve communities in the top 50 Designated
Market Areas (``DMAs'') were required to begin posting their political
file documents online starting August 2, 2012, but other stations were
exempted from posting their political file documents online until July
1, 2014. In the Second Report and Order, the Commission also rejected
several proposals in the FNPRM to increase public file requirements in
conjunction with implementation of the online file. Rather, the
Commission determined that stations would be required to place in their
online files only material that is already required to be placed in
their local files.
12. The Commission stated in the Second Report and Order that it
was deferring consideration of whether to adopt online posting
requirements for radio licensees and multichannel video programming
distributors (``MVPDs'') until it had gained experience with online
posting of public files of television broadcasters. The Commission
noted that starting the online public file process with the much
smaller number of television licensees, rather than with all
broadcasters and MVPDs, would ``ease the initial implementation of the
online public file.''
B. Petition for Rulemaking and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
13. In July 2014, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, and the
Sunlight Foundation (collectively, ``Petitioners'' or ``CLC et al.'')
filed a joint Petition for Rulemaking requesting that the Commission
initiate a rulemaking to expand to cable and satellite systems the
requirement that public and political file documents be posted to the
FCC's online database. The Petitioners argued that cable and satellite
services have increasingly become outlets for political advertising and
that the ability of satellite television providers to sell household-
specific ``addressable advertising'' would likely accelerate that
trend. Petitioners asserted that moving the television public file
online has resulted in ``unquestionably substantial'' public benefits,
which would also occur if cable and satellite systems were required to
upload their public and political files online. In addition,
Petitioners argued that television broadcasters experienced few
problems moving to the online file, and cable and satellite systems
would also likely not be burdened by the online filing requirement.
14. On August 7, 2014, the Media Bureau issued a Public Notice
seeking comment on the Petition for Rulemaking and, in addition, on
whether it should initiate a rulemaking to expand online public file
obligations to broadcast radio stations. See Public Notice, Commission
Seeks Comment on Petition for Rulemaking Filed by the Campaign Legal
Center, Common Cause, and the Sunlight Foundation Seeking Expansion of
Online Public File Obligations to Cable and Satellite TV Operators,
Bureau Also Seeks Comment on Expanding Online Public File Obligations
to Radio Licensees, 79 FR 51136, August 27, 2014 (``Public Notice'').
After reviewing the comments filed in response to the Public Notice,
the Commission issued the NPRM in this proceeding proposing to expand
the online file to cable operators, DBS providers, and broadcast and
satellite radio licensees.
III. Discussion
15. The rules we adopt today will modernize the outdated procedures
for providing public access to cable, DBS, broadcast radio, and SDARS
public files in a manner that avoids imposing unnecessary burdens on
these entities. By taking advantage of the efficiencies made possible
by digital technology, we will make information that cable, DBS, and
broadcast and satellite radio licensees are already required to make
publicly available more accessible while also reducing costs both for
the government and the private sector. The Internet is an effective,
low-cost means of maintaining contact with, and distributing
information to, viewers and listeners. Placing the public file online
will permit 24-hour access from any location, thereby improving access
to information about how cable, satellite, broadcast radio, and SDARS
entities are serving their communities and meeting their public
interest obligations. Maintaining this information online will also
either eliminate or substantially reduce the number of public visits to
stations or headquarters offices to view public file material, reducing
the burden on staff who would otherwise have to assist during these
visits and enabling entities to improve security and minimize risks to
employees. As the Commission has stated previously, the public benefits
of posting public file information online, while difficult to quantify
with exactitude, are unquestionably substantial.
16. Expansion of the online public file to cover more services is
particularly important with respect to improving
[[Page 10108]]
access to political files. While broadcast television remains the
dominant medium for political advertising, the quantity of such
advertising on cable and satellite television continues to increase,
and the advent of technological advances such as addressable
advertising is likely to further this trend. Political advertising on
radio is also on the rise. Adding cable, satellite TV, and broadcast
and satellite radio political file material to the existing online file
database will facilitate public access to disclosure records for all
these services and allow the public to view and analyze political
advertising expenditures more easily in each market as well as
nationwide.
17. Similar to the approach we took to transitioning television
stations to the online file, we take steps here to minimize the effort
and cost that all entities must undertake to move their public files
online. Entities will be required to upload to the online file only
documents that are not already on file with the Commission or that the
Commission maintains in its own database. Any document or information
required both to be kept in the public file and to be filed with the
Commission electronically in Commission databases such as CDBS or the
Cable Operations and Licensing System (``COALS'') database will be
imported to the online public file and updated by the Commission. In
addition, entities being added to the online file will not be required
to upload their existing political files to the online file; rather,
they will be required only to upload new political file content on a
going-forward basis. We note that the size of the political file likely
correlates with an entity's political advertising revenues.
Accordingly, entities with little or no political advertising revenues
will likely have few obligations under our rules, while entities with
more documents in their political files will likely also have greater
political advertising revenues.
18. Some commenters responding to the NPRM argue that the goal of
the public inspection file requirements is to make documents available
to members of the public in the station's community of license and that
requiring these documents to be placed online will encourage the filing
of complaints by individuals unconnected to the local community. While
we agree that the public file is first and foremost a tool for
community members, it is also a tool for the larger media policy
community. Easy access to public file information will also assist the
Commission, Congress, and researchers as they fashion public policy
recommendations relating to media issues. For this reason, we also
reject the suggestion of NAB that the Commission focus its enforcement
efforts on complaints submitted by actual viewers and listeners about
the public files of their local stations and decline to consider public
file complaints from entities unrelated to the licensee's local
community. The Commission will consider and fairly evaluate any
complaint related to our public inspection file rules. Our primary
goal, however, is to improve access to public information file
material.
A. Online File Capacity and Technical Issues
19. The Commission has taken a number of steps to ensure that the
online file will be capable of accommodating the significant increase
in network traffic as well as the volume of public file material that
will result from the expansion of online filing requirements. We
recognize that adding cable, DBS, broadcast radio, and SDARS to the
online file will greatly increase the number of users of the file and
the volume of material that must be uploaded. We also recognize that
there is likely to be a heavy demand on the online file during certain
filing windows and in peak political seasons, when many broadcast
stations take new advertising orders and modify existing orders on a
daily basis. The improvements we have made to the operation of the
online file will facilitate use of the database by members of the
public as well as by the entities required to maintain an online file,
including existing TV station users.
20. Technical improvements to the online file. The Commission has
made several technical improvements to the online file database. First,
the Commission has finished the transition to cloud-based computing
solutions for purposes of managing the online public file database.
Cloud computing technology will not only ensure that we maintain
sufficient capacity to store the increased number of public file
materials in the database, it will also permit us to increase network
capacity during times of high demand to relieve network congestion and
avoid delays or backups in uploading documents to the database. As the
Commission stated in the Second Report and Order, cloud-based computing
will permit the Commission to implement an online public file that is
highly available, scalable, and eliminates user wait times associated
with processing documents after upload. Second, as requested by NCTA,
the Commission has added to the database the ability to place a
document in multiple files using a single upload. This functionality
should greatly facilitate maintenance of the online file, especially
for cable operators or station group owners that place similar
documents in the public file for multiple cable systems or broadcast
stations. Third, when entities move a document from one folder to
another in the online file, the database will now display both the date
the document was first uploaded to the online file as well as the date
it was moved to a different online file location. This will permit
entities to move files within the online file if, for example, the file
was initially placed in the wrong folder or the entity is creating new
or different subfolders for purposes of improving the organization of
the file, while maintaining a record of the date the document was first
uploaded to the online file. Fourth, the database now will permit
entities easily to delete files and empty folders when documents in the
file are past their retention period or the entity wishes to delete
them for another reason. Entities will be able to select one or more
files and/or folders for deletion at one time, permitting them to
efficiently remove documents from the online file.
21. Finally, as advocated by a number of commenters, the Commission
has completed the development and implementation of an application
programming interface (``API'') that can connect the online file
database to third-party web hosting services and that will permit such
services to efficiently load documents into the online file on behalf
of client broadcast stations and other entities. We recognize that
third-party web hosting services may offer valuable assistance to
entities in uploading documents to the online file and otherwise
maintaining the file, particularly smaller entities that may choose to
outsource this effort because of cost savings and other resource
constraints. The Media Bureau and the Office of the Managing Director
will provide further information about the API in the near future and
will conduct one or more demonstrations. The API library will also be
made available for testing by covered entities and their third-party
service providers prior to the effective date of the online filing
requirements adopted in this proceeding. While we recognize the
benefits that web hosting services may provide in assisting entities in
uploading materials to the online file, we emphasize that each entity
remains responsible for ensuring that its own online public file is
complete. While entities are free to enter into contractual
[[Page 10109]]
arrangements with third parties to upload information into the online
file, and to require as part of those arrangements that the third party
ensure compliance with the FCC's rules, we decline to relieve entities
of their responsibility to ensure that their own online public file is
complete and otherwise complies with our rules. While we decline to
provide a safe harbor for entities that choose to engage a third party
to assist with the online file, we note that our primary goal in this
proceeding is to improve access to public file information. Our
enforcement efforts initially will be focused on ensuring that entities
understand and comply with the online file requirements adopted herein,
rather than on imposing fines for minor failures to comply with the
rules, particularly during the period when entities being added to the
online file are becoming familiar with online filing.
22. Links to other Web sites. With the exception of the channel
lineup information that cable systems must retain in the online file,
we will not permit entities to provide a link in the online file to an
alternative online location where political file or other public file
material may be maintained in lieu of uploading documents to the
Commission's database. The Commission's online file database is
intended to serve as a single source of public file material for
entities required to use the file, and not as a collection of links to
other Web sites. The online database is organized with folders and
subfolders that provide a consistent display of public file material
for entities in each service. Members of the public who access the
online file will be able to locate documents more easily if they are
organized in a similar manner for each service. We agree with CLC et
al. that allowing entities to substitute a link to another Web site,
which may follow a different organizational structure, instead of
uploading documents to the online file, would likely make the file more
confusing, harder to navigate, and less useful to the public. With
respect to channel lineups, however, we believe it is appropriate to
permit cable operators that maintain a lineup on their own Web site to
provide a link to that existing online lineup in lieu of also
maintaining a lineup in the Commission's online file database.
Operators may elect to provide channel lineup information both in the
Commission's online file as well as on their own Web sites, but will
not be required to do so.
23. We will permit those entities that maintain their own
electronic public and/or political files to include in the Commission's
online database a link to that private file database, in addition to
uploading to the Commission's database the materials required to be
retained in the online public file. Such links would provide a further
source of public file information that could prove to be a useful
supplement to the information available on the Commission's online
database.
24. Filing windows. We decline at this time to extend or otherwise
alter our current filing windows, as advocated by several commenters.
We are confident that the online file will be capable of handling the
increased number of filers and the volume of material required to be
uploaded as a result of the expansion of the Commission's online
database. We may reconsider expanding or otherwise altering filing
windows at a later time if we believe that such efforts will either
assist filers in maintaining a complete, up-to-date online file or help
avoid congestion in the online database.
25. Orderly online files. Consistent with our requirement for
television stations, we will require that cable, DBS, broadcast radio,
and SDARS entities maintain orderly public files and remove expired
contracts when and if replacement agreements are uploaded. While we
otherwise do not require that files that are past their retention
period or otherwise out-of-date be deleted, we urge all entities to
actively manage their online files to ensure that they do not become so
overgrown with out-of-date documents that it is difficult to access
relevant materials. The Commission will take no action under the public
file rules based on any public file document that is outside the
mandatory retention period.
B. Political File
26. As proposed in the NPRM, cable operators, broadcast radio
licensees, DBS operators, and SDARS entities will not be required to
upload their existing political files to the online file. Instead, as
we require with television licensees, these entities will be permitted
to maintain locally those documents already in place in their political
file at the time the new rules become effective, and upload documents
to the online political file only on a going-forward basis. Existing
political file material must be retained in the local political file at
the station, cable system, or DBS or SDARS headquarters' office for the
remainder of the two-year retention period, unless entities voluntarily
elect to upload these materials to the online file. Given this limited
two-year retention period, exempting the existing political file from
the online database will require entities to continue to maintain this
file locally for only a relatively short period of time after the
effective date of the online political file requirements established in
this order. Thus, exempting the existing political file from online
posting will reduce the initial burden of moving public files online.
In addition, as discussed below, with respect to smaller cable systems
(those with between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers) we are delaying for
two years, until March 1, 2018, the requirement that they commence
uploading new political file material to the online file. We also delay
all online file requirements until March 1, 2018 for radio stations
with fewer resources, which we define as all NCE stations, commercial
stations in markets below the top 50 or outside all radio markets, and
commercial stations in the top 50 markets with fewer than five full-
time employees. We believe that providing these entities with
additional time to complete their transition to the online file will
ease implementation for these smaller entities and also give the
Commission time to address any concerns that may arise as larger
entities commence using the online file.
27. Consistent with our current political file rules, and as
proposed in the NPRM, we will require that new political file materials
be uploaded to the online file ``immediately absent unusual
circumstances.'' The contents of the political file are time-sensitive.
Therefore, it is essential that there be no delay in posting political
file materials to the online file. In addition, consistent with our
approach to the television online file, we will create and propagate
subfolders for federal and state candidate ad purchases, as
appropriate, as well as issue ads that relate to a political matter of
national importance. We will also provide entities with the ability to
create additional subfolders and subcategories in compliance with their
own practices.
C. Voluntary Use of the Online Public File
28. As we proposed in the NPRM, we will permit entities that are
temporarily exempt from part or all online public file requirements to
upload material to the online public file voluntarily before the
delayed effective date of their online file requirement. For example,
an NCE broadcast radio station that is not required to commence using
the online file until March 1, 2018, as discussed below, could elect
voluntarily to commence using the online file prior to this date. We
will also permit entities to elect voluntarily to upload to the online
file existing political file material that would otherwise be required
to be
[[Page 10110]]
retained in the entity's local public file until the end of the two-
year retention period. To avoid any confusion regarding the location
and completeness of the public and political file, any entity that
voluntarily elects to commence using the online file early must ensure
that the online file contains all new public file material on a going-
forward basis, including all new political file material. That is, all
new public and political file material must be uploaded to the online
file on a going-forward basis commencing on the date the entity elects
to transition to the online file. The online file database will require
users to indicate that they have transitioned to the online file.
D. Back-Up Files
29. As proposed in the NPRM, cable, DBS, broadcast radio, and SDARS
entities will not be required to maintain back-up copies of all public
file materials. Instead, as we do for the existing television online
file, an entity may request that the Commission create a mirror copy of
its public file to ensure that, if the data in the online file are
compromised, the file can be reconstituted using the back-up copy. If
the Commission's online file becomes temporarily inaccessible for the
uploading of new documents, we will require entities to maintain those
documents and upload them to the file once it is available again for
upload.
30. As proposed in the NPRM and consistent with the approach we
take with respect to television broadcasters, however, we will require
cable, DBS, broadcast radio, and SDARS entities to make back-up files
for the political file available to the public to ensure that they can
comply with their statutory obligation to make that information
available to candidates, the public, and others immediately. Entities
will be required to make these backups available only if and during
such rare times as the Commission's online public file is unavailable.
To minimize any burden caused by this requirement, entities may choose
to meet the political file back-up requirement by periodically
downloading a mirror copy of the public file, including the political
file, housed on the FCC's database. To ensure that the political file
is complete, entities that choose this option must retain any political
file records that have not yet been uploaded to the FCC's online file
database or that were uploaded after their last download of a mirror
copy of the online public file.
31. These back-up files may be retained either in paper or
electronic form at the entity's local public file location.
Alternatively, entities may elect to make these back-up political files
accessible to the public online via the entity's own Web site. Cable
operators or other entities with their own electronic political files
may elect to use these files as a back-up in the event the Commission's
online database is unavailable.
32. In the event the Commission's online file becomes temporarily
inaccessible, we will require DBS and SDARS entities to make their
back-up political files available to the public through the entity's
choice of either an online method, via the entity's own Web site, or by
answering questions and accommodating requests for copies of political
file materials made by telephone. Copies requested by telephone may be
sent by fax, email, or mail, at the caller's request. If a requester
prefers access by mail, the DBS or SDARS entity may require the
individual requesting documents to pay for photocopying. We believe it
is necessary to require DBS and SDARS entities to provide alternative
means to access back-up political file documents, either online or by
telephone, as these entities provide service nationwide and are
required to maintain only one public and political file for the entire
U.S. at their headquarters office, making in-person access very
difficult. This requirement for online or telephone access will apply
only to DBS and SDARS back-up political file materials during times
when the Commission's online database is unavailable. Accordingly, we
do not believe this requirement will be unduly burdensome.
E. Format
33. As proposed in the NPRM, cable, DBS, and broadcast and
satellite radio entities will be required to upload any electronic
documents to the online file in their existing format to the extent
feasible. The Commission will display the documents in both the
uploaded format and in a pdf version. If a required document already
exists in a searchable format, documents must be uploaded in that
format to the extent technically feasible.
34. We decline at this time to implement a standard format for the
online file, including for political advertising data, as requested by
CLC et al. As discussed above, the Commission has made a number of
upgrades to its online file database to accommodate additional users
and make the file easier to use. We will continue to prioritize these
and other efforts to ensure that the database is reliable and user-
friendly before considering further improvements.
F. Announcements and Links
35. We will require cable operators, DBS providers, and broadcast
and satellite radio licensees that have Web sites to place a link to
the online public file on their home pages, consistent with our
proposal in the NPRM and our requirement for television stations. This
link must connect to the first page of the entity's online public file.
We will also require entities that have Web sites to include on their
home page contact information for a representative who can assist any
person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the
public file.
36. As proposed in the NPRM, we will not require cable, DBS,
broadcast radio, or SDARS entities to make on-air announcements
regarding the change in location of their public file. Consistent with
the approach taken with respect to television stations in the Second
Report and Order, we will require broadcast radio stations, however, to
revise their on-air pre- and post-filing renewal announcements to
reflect the availability of a station's renewal application on the
Commission's Web site.
G. EEO Materials
37. As we proposed in the NPRM, we will continue to require that
cable, DBS, and broadcast and satellite radio entities make their EEO
materials available on their Web sites, if they have one. Similar to
our requirements for television stations, entities may fulfill this Web
site posting requirement by providing, on their own Web site, a link to
the EEO materials on their online public file page on the Commission's
Web site.The link to EEO materials must be a direct link to such
materials on the FCC's Web site, and not simply a link to the first
page of the entity's online public file. As discussed above, all
entities that have Web sites must also place a link to the first page
of their online public file on the home page of their Web site.
H. Local Public Inspection File
38. Entities that have fully transitioned to the online public
file--that is, entities that have uploaded all public file material to
the FCC's online file database including all political file material
required to be retained in the public file--and that also provide
online access to back-up political file material via the entity's own
Web site when the FCC's online database is temporarily unavailable,
will not be required to maintain a local public file. This option is
not available to commercial broadcast licensees who must continue to
retain a
[[Page 10111]]
correspondence file that cannot be made available online for privacy
reasons.
39. NTCA, Verizon, and DIRECTV request that we clarify that
entities do not need to maintain a local public inspection file once
they have fully transitioned to the online file. We note that, unlike
commercial broadcast stations who must retain a correspondence file at
the station, cable, DBS, and SDARS entities will have fully
transitioned to the online file once the retention period for existing
political files expires. As discussed above, however, all entities must
maintain a back-up file for the political file in the event the online
file becomes unavailable and make this back-up file available to the
public. As discussed above, we will permit entities to retain back-up
political file materials either in paper or electronic form at their
local file location or make such materials available to the public
online via the entity's own Web site. Entities with their own Web sites
must indicate clearly on that Web site either the Web site or physical
address of their back-up political files. Entities that have fully
transitioned to the online file and that make their back-up political
file materials available online will not be required to maintain a
local public file.
40. We will require all cable and DBS operators and broadcast and
satellite radio licensees to provide information in the online public
file about the individual who may be contacted for questions about the
file. This information must be provided when the operator or licensee
first establishes its online public file and should be updated if and
when staffing or location changes occur. In addition, entities that
have not fully transitioned to the FCC's online public file--that is,
entities that do not post online all public and political file material
required to be maintained in the public inspection file--and that do
not also provide online access via their own Web sites to back-up
political file materials must also provide information in the FCC's
online public file about the location of the entity's local public
file. This information is necessary to inform the public of the
location of the existing political file (until its retention period
expires) and/or the location where the public can access back-up
political file materials in the event the Commission's database is
unavailable. All commercial broadcast licensees must include
information in the FCC's online file about the location of their local
public file so the public is aware of the location of the
correspondence file retained by these broadcasters.
I. Compliance Dates
41. New Public File Materials. In order to facilitate a smooth
transition to the online public file, we will provide entities a period
of time after the effective date of the online file requirements
adopted in this order to begin uploading files. Cable systems with
1,000 or more subscribers, DBS providers, SDARS licensees, and
commercial radio broadcast stations in the top 50 markets with five or
more full-time employees will be required to begin using the online
public file 30 days after the Commission announces in the Federal
Register that OMB has completed its review of this Order under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') and approved the collection.
Commencing on this effective date, these entities must begin uploading
new public file materials to the Commission's online public file
database and, with the exception of cable systems with between 1,000
and 5,000 subscribers, these entities must also upload new political
file material to the Commission's online file. Entities will not be
permitted to commence uploading material to the online file prior to
this effective date. We decline NAB's request that we give radio
stations 60 days from the effective date to commence uploading new
public file material. Only commercial radio broadcast stations in the
top 50 radio markets with 5 or more full-time employees are required to
commence uploading documents to the online file beginning 30 days after
the effective date of this Order. We believe these larger radio
stations have the necessary resources to be able to commence using the
online file within this time frame without imposing an undue burden.
42. In recognition of their more limited resources, we provide more
time for smaller entities to transition to the online file. Thus, as
discussed further below, commercial broadcast radio stations in the top
50 markets with fewer than five full-time employees, all commercial
broadcast radio stations in markets below the top 50 and outside all
radio markets, and all NCE broadcast radio stations will not be
required to begin uploading new public and political file material to
the online file until March 1, 2018. In addition, cable systems with
1,000 or more but fewer than 5,000 subscribers will not be required to
commence uploading new political file material to the online file until
March 1, 2018. Cable systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers are
exempt from all online filing requirements.
43. Existing Public File Materials. We will give cable systems with
1,000 or more subscribers, DBS providers, SDARS licensees, and
commercial radio broadcast stations in the top 50 markets with five or
more full-time employees six months from the effective date of the
rules (i.e., six months after the Commission publishes a notice in the
Federal Register announcing OMB approval under the PRA as discussed
above) to complete the process of uploading to the online file their
existing public file materials, with the exception of existing
political files. This approach is similar to that taken by the
Commission in the Second Report and Order to transition television
stations to the online public file. Entities will be permitted to begin
uploading existing public file materials immediately on the effective
date, at the same time that they must begin posting new materials to
the online public file on a going-forward basis. These entities must
complete the process of uploading the existing public file--but not the
existing political file, which is not required to be transitioned to
the online file--within six months of the effective date. We believe
that giving these entities six months to upload existing files will
provide adequate time and flexibility to complete this process.
J. Waiver
44. While we do not believe online posting of the public file,
including prospective posting of the political file, will impose an
unreasonable burden on the vast majority of entities subject to the
rules adopted in this Order, we recognize that there may be a few
entities for which the transition to an online public inspection file
may prove especially difficult. In this regard, we note that some small
radio stations in remote locations may not have access to reliable
Internet service or may be without Internet access altogether. In
addition, there may be rare instances in which a small radio station or
cable operator faces undue economic or other resource limitations that
make the transition to the online public file especially challenging.
If an entity believes that the transition to the online file will
impose an undue hardship, it may seek a waiver of the requirements
adopted in this order. An entity seeking a waiver should provide the
Commission with information documenting the economic hardship the
station would incur in complying with online file requirements, its
technical inability to do so, or such other reasons as would warrant
waiver under our general waiver standards.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ As discussed below, we are phasing-in the online file
requirements for radio beginning with commercial stations in the top
50 Nielsen Audio markets with 5 or more full-time employees. See,
infra, para. 83. We delay online filing for all other radio stations
for approximately two years, until March 1, 2018. Id. In the event a
commercial radio station with between 5 and 10 full-time employees,
otherwise required to transition to online filing in the first
group, finds the transition especially difficult, the Commission
will give careful consideration to requests by these stations for
additional time to commence online filing. The Commission also will
be favorably inclined to grant requests for additional time to
commence online filing from very small radio stations with fewer
than five full-time employees, as these stations may have limited
resources and, therefore, find the transition to the online file
particularly challenging.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 10112]]
K. Requirements and Issues Unique to Each Service
45. Because each service for which we are implementing online
public file requirements is unique, we address each service separately
below. We address any service-specific issues raised in the NPRM and by
commenters, and also address the manner in which we will phase-in
online file requirements for each service.
1. Cable Public Inspection File
a. Current Rules
46. The FCC's rules regarding records to be maintained by cable
systems distinguish between records that must be retained for
inspection by the public and those that must be made available to
Commission representatives or local franchisors only. The rules also
impose different recordkeeping requirements based on the number of
subscribers to the cable system. Operators of cable systems with fewer
than 1,000 subscribers are exempt from many public inspection file
requirements, including the political file, sponsorship identification,
EEO records, and records regarding children's commercial programming.
Operators of systems with between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers must
provide certain information ``upon request'' but must also ``maintain
for public inspection'' a political file, while operators of systems
having 5,000 or more subscribers must ``maintain for public
inspection'' a political file and records regarding, among other
things, sponsorship identification, EEO, and advertisements in
children's programming. The rules state that the public inspection file
must be maintained ``at the office which the system operator maintains
for the ordinary collection of subscriber charges, resolution of
subscriber complaints, and other business or at any accessible place in
the community served by the system unit(s).''
47. Cable system political file requirements are similar to those
for broadcast stations. The political file must contain a ``complete
and orderly record . . . of all requests for cablecast time made by or
on behalf of a candidate for public office'' including the disposition
of such requests. The file must also show the ``schedule of time
purchased, when spots actually aired, the rates charged, and the
classes of time purchased.'' With respect to certain issue
advertisements, the file must disclose the name of the purchasing
organization and a list of the board of directors. These records must
be filed ``immediately absent unusual circumstances,'' and must be
retained for at least two years.
b. Online Public File Requirements
(i) Content Required To Be Maintained in the Online File
48. As discussed above, consistent with the rules we adopted for
television broadcasters and that we adopt for other entities, we will
require that cable operators upload to the online public file all
documents and information that are required to be in the public file
but which are not also filed in COALS or maintained by the Commission
on its own Web site. The Commission will import these latter documents
or information into the online public file itself. As noted in the
NPRM, the only document that cable operators file with the Commission
that must also be retained in their public inspection file is the EEO
program annual report, which the Commission will upload to the online
file. We will require cable systems with 1,000 or more subscribers to
upload to the online file other material currently required to be
maintained for public inspection.
49. While cable systems with 1,000 or more subscribers but fewer
than 5,000 subscribers are currently required to provide certain
materials to the public only ``upon request,'' as proposed in the NPRM
we will also require these systems to place these materials in the
online public file to facilitate public access to these materials,
except as clarified in paragraph (ii) below. The documents these
systems are currently required to make available ``upon request'' are
those required by 47 CFR 76.1701 (sponsorship identification), 76.1702
(EEO records available for public inspection), 76.1703 (commercial
records for children's programming), 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test
data), and 76.1706 (signal leakage logs and repair records). We
disagree with NCTA that moving from an ``upon request'' regime to an
affirmative requirement to upload documents to the online file for
these systems represents a burdensome change in regulation. While our
current rules do not require that these records be maintained at a
particular local site, cable operators must make this information
``promptly available once a request is received.'' Our decision to
require instead that these records be maintained in the online file
does not materially alter the burden of maintaining these records and
making them available upon request and is consistent with our
transition to an online public file regime.
50. Exemption from all online file requirements for small cable
systems. As we proposed in the NPRM, we will exempt cable systems with
fewer than 1,000 subscribers from all online public file requirements.
As noted above, these systems have far fewer public file requirements
than larger systems and are not required to maintain a political file.
NCTA and ACA support this exemption from online public file
requirements. We decline, however, to adopt ACA's proposal that we
extend to cable systems with fewer than 2,500 subscribers the same
public file exemptions currently applicable to cable systems with fewer
than 1,000 subscribers and, in addition, exempt systems with fewer than
2,500 subscribers from all online public file requirements. It is
beyond the scope of this proceeding to consider expanding the number of
cable systems that are exempt from current public inspection file
requirements. Our goal is simply to adapt our existing public file
requirements to an online format, while clarifying and streamlining
certain requirements as necessary. We also decline to adopt ACA's
proposal that we exempt systems with fewer than 15,000 subscribers and
not affiliated with a multichannel video programming distributor
(``MVPD'') serving more than ten percent of all MVPD subscribers from
the requirement to maintain their public inspection files in the online
database and instead permit these systems to make information in these
files available upon request. These entities must retain records in
order to be able to make them available upon request, and we believe
any additional burden resulting from a requirement that they instead be
posted online is minimal and is outweighed by the benefit of making
information more readily accessible without requiring members of the
public to make a specific request for records from each system. We also
believe ACA's proposal would confuse the public about the location of
public file materials.
51. We believe that the cumulative impact of the online file
requirements will not prove overly burdensome to cable systems,
particularly in light of
[[Page 10113]]
the clarification we make below that proof-of-performance and signal
leakage information is exempt from the public file. As discussed above,
any system for which the transition to online filing would impose an
undue hardship may request a waiver.
52. Political file. Consistent with the approach we adopted for
television broadcasters, cable operators will not be required to upload
their existing political files to the online file; rather, they will be
permitted to maintain existing material in their physical political
file and upload documents to the online political file only on a going-
forward basis. This approach will minimize the burden of transitioning
to the online file for cable operators while providing convenient
access to the information most likely to be of interest to the public.
53. Delay in political file requirements for small cable systems.
To smooth the transition for cable operators and the Commission and to
allow smaller cable systems additional time to begin posting their
political files online, as proposed in the NPRM we will phase in the
political file posting requirements for small cable systems. For the
next two years, we will require only systems with 5,000 or more
subscribers to post their new political file documents online. We
temporarily exempt other cable systems from posting their political
documents to their online public file until March 1, 2018. NCTA
supports delaying for two years the requirement to post new political
file material online for smaller cable systems, and this delay is also
consistent with the additional time we gave smaller television stations
to begin posting political files online in the Second Report and Order.
54. We believe that it is appropriate to commence online political
file requirements with larger cable systems with more subscribers as
these systems are more likely to have the resources needed to address
any implementation issues, should they arise. Allowing other systems
additional time to begin uploading the political file will ease
implementation for these smaller systems and also give the Commission
time to address any concerns that may arise as larger cable systems
transition to the online file. Applying this delay in online political
file requirements to cable systems with fewer than 5,000 subscribers
establishes a threshold that is clear and easy to implement. As
discussed above, this 5,000 subscriber threshold is currently used in
the public file rules to provide regulatory relief from certain
recordkeeping requirements. Cable systems are therefore familiar with
the use of this threshold in the context of public file requirements,
which should help avoid confusion regarding which systems are eligible
for the temporary exemption.
55. As an alternative to the 5,000 subscriber cutoff, we sought
comment in the NPRM on whether we should instead define ``small cable
system'' for purposes of the temporary exemption from the online
political file requirement as a system with fewer than 15,000
subscribers that is not affiliated with a larger operator serving more
than 10 percent of all MVPD subscribers. While NCTA supports this
latter definition, we believe the 5,000 subscriber cutoff is both less
complicated, as it does not require calculation of the total number of
MVPD subscribers as well as the percentage served by any multi-system
operator, and easier to administer and implement as systems are already
familiar with this cutoff in connection with public inspection file
requirements. We believe that uploading new political file material to
the online file will not prove significantly more burdensome than
maintaining paper files, and will prove less burdensome over time as
operators become more familiar with the online file.
56. Geographic information. We will require cable operators, when
first establishing their online public file, to provide a list of the
five-digit ZIP codes served by the cable system. Cable operators with
more than one physical system identifier (``PSID'') will be required to
identify the ZIP code(s) served by each PSID. As discussed in the NPRM,
the Commission currently lacks precise information about the geographic
areas served by cable systems, and we believe that providing
information about ZIP codes served will make the information in the
online file, and especially the political file, more useful to
subscribers, advertisers, candidates, and others. While we proposed in
the NPRM to require operators to provide information regarding both the
ZIP codes and Designated Market Areas (``DMAs'') served by each system,
we will require only ZIP code information at this time. ZIP codes
correlate to geographic areas that are easily identified by the
Commission and the general public. In addition, zip code areas are
smaller than DMAs, providing more granular data to users of the online
file. Information about ZIP codes served should also be relatively easy
for operators to obtain from their billing records. We note that
operators will be required to identify the ZIP codes served by each
cable system only when they first establish their public files on the
Commission's database, and to update this information only to reflect
changes. Therefore, we do not believe this requirement will be unduly
burdensome.
57. We reject the suggestion of NCTA and ACA that, instead of
requiring cable operators to upload information about the geographic
area served by the system, the FCC instead import that information from
FCC Form 322 (Cable Community Registration). The communities identified
on Form 322 often do not correspond to locations with defined political
and/or geographic boundaries. In addition, while Form 322 does contain
information about counties served by each system, this information is
not as granular as ZIP code data, which is not available on Form 322.
We also decline Verizon's suggestion that we refer to franchise areas
in the online file, as we believe this information is less likely to be
recognizable by the public than ZIP codes.
58. We sought comment in the NPRM on whether, in lieu of ZIP code
or DMA data, we should instead require cable operators to provide
information about the census block(s) or census tract(s) served by each
system. We do not require cable operators to provide this information
59. Cable employment units. We will also require cable operators,
when first establishing the online public file for each cable system,
to identify the employment unit number or numbers associated with each
system. This information is required to permit the Commission to
associate EEO reports filed with the Commission, which are identified
by employment unit number, with the system or systems covered by each
report and employment unit. As cable operators will be required to
provide this information only when they first establish the online
public file and when any updates are required, we do not believe this
requirement will be unduly burdensome.
60. Channel lineups. We will require cable operators either to
upload information regarding their current channel lineup to the online
file, and keep this information current, or provide a link in their
online file to the channel lineup maintained by the operator. While we
recognize that cable systems may currently provide channel lineup
information to subscribers in various ways in addition to putting it in
the public file, we decline to eliminate the requirement that such
information also be made available in the online public file, as
advocated by NCTA and ACA. We agree with NCTA and ACA, however, that we
should allow operators the option of including a link in the online
public file to their own
[[Page 10114]]
online channel lineups in lieu of uploading channel lineups to the
online file. This option will ease the burden on cable operators who
maintain their channel lineups on their own Web sites and will help
ensure that the channel lineup information accessible through the
online public file is up to date. We emphasize that cable systems may
take advantage of the option of including a link to the cable system's
channel lineup in the online file in lieu of uploading the lineup only
if the link is made available to all members of the public.
61. Headend location information. Our rules currently require the
operator of every cable television system to maintain in the public
inspection file the ``designation and location of its principal
headend.'' As we proposed in the NPRM, we will not require cable
operators to include principal headend location information in the
online public file. Instead, operators will have the option to instead
continue to retain this information in their local public file. In
comments filed in response to the Public Notice, NCTA asked that we
consider whether we should exclude headend location information from
the online public file as it is of little interest to the general
public and revealing this information in a centralized database
available to Internet users ``raises potentially serious security
risks.'' While we reserve judgment as to whether there are valid
security concerns associated with posting the location of the principal
headend online, we agree that the general public is unlikely to be
interested in this information and, therefore, will permit operators
who prefer to retain this information locally rather than posting it
online to do so. We remind operators who choose not to post principal
headend location information to the Commission's online public file
that the local file where this information is retained must be made
available for public inspection at any time during regular business
hours.
62. Commercial limits in children's programming. We decline to
adopt NCTA's request that we revise our public file rules to permit
cable operators to provide documentation regarding compliance with the
commercial limits in children's programs only in the event of a
complaint. NCTA's proposal is beyond the scope of this proceeding,
which is intended to adapt our current public file rules to an online
format rather than changing underlying requirements. While we recognize
that our current rules require cable operators operating multiple
systems carrying the same children's programs to retain in their files
similar commercial limits information for these systems, we believe the
transition to the online public file will significantly reduce the
burden of complying with this aspect of the current children's
television rules. As discussed above, the Commission has upgraded the
online file database to permit entities to populate multiple files
using a single upload. This feature will permit cable operators to use
a single upload to post required commercial limits documentation to the
online file for multiple cable systems, making compliance with the
commercial limits rules easier in the online database than in the
current local public file regime. In addition, as discussed above,
entities are free to negotiate with third-party vendors for assistance
in uploading documents to their online public inspection file using the
API interface.
63. FCC Form 325. We invited comment in the NPRM on whether the
Commission should make FCC Form 325 (Annual Cable Operator Report)
available in the online public file. That form is filed annually by
cable systems with 20,000 or more subscribers. We decline to include
FCC Form 325 in the online file at this time as these forms are not
currently required to be included in the public inspection file.
64. State and local public file requirements. We decline to adopt
Verizon's request that we preempt public file requirements imposed
pursuant to agreements between a cable operator and state and local
franchising authorities. While such agreements may require cable
operators to maintain a local file with content that may duplicate or
differ from that required by the FCC's public file requirements, we do
not believe it is appropriate in this proceeding to preempt such local
or state requirements. We will, however, enable entities to add a
separate folder to their FCC online file for content that is required
to be retained by the operator for public inspection pursuant to a
franchising agreement. Cable operators may choose to take advantage of
this option in order to maintain in a single location all materials
required to be made available to the public, pursuant to either the
FCC's rules or franchising requirements. Any material uploaded to the
online file solely for purposes of compliance with state or local
franchise requirements must be placed in a separate folder that is
clearly labeled by the operator to distinguish it from FCC public and
political file materials. Entities may not place materials solely
intended to comply with franchise requirements in the same folder(s)
used for FCC online public and political file materials, as this could
be confusing to users of the online file. However, by creating this
option, we are not changing any obligations that local franchising
authorities may have imposed with respect to local inspection files. If
the franchising authority has a requirement to maintain a local file
that would not be satisfied by posting those documents to the FCC's
online file, the cable operator must continue to maintain such a local
file in compliance with the franchising agreement unless the
franchising authority allows it to move those files online.
(ii) Clarification and Reorganization of the Cable Public Inspection
File Rules
65. Proof-of-performance and signal leakage information. We clarify
that proof-of-performance and signal leakage information does not need
to be retained in the public inspection file or uploaded to the online
file. This material must be maintained and made available to the
Commission and franchisor, however, upon request. We noted in the NPRM
that the current recordkeeping rules regarding this information are
unclear. We agree with NCTA and ACA that proof-of-performance and
signal leakage information is highly technical and unlikely to be of
interest to the general public and does not need to be retained in the
public inspection file or be made available online. We will, however,
continue to require that systems retain this information and make it
available to the Commission and franchisor upon request.
66. Reorganization of 47 CFR 76.1700. As proposed in the NPRM, we
are reorganizing section 76.1700 of the rules both to reflect the
online public file requirements adopted in this Order and to clarify
cable public inspection file requirements. The cable recordkeeping
requirements are currently spread over several rule sections in Part
76, Subpart U (Documents to be Maintained for Inspection), with some
requirements contained in a separate rule subpart. While section
76.1700 currently cross references many of these recordkeeping
requirements, it does not cite them all. The revised rule section
76.1700 in Appendix B cross references all cable public recordkeeping
requirements and more clearly addresses which records must be
maintained in the public inspection file, and therefore uploaded to the
Commission's online file, versus those that must be made available only
to the Commission or franchising authority.
[[Page 10115]]
2. DBS Public Inspection File
a. Current Rules
67. DBS providers are required to maintain a public inspection file
containing four categories of information: Information regarding
compliance with the carriage obligation for noncommercial programming
(the ``noncommercial set-aside''); Information regarding compliance
with the commercial limits in children's programming; certain EEO
materials; and a political file. With respect to the noncommercial set-
aside, the rules require that DBS providers ``keep and permit public
inspection of a complete and orderly record of,'' among other things,
measurements of channel capacity, a record of entities to whom
noncommercial capacity is being provided, the rates paid by the entity
to whom capacity is provided, and a record of entities requesting
capacity and the disposition of those requests. With respect to
compliance with the children's programming commercial limits, DBS
providers airing children's programming must maintain records
sufficient to verify compliance with the rules and ``make such records
available to the public.'' With respect to EEO materials, DBS operators
are required to maintain in their public file EEO reports and certain
EEO program information.
68. DBS providers are also required to ``keep and permit public
inspection of a complete and orderly political file'' and to
``prominently disclose the physical location of the file and the
telephonic and electronic means to access'' it. The file must include,
among other things, records of ``all requests for DBS origination
time'' and the schedule of time purchased, when spots actually aired,
the rates charged, and the classes of time purchased for each request.
These records must be placed in the file ``as soon as possible'' and
must be retained for at least two years. Unlike broadcasters and cable
systems, DBS providers must ``make available via fax, email, or by mail
upon telephone request, photocopies of documents in their political
files and shall assist callers by answering questions about the
contents of their political files.''
b. Online Public File Requirements
69. Similar to our existing online public file requirements for
television stations and the requirements we adopt for cable, broadcast
radio, and satellite radio entities, we will require DBS providers to
upload to the online file only material that is not already on file at
the Commission. Similar to cable operators, the only document that DBS
providers file with the Commission that must also be retained in their
public inspection files is the EEO program annual report, which the
Commission will upload to the online file. DBS operators will be
required to post to the online file channel capacity measurements and
other records related to the use of and requests for noncommercial
capacity, records related to compliance with children's commercial
limits, certain EEO materials, and new political file material.
70. We do not believe that requiring DBS providers to upload this
material to the online file will be onerous. As compared to television
and radio broadcasters and cable operators, DBS providers have the
fewest number of public file requirements. We believe that the
transition to an online file is particularly important for DBS because
of that service's nationwide reach. Each DBS provider is required to
maintain only one public and political file for the entire U.S. at its
headquarters, making in-person access very difficult. Moving this
material to the online database will facilitate access to the public
file by viewers nationwide.
71. Consistent with our approach for television stations and the
rules we adopt for cable, broadcast radio, and satellite radio
entities, we will not require DBS providers to upload their existing
political files to the FCC's online file but will permit them to
maintain existing material in their physical political file and upload
documents to the online political file only on a going-forward basis.
DBS providers must begin uploading new public and political file
material to the online public file 30 days after the Commission
announces in the Federal Register that OMB has completed its review of
this Order under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') and approved the
collection. These entities will have six months from the effective date
of the rules (i.e., six months after the Commission publishes a notice
in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval under the PRA) to
complete the process of uploading existing public file materials to the
online file, with the exception of existing political files which
entities are permitted, but not required, to upload to the Commission's
online public file.
72. We will eliminate the requirement that DBS providers honor
requests by telephone for copies of political file materials if those
materials are made available online. Thus, with respect to existing
political file materials not required to be posted to the FCC's online
database, DBS providers must continue to answer telephone inquiries
regarding those materials, as well as requests for copies, unless they
elect to post those existing political files to the FCC's online
database. In addition, as discussed above, if the FCC's online public
file database is temporarily unavailable, we will require DBS providers
to make their back-up political files available to the public by, at
their own choice, either an online method, via the entity's own Web
site, or by answering questions and accommodating requests for copies
of political file materials made by telephone. Copies requested by
telephone may be sent by fax, email, or mail, at the caller's request.
If a requester prefers access by mail, the DBS or SDARS entity may
require the individual requesting documents to pay for photocopying.
73. We sought comment in the NPRM on how DBS political files should
be organized, particularly with respect to advertisements shown on a
local or hyper-local basis. We agree with DIRECTV that DBS providers
should have the flexibility to organize their political files in any
manner that reasonably allows users to view their contents. DBS
providers offer advertisers the option to purchase advertising both
nationwide and locally, and we will permit these entities to create
folders for the political file that reflect the manner in which ads
were purchased and shown.
74. DIRECTV notes that the political file rules require DBS
providers to include in the political file a significant amount of
information about certain political ad buyers and, in some cases, the
nature of the issue being advertised. According to DIRECTV, some
political advertising buyers have refused to provide this information.
DIRECTV requests that the Commission clarify that political advertisers
must present DBS providers with sufficient information to comply with
the political file requirements. We remind DBS providers, as well as
other entities subject to our political broadcasting rules, that they
are responsible for ensuring that their political files are complete
and accurate as required by the Communications Act and the Commission's
rules.
3. Broadcast Radio Public Inspection File
a. Current Rules
75. The public inspection file rules for radio broadcasters are
generally similar to those for television broadcasters. Every permittee
or licensee of an AM or FM station in the commercial or noncommercial
educational broadcast
[[Page 10116]]
service must maintain a public inspection file containing, among other
things, FCC authorizations, applications, contour maps, ownership
reports, EEO materials, issues/programs lists, and time brokerage (also
known as ``local marketing'') and joint sales agreements. The file must
be maintained at the station's main studio.
76. Radio stations are required to maintain a political file as
part of their public inspection file. The political file must contain a
``complete and orderly record'' of requests for broadcast time made by
or on behalf of a candidate for public office. The file must also show
the ``schedule of time purchased, when spots actually aired, the rates
charged, and the classes of time purchased.'' With respect to issue
advertisements, stations must disclose the name of the purchasing
organization and a list of the board of directors. These records must
be filed ``as soon as possible, meaning immediately, absent unusual
circumstances,'' and must be retained for at least two years.
b. Online Public File Requirements
(i) Content Required To Be Maintained in the Online File
77. We will require radio broadcast licensees to upload to the
online public file all documents and information that are required to
be in the public file but that are not also filed in CDBS (or LMS) or
otherwise maintained by the Commission on its own Web site. Thus, radio
stations must upload citizen agreements, certain EEO materials, issues/
programs lists, local public notice announcements, time brokerage
agreements, joint sales agreements, materials related to FCC
investigations or complaints (other than investigative information
requests from the Commission), and any new political file material. The
Commission will import to the online file documents and information
required to be in the public file that are electronically filed in CDBS
(or LMS), including authorizations, applications and related materials,
ownership reports and related materials, EEO Reports, The Public and
Broadcasting manual, and Letters of Inquiry and other investigative
requests from the Commission, unless otherwise directed by the inquiry
itself.
78. FCC Form 302-AM. FCC Form 302-AM (Application for AM Broadcast
Station License) is available for paper filing only, unlike the
application for FM station licenses (FCC Form 302-FM) which must be
filed electronically. We will permit AM stations that must retain Form
302-AM in their public inspection file to choose either to retain the
form locally for public inspection or upload the form themselves to the
Commission's online database. NAB urges the Commission to upgrade its
database to reduce the unequal burden on AM stations that are unable to
file forms electronically. We are working on upgrading our broadcast
licensing database, including FCC Form 302-AM, but we will not make
changes to the filing requirements in this item. Our focus is on moving
the public inspection file to the Commission's online database; other
broadcast licensing database improvements are beyond the scope of this
proceeding.
79. Political file. As proposed in the NPRM, and consistent with
the approach we adopted for television broadcasters and that we adopt
here for other entities, broadcast radio licensees will not be required
to upload their existing political files to the online file, but
instead will be permitted to maintain existing material in their local
political file and upload documents to the online political file only
on a going-forward basis. This approach will minimize the burden of
transitioning to the online file.
80. Delay in implementation for stations with fewer resources. In
light of the unique economic circumstances faced by radio broadcasters,
we believe it is appropriate to implement the online public file by
imposing requirements, at first, only on stations with more resources.
Some radio commenters expressed opposition to the Commission's proposal
to include radio broadcasters in the online file. Some argue that the
radio industry already faces significant economic challenges as the
result of competition from other services that would be exacerbated by
the imposition of further regulatory requirements. Others question the
need to expand the online file to radio, noting the limited number of
requests radio stations receive to view the public file, or noting that
the Petition for Rulemaking did not address broadcast radio and
advocated only that cable operators and DBS providers be added to the
online file.
81. Most radio commenters focus in particular on the impact on
small stations, including small NCE stations, of including broadcast
radio stations in the online file. In general, these commenters argue
that many radio stations are very small with limited financial and
other resources, face constant economic pressure, and would find the
transition to the online file very burdensome.
82. With respect to NCE radio stations, many commenters advocate
that all such stations be permanently exempt from online filing. Many
NCE radio commenters argue that these stations are prohibited from
accepting paid political and issue advertising, making access to their
political file records less necessary than for commercial stations.
Others contend that NCE stations often have more limited financial
resources and smaller staffs than commercial stations and rely on
donations for the majority of their funding, making the burden of
transitioning to the online file particularly challenging. If NCE
stations are not exempt from online filing, the Educational Media
Foundation argues they should be in the last group of stations required
to transition to the online file so that any issues with the online
filing process can be resolved before NCEs are required to utilize
scarce resources in uploading online files.
83. As we proposed in the NPRM, we will commence online public file
requirements for radio with commercial stations in markets 1 through
50, as defined by Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron), that have five or
more full-time employees. We will delay all mandatory online filing for
other radio stations for approximately two years, until March 1, 2018.
Commencing on this date, all NCE radio stations, all commercial
stations in markets below the top 50 as well as those outside all
markets, and all commercial top 50 market stations with fewer than five
full-time employees must begin placing all new public and political
file material in the online file. In addition, as of this date, these
stations must have placed all their existing public file material in
the online file, with the exception of their existing political file
material. Stations transitioning to the online file in the second wave
will have approximately two years in which to upload their existing
public file material to the online file. Accordingly, we do not believe
these stations need an additional six months beyond the March 1, 2018
transition date in which to upload existing public file material.
84. We decline to permanently exempt any category of radio stations
from online filing. All broadcasters have public and political
inspection file requirements, and we believe that all these files
should ultimately be moved to the Commission's online database to
improve accessibility and, over time, reduce the covered entities'
administrative costs of maintaining these files. We note that, unlike
small cable systems which are exempt from the political file as well as
other public file requirements, small radio stations are not exempt
from the political file
[[Page 10117]]
requirement. We also decline to categorically exempt part of the public
inspection file from online filing, as proposed by some commenters,
with the exception of the existing political file and the
correspondence file. Our experience to date with television stations
suggests that most entities will not encounter undue difficulties in
completing the transition to online filing. While we recognize that
some radio broadcasters face significant economic and other resource
constraints, we believe that most radio stations will be capable of
completing the transition to the online file and are more likely to
reap benefits over time in terms of reduced administrative costs if
they post their entire public and political files online. Stations that
face unique economic or other impediments that make transitioning to
the Commission's online file especially difficult may request a waiver.
85. We believe that commencing online file requirements with
commercial stations in the top 50 markets with 5 or more full-time
employees will ensure that the first group of radio stations to
transition to the online file will have sufficient financial and staff
resources to address any implementation issues that may arise.
Commenters who addressed this issue generally agreed that it is
reasonable to phase in online filing for radio stations starting with
larger, commercial stations in the top 50 markets. We believe that it
is appropriate to delay online filing for other radio stations as they
are likely to have fewer financial and other resources and may need
additional time to prepare for their transition to the online file. As
we discussed in the NPRM, radio stations with fewer than 5 full-time
employees are exempt from many EEO requirements, including the
requirement to file FCC Form 396 (Broadcast Equal Employment
Opportunity Program Report). We believe that defining the class of
small radio stations based on this EEO exemption makes sense as it is a
standard with which stations are already familiar and it provides a
clear, bright line test for determining which stations are temporarily
exempt from online filing. In addition, information regarding the
stations that are exempt from certain EEO requirements is readily
available to the Commission and the public, as this information is
filed with the FCC and is available on the FCC's Web site.
86. The 5 full-time employee threshold in our EEO rules applies to
station employment units. A station employment unit is defined as ``a
station or a group of commonly owned stations in the same market that
share at least one employee.'' We will apply the 5 full-time employee
threshold for purposes of the temporary exemption from radio online
file requirements to station employment units. Thus, where a radio
station is commonly owned with one or more other radio or television
stations in the same market that share at least one employee, and the
station employment unit has five or more full-time employees, each
radio station in the group will be considered to exceed the threshold
for the temporary exemption from the online public file.
87. We reject the suggestion that we instead use a ten or fifteen-
employee threshold for purposes of the temporary exemption from online
public file requirements. The commenters that advocate a standard based
on a larger number of employees argue generally that this approach
better reflects the economic reality of radio versus television
broadcasting and will better protect against adverse impacts to smaller
radio stations. We believe, however, that a top-50 market commercial
station with a staff of five or more full-time employees will have
sufficient resources to be able to manage the transition to the online
public file in the first wave of radio stations. Stations that face
undue economic or other impediments to the transition may request a
waiver.
88. We will permit radio stations that are not required to
transition to the online file until March 1, 2018 voluntarily to
transition to the online file before that date. As discussed above,
entities that choose to transition to the online file early must upload
all new public and political file documents to the online file on a
going-forward basis. All commenters who addressed this issue agree that
radio stations that are exempt from online filing should be permitted
to use the online file voluntarily.
89. Contour map and main studio information. The Commission will
create contour maps for the online file for both AM and FM stations
based on existing data. Radio stations are currently required to
include in their public inspection files ``any service contour maps
submitted with any application'' together with ``any other information
in the application showing service contours and/or main studio and
transmitter location.'' While we sought comment in the NPRM on whether
we should require AM stations to upload contour maps to the online file
given the complexities of AM contour mapping, we conclude that it is
not necessary to require AM stations to upload contour maps. Instead,
the Media Bureau will create contour maps for purposes of the online
file for both AM and FM stations.
90. As we proposed in the NPRM, we will require stations to provide
information to the online file regarding the location of the station's
main studio. The Commission's rules do not currently require the
reporting of this information, and it is not included on contour maps.
We believe that information regarding the location of the main studio
will help members of the public to engage in an active dialogue with
radio licensees regarding their service, which is one of the goals of
this proceeding. This information is also necessary to inform the
public of the location of the correspondence file and existing
political file (until its retention period expires in two years), both
of which will be publicly available at the station. In addition, back-
up political files will be available at the main studio (unless placed
on a station Web site) if the online file database becomes unavailable.
Therefore, consistent with the approach we took with respect to
television stations, we will require broadcast radio stations to
include in the online public file the station's main studio address and
telephone number, and the email address of the station's designated
contact for questions about the public file. In addition, stations with
a main studio located outside of their community of license must list
the location of the correspondence file and existing political file, as
well as the required local or toll free number.
91. Donor Lists. NCE stations are required to retain in the public
inspection file lists of donors supporting specific programs. As we
proposed in the NPRM and as we required for television broadcasters in
the Second Report and Order, we will require noncommercial radio
broadcasters to include donor lists in their online public files. A
number of NCE radio commenters argued that donor lists should not be
included in the online file in order to protect the privacy of
supporters of noncommercial radio broadcasting. National Religious
Broadcasters and other commenters argue generally that donors will be
less likely to contribute if their names are made public online rather
than only in the local public file. National Religious Broadcasters
also argues that donors to these stations could become targets of
unwanted attention or even crime if donor information is available
online.
92. We are not persuaded that making donor information available
online will affect contributions to noncommercial radio programming or
create significant problems for donors. NCE television
[[Page 10118]]
stations have been posting donor lists in their online public files and
have not reported any problems. The benefits of placing the public file
online, thereby facilitating public access to this information, are
substantial, and we decline to exclude donor lists from this
requirement on the basis of unsubstantiated claims of commercial harm.
We are not requiring broadcasters to make any information publicly
available that stations are not already required to make public.
Moreover, unlike letters from the public, donor lists do not contain
personal information other than the name of the donor. They are not
required to include information about the amounts contributed, the
donor's address or email, or other potentially sensitive information.
Thus, we do not believe that requiring that the list of donor names be
posted online, rather than maintained at the station, raises
fundamental privacy concerns. Nonetheless, we recognize the concerns
expressed by the National Religious Broadcasters. To the extent a
licensee fears that online disclosure of donor information with respect
to particular programs could discourage a donor from making
contributions to the station or subject donors to unwanted attention or
crime, the licensee may seek a waiver of the online posting
requirement.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ As with any of our rules, stations may request a waiver of
the requirement to post donor information to the online public file
under our general waiver standards. See 47 CFR 1.3. Waivers of the
requirement to post donor lists to the online public file will be
provided, on a program by program basis to stations that submit a
showing that meets the general waiver standards. Any such waiver
granted by the Commission will be limited to two years. A party may
seek a renewal of the waiver after the two-year period. Stations who
seek a waiver of the requirement to include information regarding
the donors to particular programs in the online file are not
required to post this donor information to the online file but may
instead retain this information in the station's local public file
until Commission review of the waiver request (and any further
judicial review) is complete. Information regarding donors
supporting particular programs must at all times be retained either
in the online file or, if a waiver request has been filed or has
been granted or is still under review, in the local public file. If
donor information is not included in the online public file the
station must include a notation in the online file that this
information is available in the station's local public file.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
93. National Religious Broadcasters also argues that mandatory
Internet posting of the identity of donors to NCE radio stations raises
First Amendment concerns. They argue that many NCE stations rely on a
talk format and carry programming addressing political or social issues
that are unpopular or controversial. According to National Religious
Broadcasters, the First Amendment has been held to require, in some
instances, protection of the privacy of persons who support certain
social or political causes, particularly from Internet disclosure. We
disagree that the First Amendment requires that information regarding
donors to specific NCE programs be excluded from the online file.
Making such already-public records available via the Internet does not
change the existing requirement that donors be disclosed in the public
file; it only changes how they are disclosed. The donor list provides
the only complete information regarding program sponsorship on
noncommercial stations, public disclosure of which is premised on the
basic concept that the public is entitled to know by whom they are
being persuaded.
(ii) Content Exempt From the Online File
94. Letters from the public. We will exempt letters and emails from
the public from the online file and instead require broadcast radio
stations to retain such material at the station in a correspondence
file. This is the approach we took with respect to television stations
in the Second Report and Order and the approach we proposed to take
with respect to radio broadcasters in the NPRM. In the Second Report
and Order, the Commission determined that including letters and emails
from the public in the online file could risk exposing personally
identifiable information and that requiring stations to redact such
information prior to uploading these documents would be overly
burdensome. The Commission determined that letters and emails from the
public should be maintained at the station's main studio either in a
paper file or electronically on a computer. Further, the Commission
clarified that, as required under the current public inspection file
rules, this file should include all letters and emails from the public
regarding operation of the station unless the letter writer has
requested that the letter not be made public or the licensee feels that
it should be excluded due to the nature of its content. Finally, the
Commission determined that it would not require stations to retain
social media messages in their correspondence file. We will apply these
same determinations to radio broadcasters.
95. Named State Broadcasters Associations urges us to consider
eliminating the requirement that broadcasters retain letters from the
public in the public inspection file, noting that this requirement does
not apply to cable operators. This commenter argues that if a station
could move its entire public file online and eliminate the need to host
a local public file and ensure public access to it, the overall burden
of maintaining the public inspection file would be reduced. Consistent
with our decision regarding the television correspondence file,\4\ we
decline to eliminate in this proceeding the requirement that commercial
radio stations retain correspondence from the public, as our focus is
on moving the public file to an online regime and not on changing its
underlying requirements. While we recognize that our decision to
require a correspondence file to be retained locally will prevent
stations from realizing the full cost savings of moving their public
files online, as a practical matter stations appear to receive few
requests to view letters from the public, relieving to some extent the
impact of the requirement to retain a local correspondence file.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ As noted above, however, the Commission will initiate a
separate proceeding to consider whether to eliminate the
correspondence file requirement for commercial broadcasters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Satellite Radio Public Inspection File
a. Current Rules
96. Licensees in the satellite radio service are required to
maintain a public file with two categories of material. First, SDARS
licensees are required to comply with EEO requirements similar to those
imposed on broadcasters, including the requirement to file EEO reports
and to maintain those reports in their public file together with other
EEO program information. Second, satellite radio licensees are required
to maintain a political file. In addition, SiriusXM, the current, sole
U.S. SDARS licensee, is required to retain a third category of material
in the public file. SiriusXM made a voluntary commitment to make
capacity available for noncommercial educational and informational
programming, similar to the requirement imposed on DBS providers, in
connection with its merger application. As part of its approval of the
merger, the Commission required that the merged entity reserve channels
for educational and informational programming, offer those channels to
qualified programmers, and comply with the public file requirements of
section 25.701(f)(6) of the Commission's rules, which sets forth public
file requirements for the noncommercial set-aside for DBS providers.
b. Online Public File Requirements
97. As we proposed in the NPRM, we will treat satellite radio
licensees in the same manner as television, cable, DBS,
[[Page 10119]]
and broadcast radio entities by requiring them to upload to the online
file only material that is not already on file at the Commission. The
only documents that DBS providers file with the Commission that must
also be retained in their public inspection files are EEO forms 396 and
397. The Commission will upload these documents to the online file. We
do not believe that requiring SDARS licensees to upload other public
file materials to the online file will be unduly burdensome as the
number of public file requirements for this service is fewer than for
other services discussed in this item and because the current, sole
U.S. SDARS licensee has ample financial resources to comply with this
online file requirement. We also believe that, as with DBS, the
transition to an online file is particularly important for satellite
radio because of that service's nationwide reach and the fact that the
current licensee maintains only one public and political file for the
entire U.S., making in-person access very difficult.
98. With respect to the political file, we will treat satellite
radio similar to DBS, as they are both nationwide services with few
licensed service providers. Similar to the requirement we adopt for the
DBS political file and consistent with our approach for television
stations, cable systems, and radio broadcasters, SDARS licensees will
not be required to upload their existing political files to the online
file but will instead be permitted to maintain existing material in
their physical political file, and upload documents to the online
political file only on a going-forward basis. SDARS licensees must
begin uploading new public and political file material to the online
public file 30 days after the Commission announces in the Federal
Register that OMB has completed its review of this Order under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') and approved the collection. These
licensees will have six months from the effective date of the rules
(i.e., six months after the Commission publishes a notice in the
Federal Register announcing OMB approval under the PRA) to complete the
process of uploading existing public file materials to the online file,
with the exception of existing political files which entities are
permitted, but not required, to upload to the Commission's online
public file.
99. As discussed above, if the FCC's online public file database is
temporarily unavailable, we will require SDARS licensees to make their
back-up political files available to the public by, at their own
choice, either an online method, via the entity's own Web site, or by
answering questions and accommodating requests for copies of political
file materials made by telephone. We believe it is appropriate to
require SDARS licensees to provide access to political file documents
either online or by telephone as these entities provide service
nationwide making in-person access to these files difficult for most
subscribers. In addition, SDARS licensees have the option to provide
online access to back-up political file materials in lieu of responding
to telephone inquiries regarding these materials. Finally, similar to
our decision regarding the organization of DBS political files, we will
permit SDARS licensees the flexibility to organize their political
files in any manner that reasonably allows users to review their
contents and reflects how ads were purchased and shown.
5. Open Video System Operators
100. We decline at this time to require Open Video System (``OVS'')
operators to use the Commission's online public inspection file. We
noted in the NPRM that OVS operators have several public file
obligations and sought comment on whether these entities should be
required to make this information available in the online public file.
No commenters addressed this issue. We may revisit the issue of OVS use
of the online file at a later time.
IV. Procedural Matters
A. Final Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis
101. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as
amended (``RFA'') an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis
(``IRFA'') was incorporated in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in
this proceeding. The Commission sought written public comment on the
proposals in the NPRM, including comment on the IRFA. The Commission
received no comments on the IRFA. This Final Regulatory Flexibility Act
Analysis (``FRFA'') conforms to the RFA.
1. Need for, and Objectives of, the Second Report and Order
102. One of a television broadcaster's fundamental public interest
obligations is to air programming responsive to the needs and interests
of its community of license. To ensure that stations meet this
obligation, the Commission relies on viewers and listeners as an
important source of information about the nature of a station's
programming, operations, and compliance with Commission rules. To
provide the public with access to information about station operations,
the Commission's rules have long required television and radio
broadcast stations to maintain a physical public inspection file,
including a political file, at their respective stations or
headquarters and to place in the file records that provide information
about station operations. Cable operators, satellite TV (also referred
to as ``Direct Broadcast Satellite'' or ``DBS'') providers, broadcast
radio licensees, and satellite radio (also referred to as ``Satellite
Digital Audio Radio Services'' or ``SDARS'') licensees also have public
and political file requirements modeled, in large part, on the
longstanding broadcast requirements.
103. In 2012, the Commission adopted online public file rules for
broadcast television stations that required them to post public file
documents to a central, FCC-hosted online database rather than
maintaining the files locally at their main studios. Our goal was to
modernize the procedures television broadcasters use to inform the
public about how they are serving their communities, to make
information concerning broadcast service more accessible to the public
and, over time, to reduce the cost of broadcasters' compliance. This
Report and Order extends our modernization effort to include the public
file documents that cable operators, satellite TV (also referred to as
``Direct Broadcast Satellite'' or ``DBS'') providers, broadcast radio
licensees, and satellite radio (also referred to as ``Satellite Digital
Audio Radio Services'' or ``SDARS'') licensees are required to
maintain. By including these services in our transition to an online
public inspection file regime, our goal is to continue our effort to
harness the efficiencies made possible by digital technology to make
public file information more readily available while at the same time
minimizing the burden of maintaining the file.
2. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in Response
to the IRFA
104. No comments were filed in response to the IRFA.
3. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities To Which
the Proposed Rules Will Apply
105. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of and,
where feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities that may be
affected by the proposed rules, if adopted. The RFA generally defines
the term ``small entity'' as having the same meaning as the terms
``small business,'' ``small organization,'' and ``small governmental
[[Page 10120]]
jurisdiction.'' In addition, the term ``small business'' has the same
meaning as the term ``small business concern'' under the Small Business
Act. A small business concern is one which: (1) Is independently owned
and operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3)
satisfies any additional criteria established by the SBA. Below, we
provide a description of such small entities, as well as an estimate of
the number of such small entities, where feasible.
106. Cable Companies and Systems. The Commission has developed its
own small business size standards for the purpose of cable rate
regulation. Under the Commission's rules, a ``small cable company'' is
one serving 400,000 or fewer subscribers nationwide. Industry data
shows that there were are currently 660 cable operators. Of this total,
all but ten cable operators nationwide are small under this size
standard. In addition, under the Commission's rate regulation rules, a
``small system'' is a cable system serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers.
Current Commission records show 4,629 cable systems nationwide. Of this
total, 4,057 cable systems have less than 20,000 subscribers, and 572
systems have 20,000 or more subscribers, based on the same records.
Thus, under this standard, we estimate that most cable systems are
small entities.
107. Cable System Operators (Telecom Act Standard). The
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, also contains a size standard
for small cable system operators, which is ``a cable operator that,
directly or through an affiliate, serves in the aggregate fewer than 1
percent of all subscribers in the United States and is not affiliated
with any entity or entities whose gross annual revenues in the
aggregate exceed $250,000,000.'' There are approximately 54 million
cable video subscribers in the United States today. Accordingly, an
operator serving fewer than 540,000 subscribers shall be deemed a small
operator if its annual revenues, when combined with the total annual
revenues of all its affiliates, do not exceed $250 million in the
aggregate. Based on available data, we find that all but ten incumbent
cable operators are small entities under this size standard. We note
that the Commission neither requests nor collects information on
whether cable system operators are affiliated with entities whose gross
annual revenues exceed $250 million. Although it seems certain that
some of these cable system operators are affiliated with entities whose
gross annual revenues exceed $250,000,000, we are unable at this time
to estimate with greater precision the number of cable system operators
that would qualify as small cable operators under the definition in the
Communications Act.
108. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) Service. DBS service is a
nationally distributed subscription service that delivers video and
audio programming via satellite to a small parabolic ``dish'' antenna
at the subscriber's location. DBS, by exception, is now included in the
SBA's broad economic census category, Wired Telecommunications
Carriers, which was developed for small wireline businesses. Under this
category, the SBA deems a wireline business to be small if it has 1,500
or fewer employees. Census data for 2007 shows that there were 3,188
firms that operated for that entire year. Of this total, 2,940 firms
had fewer than 100 employees, and 248 firms had 100 or more employees.
Therefore, under this size standard, the majority of such businesses
can be considered small entities. However, the data we have available
as a basis for estimating the number of such small entities were
gathered under a superseded SBA small business size standard formerly
titled ``Cable and Other Program Distribution.'' As of 2002, the SBA
defined a small Cable and Other Program Distribution provider as one
with $12.5 million or less in annual receipts. Currently, only two
entities provide DBS service, which requires a great investment of
capital for operation: DIRECTV and DISH Network. Each currently offers
subscription services. DIRECTV and DISH Network each report annual
revenues that are in excess of the threshold for a small business.
Because DBS service requires significant capital, we believe it is
unlikely that a small entity as defined under the superseded SBA size
standard would have the financial wherewithal to become a DBS service
provider.
109. Radio Broadcasting. The SBA defines a radio broadcast station
as a small business if such station has no more than $38.5 million in
annual receipts. Business concerns included in this industry are those
``primarily engaged in broadcasting aural programs by radio to the
public.'' According to review of the BIA Publications, Inc. Master
Access Radio Analyzer Database as of November 26, 2013, about 11,331
(or about 99.9 percent) of the then number of commercial radio stations
(11,341) have revenues of $35.5 million or less and thus qualify as
small entities under the SBA definition. The Commission has estimated
the number of licensed noncommercial radio stations to be 4,090. The
Commission does not compile and otherwise does not have access to
information on the revenue of NCE stations that would permit it to
determine how many such stations would qualify as small entities. These
stations rely primarily on grants and contributions for their
operations, so we will assume that all of these entities qualify as
small businesses. We note that in assessing whether a business entity
qualifies as small under the above definition, business control
affiliations must be included. This estimate, therefore, likely
overstates the number of small entities that might be affected, because
the revenue figure on which it is based does not include or aggregate
revenues from affiliated companies.
110. In addition, an element of the definition of ``small
business'' is that the entity not be dominant in its field of
operation. The Commission is unable at this time to define or quantify
the criteria that would establish whether a specific radio station is
dominant in its field of operation. Accordingly, the estimate of small
businesses to which rules may apply does not exclude any radio station
from the definition of a small business on this basis and therefore may
be over-inclusive to that extent. Also, as noted, an additional element
of the definition of ``small business'' is that the entity must be
independently owned and operated. The Commission notes that it is
difficult at times to assess these criteria in the context of media
entities and the estimates of small businesses to which they apply may
be over-inclusive to this extent.
111. Satellite Radio. The rules proposed in this NPRM would affect
the sole, current U.S. provider of satellite radio (``SDARS'')
services, XM-Sirius, which offers subscription services. XM-Sirius
reported revenue of $3.8 billion in 2013 and a net income of $377
million. In light of these figures, we believe it is unlikely that this
entity would be considered small.
4. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements
112. The rule changes adopted in the Report and Order affect
reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements. Cable, DBS,
broadcast radio, and SDARS entities are currently required to maintain
a ``local'' copy of their public inspection files. The Report and Order
requires these entities to submit documents, including political file
materials, for inclusion in an online public file hosted on the
Commission's Web site. Items in the public file that are required to be
filed with the Commission will be automatically
[[Page 10121]]
imported into the entity's online public file. Entities will only be
responsible for uploading to the online file items that are not
required to be filed with the Commission under any other rule. The
Report and Order also excludes some items from the online public file
requirement, such as the existing political file, which must continue
to be maintained locally until the end of the retention period unless
voluntarily uploaded to the online file. Office staff will be able to
upload documents to the online file in most cases; no professional
skills will generally be necessary to perform that task.
5. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered
113. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant
alternatives that it has considered in reaching its proposed approach,
which may include the following four alternatives (among others): (1)
The establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or
timetables that take into account the resources available to small
entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of
compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small entities;
(3) the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and (4) an
exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small
entities.
114. The Report and Order includes a number of measures designed to
minimize the effort and cost entities must undertake to move their
public files online. Specifically, we require entities to upload to the
online file only public file documents that are not already on file
with the Commission or that the Commission maintains in its own
database. We also exempt existing political file material from the
online file requirement and require only that political file documents
be uploaded on a going-forward basis. In addition, with only minor
exceptions--requiring cable operators to provide information about the
geographic areas they serve and the employment units associated with
each cable system, clarifying the documents required to be included in
the cable public file, and requiring cable, DBS, broadcast radio, and
SDARS entities to provide certain location and contact information for
their local file--we do not adopt new or modified public inspection
file requirements in this proceeding. Our goal is to adapt our existing
public file requirements to an online format. While we recognize that
entities may incur a modest, one-time transitional cost to upload some
portions of their existing public file to the online database, we
believe this initial expense will be offset by the public benefits of
online disclosure. We also believe that, over time, entities will
benefit from the lower costs of sending documents electronically to the
Commission as opposed to creating and maintaining a paper file at the
local or headquarters' office or main studio and assisting the public
in accessing it.
115. In addition, with respect to radio licensees the Report and
Order commences the transition to an online file with commercial
stations in larger markets with five or more full-time employees, while
postponing for two years all online file requirements for other radio
stations. This delay will give these stations additional time to
familiarize themselves with the online filing requirements and will
permit them to spread out their transition to the online file over a
period of two years. The Report and Order also exempts small cable
systems temporarily from the requirement to commence uploading new
political file material to the online public file and exempts very
small cable systems from all requirements to upload documents to the
Commission's online database.
116. Overall, we believe that the Report and Order appropriately
balances the interests of the public against the interests of the
entities who will be subject to the rules, including those that are
smaller entities.
6. Federal Rules That May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With the
Proposed Rule
None.
B. Report to Congress
117. The Commission will send a copy of this Order to Congress and
the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional
Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
C. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis
118. This document contains new or modified information collection
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The
requirements will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review under section 3507(d) of the PRA. OMB, the general
public, and other Federal agencies will be invited to comment on the
new or modified information collection requirements contained in this
proceeding. In addition, we note that pursuant to the Small Business
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, we previously sought specific comment on
how the Commission might further reduce the information collection
burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
V. Ordering Clauses
119. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority
contained in sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 303(r), 315, and 335 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j),
303(r), 315, and 335 this Report and Order is adopted.
120. It is further ordered that the requirement that cable systems
with 1,000 or more subscribers, DBS providers, SDARS licensees, and
large market commercial radio stations with five or more full-time
employees place their new public inspection file documents on the
Commission-hosted online public file shall be effective 30 days after
the Commission publishes a notice in the Federal Register announcing
OMB approval. These entities will be responsible for placing existing
public file documents into the Commission-hosted online public file
within six months after the Commission published a notice in the
Federal Register announcing OMB approval. Entities will not be required
to place in the online public file existing political file material.
Cable systems with 1,000 or more subscribers but fewer than 5,000
subscribers will not be required to place new political file material
in the Commission's online file until March 1, 2018. In addition, until
March 1, 2018, all NCE radio broadcast stations, commercial radio
broadcast stations in the top 50 markets with fewer than five full-time
employees, and all commercial radio broadcast stations in markets below
the top 50 or outside all markets are exempt from all requirements to
place public file materials in the online public file. As of March 1,
2018 these entities must place all existing public file material in the
online public file, with the exception of existing political file
material, and must begin placing all new public and political file
material in the online file. Commercial broadcast radio licensees must
continue to retain letters and emails from the public in the local
public file and will not be permitted to upload those materials to the
online public file.
121. It is further ordered that the Commission's Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a
copy of this Report and Order including the Final Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small
Business Administration.
122. It is further ordered that the Commission shall send a copy of
this Report and Order in a report to Congress and the Government
Accountability
[[Page 10122]]
Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects
47 CFR Part 25
Direct Broadcast Satellite, Satellite radio, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements
47 CFR Part 73
Radio, Recording and recordkeeping requirements
47 CFR Part 76
Cable television, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
Final Rules
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR parts 25, 73, and 76 as
follows:
PART 25--SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
0
1. The authority citation for part 25 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Interprets or applies sections 4, 301, 302, 303, 307,
309, 319, 332, 705, and 721 of the Communications Act, as amended,
47 U.S.C. 154, 301, 302, 303, 307, 309, 319, 332, 705, and 721,
unless otherwise noted.
0
2. Section 25.601 is amended by revising the last sentence to read as
follows:
Sec. 25.601 Equal employment opportunities.
* * * Notwithstanding other EEO provisions within these rules, a
licensee or permittee of a direct broadcast satellite station operating
as a broadcaster, and a licensee or permittee in the satellite DARS
service, must comply with the equal employment opportunity requirements
set forth in 47 CFR part 73.
0
3. Section 25.701 is amended by revising the section heading, paragraph
(d) introductory text, and paragraph (d)(2), removing paragraph (d)(3),
and revising paragraphs (e)(3) and (f)(6) to read as follows:
Sec. 25.701 Other DBS Public interest obligations.
* * * * *
(d) Political file. Each DBS provider shall maintain a complete and
orderly political file.
* * * * *
(2) All records required to be retained by this section must be
placed in the political file as soon as possible and must be retained
for a period of two years. After the effective date of this section,
DBS providers shall place all new political file material required to
be retained by this section in the online file hosted by the
Commission.
(e) * * *
(3) DBS providers airing children's programming must maintain in
the online file hosted by the Commission records sufficient to verify
compliance with this rule. Such records must be maintained for a period
sufficient to cover the limitations period specified in 47 U.S.C.
503(b)(6)(B).
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(6) Public file. (i) In addition to the political file requirements
in Sec. 25.701, each DBS provider shall maintain in the online file
hosted by the Commission a complete and orderly record of:
(A) Quarterly measurements of channel capacity and yearly average
calculations on which it bases its four percent reservation, as well as
its response to any capacity changes;
(B) A record of entities to whom noncommercial capacity is being
provided, the amount of capacity being provided to each entity, the
conditions under which it is being provided and the rates, if any,
being paid by the entity;
(C) A record of entities that have requested capacity, disposition
of those requests and reasons for the disposition.
(ii) All records required by paragraph (i) of this paragraph shall
be placed in the online file hosted by the Commission as soon as
possible and shall be retained for a period of two years.
(iii) Each DBS provider must also place in the online file hosted
by the Commission the records required to be placed in the public
inspection file by Sec. 25.701(e) (commercial limits in children's
programs) and by Sec. 25.601 and 47 CFR part 76, subpart E (equal
employment opportunity requirements) and retain those records for the
period required by those rules.
(iv) Each DBS provider must provide a link to the online public
inspection file hosted on the Commission's Web site from the home page
of its own Web site, if the provider has a Web site, and provide on its
Web site contact information for a representative who can assist any
person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the
public files. Each DBS provider also must include in the online public
file hosted by the Commission the address of the provider's local
public file, if the provider retains documents in the local public file
that are not available in the Commission's online file, and the name,
phone number, and email address of the provider's designated contact
for questions about the public file.
* * * * *
0
4. Section 25.702 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 25.702 Other SDARS Public interest obligations.
(a) Political broadcasting requirements. The following political
broadcasting rules shall apply to all SDARS licensees: 47 CFR 73.1940
(Legally qualified candidates for public office), 73.1941 (Equal
opportunities), 73.1942 (Candidate rates), and 73.1944 (Reasonable
access).
(b) Political file. Each SDARS licensee shall maintain a complete
and orderly political file.
(1) The political file shall contain, at a minimum:
(i) A record of all requests for SDARS origination time, the
disposition of those requests, and the charges made, if any, if the
request is granted. The ``disposition'' includes the schedule of time
purchased, when spots actually aired, the rates charged, and the
classes of time purchased; and
(ii) A record of the free time provided if free time is provided
for use by or on behalf of candidates.
(2) SDARS licensees shall place all records required by this
section in the political file as soon as possible and shall retain the
records for a period of two years. After the effective date of this
section, SDARS licensees shall place all new political file material
required to be retained by this section in the online public file
hosted by the Commission.
(c) Public inspection file. (1) Each SDARS applicant or licensee
must also place in the online public file hosted by the Commission the
records required to be placed in the public inspection file by 47 CFR
25.601 and 73.2080 (equal employment opportunities (EEO)) and retain
those records for the period required by those rules.
(2) Each SDARS licensee must provide a link to the public
inspection file hosted on the Commission's Web site from the home page
of its own Web site, if the licensee has a Web site, and provide on its
Web site contact information for a representative who can assist any
person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the
public files. Each SDARS licensee also must include in the online
public file the address of the licensee's local public file, if the
licensee retains documents in the local public file that are not
available in the Commission's online file, and the name, phone number,
and email address of the licensee's
[[Page 10123]]
designated contact for questions about the public file.
* * * * *
PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES
0
5. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336, and 339.
0
6. Section 73.1943 is amended by revising paragraph (d) to read as
follows:
Sec. 73.1943 Political file.
* * * * *
(d) Location of the file. A licensee or applicant must post all of
the contents added to its political file after the effective date of
this paragraph in the political file component of its online public
file hosted by the Commission. A station must retain in its political
file maintained at the station, at the location specified in Sec.
73.3526(b) or Sec. 73.3527(b), all material required to be included in
the political file and added to the file prior to the effective date of
this paragraph, unless the station elects voluntarily to place these
materials in the Commission's online public file. The online political
file must be updated in the same manner as paragraph (c) of this
section.
0
7. Section 73.3526 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(1) through (3)
to read as follows:
Sec. 73.3526 Local public inspection file of commercial stations.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) For radio licensees temporarily exempt from the online public
file hosted by the Commission, as discussed in paragraph (b)(2) of this
section, a hard copy of the public inspection file shall be maintained
at the main studio of the station, unless the licensee elects
voluntarily to place the file online as discussed in paragraph (b)(2)
of this section. For all licensees, letters and emails from the public,
as required by paragraph (e)(9) of this section, shall be maintained at
the main studio of the station. An applicant for a new station or
change of community shall maintain its file at an accessible place in
the proposed community of license or at its proposed main studio.
(2)(i) A television station licensee or applicant, and any radio
station licensee or applicant not temporarily exempt as described in
this paragraph, shall place the contents required by paragraph (e) of
this section of its public inspection file in the online public file
hosted by the Commission, with the exception of letters and emails from
the public as required by paragraph (e)(9) of this section, which shall
be retained at the station in the manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1)
of this section; and the political file as required by paragraph (e)(6)
of this section, as discussed in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. Any
radio station not in the top 50 Nielsen Audio markets, and any radio
station with fewer than five full-time employees, shall continue to
retain the public inspection file at the station in the manner
discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section until March 1, 2018.
However, any radio station that is not required to place its public
inspection file in the online public file hosted by the Commission
before March 1, 2018 may choose to do so, instead of retaining the
public inspection file at the station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
(ii) A station must provide a link to the public inspection file
hosted on the Commission's Web site from the home page of its own Web
site, if the station has a Web site, and provide contact information on
its Web site for a station representative that can assist any person
with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public
files. A station also is required to include in the online public file
the station's main studio address and telephone number, and the email
address of the station's designated contact for questions about the
public file. To the extent this section refers to the local public
inspection file, it refers to the public file of an individual station,
which is either maintained at the station or on the Commission's Web
site, depending upon where the documents are required to be maintained
under the Commission's rules.
(3)(i) A licensee or applicant shall place the contents required by
paragraph (e)(6) of this section of its political inspection file in
the online public file hosted by the Commission. Political inspection
file material already in existence 30 days after the effective date of
this provision, if not placed in the online public file hosted by the
Commission, shall continue to be retained at the station in the manner
discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section until the end of its
retention period.
(ii) Any television station not in the top 50 DMAs, and any station
not affiliated with one of the top four broadcast networks, regardless
of the size of the market it serves, shall continue to retain the
political file at the station in the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section until July 1, 2014. For these stations,
effective July 1, 2014, any new political file material shall be placed
in the online file hosted by the Commission, while the material in the
political file as of July 1, 2014, if not placed in the Commission's
Web site, shall continue to be retained at the station in the manner
discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section until the end of its
retention period. However, any station that is not required to place
its political file in the online file hosted by the Commission before
July 1, 2014 may choose to do so, instead of retaining the political
file at the station in the manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section.
(iii) Any radio station not in the top 50 Nielsen Audio markets,
and any radio station with fewer than five full-time employees, shall
continue to retain the political file at the station in the manner
discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section until March 1, 2018. For
these stations, effective March 1, 2018, any new political file
material shall be placed in the online public file hosted by the
Commission, while the material already existing in the political file
as of March 1, 2018, if not placed in the online public file hosted by
the Commission, shall continue to be retained at the station in the
manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section until the end of
its retention period. However, any station that is not required to
place its political file on the Commission's Web site before March 1,
2018, may choose to do so, instead of retaining the political file at
the station in the manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section.
* * * * *
0
8. Section 73.3527 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(1) and (2) to
read as follows:
Sec. 73.3527 Local public inspection file of noncommercial
educational stations.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) For radio licensees, a hard copy of the public inspection file
shall be maintained at the main studio of the station until March 1,
2018, except that, as discussed in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this
section, any radio station may voluntarily place its public inspection
file in the online public file hosted by the Commission before March 1,
2018, if it chooses to do so, instead of retaining the file at the
station. An applicant for a new station or change of community shall
maintain its file at an accessible place in the proposed community of
license or at its proposed main studio.
(2)(i) A noncommercial educational television station licensee or
applicant shall place the contents required by
[[Page 10124]]
paragraph (e) of this section of its public inspection file in the
online public file hosted by the Commission, with the exception of the
political file as required by paragraph (e)(5) of this section, which
may be retained at the station in the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section until July 1, 2014. Effective July 1, 2014, any
new political file material shall be placed in the online public file
hosted by the Commission, while the material in the political file as
of July 1, 2014, if not placed in the Commission's online public file,
shall continue to be retained at the station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section until the end of its retention period.
However, any noncommercial educational station that is not required to
place its political file in the online public file hosted by the
Commission before July 1, 2014 may choose to do so instead of retaining
the political file at the station in the manner discussed in paragraph
(b)(1) of this section.
(ii) Beginning March 1, 2018, noncommercial educational radio
station licensees and applicants shall place the contents required by
paragraph (e) in the online public inspection file hosted by the
Commission. For these stations, effective March 1, 2018, any new
political file material shall be placed in the Commission's online
public file, while the material in the political file as of March 1,
2018, if not placed in the Commission's online public file, shall
continue to be retained at the station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section until the end of its retention period.
However, any radio station that is not required to place its public
inspection file in the online public file hosted by the Commission
before March 1, 2018, may choose to do so, instead of retaining the
public inspection file at the station in the manner discussed in
paragraph (b)(1).
(iii) A station must provide a link to the online public inspection
file hosted by the Commission from the home page of its own Web site,
if the station has a Web site, and provide contact information for a
station representative on its Web site that can assist any person with
disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files. A
station also is required to include in the online public file hosted by
the Commission the station's main studio address and telephone number,
and the email address of the station's designated contact for questions
about the public file. To the extent this section refers to the local
public inspection file, it refers to the public file of an individual
station, which is either maintained at the station or on the
Commission's Web site, depending upon where the documents are required
to be maintained under the Commission's rules.
* * * * *
0
9. Section 73.3580 is amended by revising paragraph (d)(4)(i)
introductory text and paragraph (d)(4)(ii) introductory text to read as
follows:
Sec. 73.3580 Local public notice of filing of broadcast applications.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(4) * * *
(i) Pre-filing announcements. During the period and beginning on
the first day of the sixth calendar month prior to the expiration of
the license, and continuing to the date on which the application is
filed, the following announcement shall be broadcast on the 1st and
16th day of each calendar month. Stations broadcasting primarily in a
foreign language should broadcast the announcements in that language.
Radio announcement: On (date of last renewal grant) (Station's call
letters) was granted a license by the Federal Communication Commission
to serve the public interest as a public trustee until (expiration
date).
Our license will expire on (date). We must file an application for
renewal with the FCC (date four calendar months prior to expiration
date). When filed, a copy of this application will be available for
public inspection at www.fcc.gov. It contains information concerning
this station's performance during the last (period of time covered by
the application). Individuals who wish to advise the FCC of facts
relating to our renewal application and to whether this station has
operated in the public interest should file comments and petitions with
the FCC by (date first day of last full calendar month prior to the
month of expiration).
Further information concerning the FCC's broadcast license renewal
process is available at (address of location of the station) or may be
obtained from the FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
Television announcement: On (date of last renewal grant) (Station's
call letters) was granted a license by the Federal Communication
Commission to serve the public interest as a public trustee until
(expiration date).
Our license will expire on (date). We must file an application for
renewal with the FCC (date four calendar months prior to expiration
date). When filed, a copy of this application will be available for
public inspection at www.fcc.gov. It contains information concerning
this station's performance during the last (period of time covered by
the application).
Individuals who wish to advise the FCC of facts relating to our
renewal application and to whether this station has operated in the
public interest should file comments and petitions with the FCC by
(date first day of last full calendar month prior to the month of
expiration).
Further information concerning the FCC's broadcast license renewal
process is available at (address of location of the station) or may be
obtained from the FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
* * * * *
(ii) Post-filing announcements. During the period beginning of the
date on which the renewal application is filed to the sixteenth day of
the next to last full calendar month prior to the expiration of the
license, all applications for renewal of broadcast station licenses
shall broadcast the following announcement on the 1st and 16th day of
each calendar month. Stations broadcasting primarily in a foreign
language should broadcast the announcements in that language.
Television announcement: On (date of last renewal grant) (Station's
call letters) was granted a license by the Federal Communications
Commission to serve the public interest as a public trustee until
(expiration date).
Our license will expire on (date). We have filed an application for
renewal with the FCC.
A copy of this application is available for public inspection at
www.fcc.gov. It contains information concerning this station's
performance during the last (period of time covered by application).
Individuals who wish to advise the FCC of facts relating to our
renewal application and to whether this station has operated in the
public interest should file comments and petitions with the FCC by
(date first day of last full calendar month prior to the month of
expiration).
Further information concerning the FCC's broadcast license renewal
process is available at (address of location of the station) or may be
obtained from the FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
Radio announcement: On (date of last renewal grant) (Station's call
letters) was granted a license by the Federal Communications Commission
to serve the public interest as a public trustee until (expiration
date).
Our license will expire on (date). We have filed an application for
renewal with the FCC.
A copy of this application is available for public inspection at
www.fcc.gov. It contains information concerning this
[[Page 10125]]
station's performance during the last (period of time covered by
application).
Individuals who wish to advise the FCC of facts relating to our
renewal application and to whether this station has operated in the
public interest should file comments and petitions with the FCC by
(date first day of last full calendar month prior to the month of
expiration).
Further information concerning the FCC's broadcast license renewal
process is available at (address of location of the station) or may be
obtained from the FCC, Washington, DC 20554.
* * * * *
PART 76--MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE
0
10. The authority citation for part 76 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 153, 154, 301, 302, 302a, 303,
303a, 307, 308, 309, 312, 315, 317, 325, 339, 340, 341, 503, 521,
522, 531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 537, 543, 544, 544a, 545, 548, 549,
552, 554, 556, 558, 560, 561, 571, 572, 573.
0
11. Section 76.630 is amended by revising the first undesignated
paragraph below paragraph (a)(2) introductory text to read as follows:
Sec. 76.630 Compatibility with consumer electronics equipment.
(a) * * *
(2) * * *
On (date of waiver request was filed with the Commission), (cable
operator's name) filed with the Federal Communications Commission a
request for waiver of the rule prohibiting scrambling of channels on
the basic tier of service. 47 CFR 76.630(a). The request for waiver
states (a brief summary of the waiver request). A copy of the request
for waiver shall be available for public inspection at www.fcc.gov.
* * * * *
0
12. Section 76.1700 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 76.1700 Records to be maintained by cable system operators.
(a) Public inspection file. The following records must be placed in
the online public file hosted by the Commission, except as indicated in
paragraphs (a)(6) and (d) of this section and except that the records
listed in paragraph (a)(1) of this section (political file) that are in
existence 30 days after the effective date of this provision, if not
placed in the online file, shall continue to be retained at the system
and made available to the public in the manner discussed in paragraph
(e) of this section until the end of the retention period. In addition,
any cable system with fewer than 5,000 subscribers shall continue to
retain the political file at the system in the manner discussed in
paragraph (e) of this section until March 1, 2018. For these systems,
effective March 1, 2018, any new political file material shall be
placed in the online file hosted by the Commission, while the material
in the political file as of March 1, 2018, if not placed on the
Commission's Web site, shall continue to be retained at the system in
the manner discussed in paragraph (e) of this section until the end of
its retention period. However, any system that is not required to place
its political file on the Commission's Web site before March 1, 2018
may choose to do so, instead of retaining the political file at the
system.in the manner discussed in paragraph (e) of this section.
(1) Political file. All requests for cablecast time made by or on
behalf of a candidate for public office and all other information
required to be maintained pursuant to Sec. 76.1701;
(2) Equal employment opportunity. All EEO materials described in
Sec. 76.1702 except for any EEO program annual reports, which the
Commission will link to the electronic version of all systems' public
inspection files;
(3) Commercial records on children's programs. Sufficient records
to verify compliance with Sec. 76.225 in accordance with Sec.
76.1703;
(4) Performance tests (channels delivered). The operator of each
cable television system shall maintain a current listing of the cable
television channels which that system delivers to its subscribers in
accordance with Sec. 76.1705;
(5) Leased access. If a cable operator adopts and enforces written
policy regarding indecent leased access programming, such a policy
shall be published in accordance with Sec. 76.1707;
(6) Principal headend. The operator of every cable system shall
maintain in its public inspection file the designation and location of
its principal headend in accordance with Sec. 76.1708. Cable systems
may elect not to post this information to the Commission's online file
but instead retain this information in their local public file
maintained in the manner discussed in paragraph (e) of this section;
(7) Availability of signals. The operator of every cable television
system shall maintain a list of all broadcast television stations
carried by its system in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements in
accordance with Sec. 76.1709;
(8) Operator interests in video programming. Cable operators shall
maintain records regarding the nature and extent of their attributable
interests in all video programming services as well as information
regarding their carriage of such vertically integrated video
programming services on cable systems in which they have an
attributable interests in accordance with Sec. 76.1710;
(9) Sponsorship identification. Whenever sponsorship announcements
are omitted pursuant to Sec. 76.1615(f) of Subpart T, the cable
television system operator shall maintain a list in accordance with
Sec. 76.1715;
(10) Compatibility with consumer electronics equipment. Cable
system operators generally may not scramble or otherwise encrypt
signals carried on the basic service tier. Copies of requests for
waivers of this prohibition must be available in the public inspection
file in accordance with Sec. 76.630.
(b) Information available to the franchisor. These records must be
made available by cable system operators to local franchising
authorities on reasonable notice and during regular business hours,
except as indicated in paragraph (d) of this section.
(1) Proof-of-performance test data. The proof of performance tests
shall be made available upon request in accordance with Sec. 76.1704;
(2) Complaint resolution. Cable system operators shall establish a
process for resolving complaints from subscribers about the quality of
the television signal delivered. Aggregate data based upon these
complaints shall be made available for inspection in accordance with
Sec. 76.1713.
(c) Information available to the Commission. These records must be
made available by cable system operators to the Commission on
reasonable notice and during regular business hours, except as
indicated in paragraph (d) of this section.
(1) Proof-of-performance test data. The proof of performance tests
shall be made available upon request in accordance with Sec. 76.1704;
(2) Signal leakage logs and repair records. Cable operators shall
maintain a log showing the date and location of each leakage source in
accordance with Sec. 76.1706;
(3) Emergency alert system and activations. Every cable system
shall keep a record of each test and activation of the Emergency Alert
System (EAS). The test is performed pursuant to the procedures and
requirements of part 11 of this chapter and the EAS Operating Handbook.
The records are kept in accordance with part 11 of this chapter and
Sec. 76.1711;
[[Page 10126]]
(4) Complaint resolution. Cable system operators shall establish a
process for resolving complaints from subscribers about the quality of
the television signal delivered. Aggregate data based upon these
complaints shall be made available for inspection in accordance with
Sec. 76.1713;
(5) Subscriber records and public inspection file. The operator of
a cable television system shall make the system, its public inspection
file, and its records of subscribers available for inspection upon
request in accordance with Sec. 76.1716.
(d) Exceptions to the public inspection file requirements. The
operator of every cable television system having fewer than 1,000
subscribers is exempt from the online public file and from the public
record requirements contained in Sec. 76.1701 (political file); Sec.
76.1702 (EEO records available for public inspection); Sec. 76.1703
(commercial records for children's programming); Sec. 76.1704 (proof-
of-performance test data); Sec. 76.1706 (signal leakage logs and
repair records); Sec. 76.1714 (FCC rules and regulations); and Sec.
76.1715 (sponsorship identification).
(e) Location of records. Public file material that continues to be
retained at the system shall be retained in a public inspection file
maintained at the office in the community served by the system that the
system operator maintains for the ordinary collection of subscriber
charges, resolution of subscriber complaints, and other business and,
if the system operator does not maintain such an office in the
community, at any accessible place in the communities served by the
system (such as a public registry for documents or an attorney's
office). Public file locations will be open at least during normal
business hours and will be conveniently located. The public inspection
file shall be available for public inspection at any time during
regular business hours for the facility where they are kept. All or
part of the public inspection file may be maintained in a computer
database, as long as a computer terminal capable of accessing the
database is made available, at the location of the file, to members of
the public who wish to review the file.
(f) Links and contact and geographic information. A system must
provide a link to the public inspection file hosted on the Commission's
Web site from the home page of its own Web site, if the system has a
Web site, and provide contact information on its Web site for a system
representative who can assist any person with disabilities with issues
related to the content of the public files. A system also is required
to include in the online public file the address of the system's local
public file, if the system retains documents in the local file that are
not available in the Commission's online file, and the name, phone
number, and email address of the system's designated contact for
questions about the public file. In addition, a system must provide on
the online public file a list of the five digit ZIP codes served by the
system. To the extent this section refers to the local public
inspection file, it refers to the public file of a physical system,
which is either maintained at the location described in paragraph (e)
or on the Commission's Web site, depending upon where the documents are
required to be maintained under the Commission's rules.
(g) Reproduction of records. Copies of any material in the public
inspection file that is not also available in the Commission's online
file shall be available for machine reproduction upon request made in
person, provided the requesting party shall pay the reasonable cost of
reproduction. Requests for machine copies shall be fulfilled at a
location specified by the system operator, within a reasonable period
of time, which in no event shall be longer than seven days. The system
operator is not required to honor requests made by mail but may do so
if it chooses.
0
13. Section 76.1702 is amended by revising paragraph (a) to read as
follows:
Sec. 76.1702 Equal employment opportunity.
(a) Every employment unit with six or more full-time employees
shall maintain for public inspection a file containing copies of all
EEO program annual reports filed with the Commission pursuant to Sec.
76.77 and the equal employment opportunity program information
described in paragraph (b) of this section. These materials shall be
placed in the Commission's online public inspection file(s), maintained
on the Commission's database, for each cable system associated with the
employment unit. These materials shall be placed in the Commission's
online public inspection file annually by the date that the unit's EEO
program annual report is due to be filed and shall be retained for a
period of five years. A headquarters employment unit file and a file
containing a consolidated set of all documents pertaining to the other
employment units of a multichannel video programming distributor that
operates multiple units shall be maintained in the online public
inspection file(s), maintained on the Commission's database, for every
cable system associated with the headquarters employment unit.
* * * * *
0
14. Section 76.1709 is amended by revising paragraphs (a) and (b) to
read as follows:
Sec. 76.1709 Availability of signals.
(a) The operator of every cable television system shall maintain
for public inspection a file containing a list of all broadcast
television stations carried by its system in fulfillment of the must-
carry requirements pursuant to Sec. 76.56. Such list shall include the
call sign, community of license, broadcast channel number, cable
channel number, and in the case of a noncommercial educational
broadcast station, whether that station was carried by the cable system
on March 29, 1990.
(b) Such records must be maintained in accordance with the
provisions of Sec. 76.1700.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2016-04117 Filed 2-26-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P