FCC Extends Public File Deadlines

FCC shield on phone
(Image credit: Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A hitch in the Federal Communications Commission's online filing system has forced it to extend the deadlines broadcasters, cable and satellite operators have to upload the requisite documents in their public inspection files.

Data due on January 1 will now be due January 31, the FCC said, saying it was "[a]s a result of current technical issues adversely affecting the responsiveness of the Commission's Online Public Inspection File (OPIF) system."

The commission said the delay will not adversely affect its responsibility to review that information in the public interest.

The FCC requires a raft of data including for broadcasters on issues/programming, political ads, time brokerage agreements, and joint sales agreements. For cable, it includes political files, EEO reports, children's programming reports, leased access info, sponsorship ID and more.

For satellite it is political files, children's programming, EEO and noncommercial set-asides. ■

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.