Online Public File Expands to Radio, Cable and Satellite

The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to require cable operators, satellite television (DBS) providers, and broadcast radio and satellite radio licensees to post their public and political files to the FCC’s online public inspection file database. Specifically, the rules:

• Require entities to upload to the online file only public file documents that are not already on file with the Commission or maintained by the Commission in its own database; the Commission will include in the online file documents already on file with the Commission;
• Exempt existing political file material from the online file requirement and require that political file documents be uploaded only on a going-forward basis, consistent with the approach taken in the television transition;
• Exempt cable systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers from all online file requirements, as these systems have few public file requirements and are not required to maintain a political file;
• Delay for two years the requirement to upload new political file material to the online file for cable systems with between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers, similar to the approach taken toward smaller television stations in the television transition;
• With respect to radio broadcasters, impose the online file requirement initially only on commercial stations in the top 50 Nielsen Audio markets with 5 or more full-time employees while delaying for two years all mandatory online public file requirements for other radio stations;
• Permit entities that are temporarily exempt from part or all online public file requirements to upload material to the online file voluntarily before the delayed effective date of their online file requirement;
• Permit entities that have fully transitioned to the online public file to cease maintaining a local public file, as long as they provide online access to back-up political file material via the entity’s own website if the FCC’s online file database becomes temporarily unavailable.