FCC Eliminates Paper Filings for Station Contracts

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, October 23, 2018

FCC

The FCC has eliminated the nearly 80-year-old requirement that broadcasters routinely file paper copies of station contracts and certain other documents with the Commission. Broadcasters have been required to submit these paper filings since the 1930s. After today, broadcasters have the option of either uploading these documents directly to their online public inspection file or maintaining an up-to-date list in of these documents in their online file and providing copies of the documents to requesting parties within seven days. Thus, the FCC found that routine paper filing requirement is redundant and unnecessary.

Eliminating these paper filings, and instead relying on the online public file rules, will reduce burdens on broadcasters while preserving transparency and ease of access to station documents for both the Commission and the public said the agency.

In a statement, NAB Executive VP/Communications Dennis Wharton said, "NAB appreciates the Commission's continued efforts to modernize outdated regulatory burdens on local TV and radio stations. Eliminating the paper filing requirement is a common-sense update to broadcast regulations."

This Report and Order concludes the fifth rulemaking stemming from the Commission's Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative.