WASHINGTON—In response to the Federal Communications Commission fiscal year 2026 regulatory fee allocations, the NAB said it generally supports the Commission’s proposed allocations and the agency’s use of population-based methodology for assessing broadcast television fees.

The NAB also applauded the agency’s ongoing work to refine the regulatory fee methodology to more accurately account for the work performed by employees in non-core bureaus and offices.

It requested, however, that “that the Commission consider reducing the fees assessed to earth stations to more accurately reflect the benefits provided by the FCC to these stations and raising the de minimis threshold to account for the increased cost of collecting regulatory fees.”

Finally, the NAB once again suggested that the FCC “continue to look for mechanisms that account for the significant benefits certain industries receive yet do not currently pay anything under the current fees framework.”

While the FCC has rejected attempts to expand the businesses and industries that are assessed regulatory fees to fund the agency, the NAB once again argued that the FCC “can improve the regulatory fee process by expanding its base of regulatory fee payors to include all entities that benefit directly from the Commission’s activities. The current regulatory fee process disproportionately burdens a limited group of legacy industries, despite that a larger set of entities benefit from the Commission’s work. It is neither fair nor sustainable for a small group of payors to retain the responsibility for funding the Commission’s broad and growing portfolio of activities.”

The NAB also said that it “disagrees with the Commission’s tentative conclusion in the Notice that there is no basis upon which to propose new fee categories. Over the last few years, NAB and other stakeholders have submitted several comments explaining the basis for adding new fee categories and the Commission’s legal authority to expand the base of fee payors beyond licensees to other entities that benefit from the Commission’s activities” to potentially include “broadband service providers, equipment authorization holders, and major technology companies (“Big Tech”).”

“NAB submits that it is undeniable that such additional entities should share in the costs of funding the Commission’s activities,” the filing noted. “And while we concede that it may be challenging to determine an appropriate methodology for calculating regulatory fees for broadband service providers, equipment authorization holders, and Big Tech companies, that is no reason for the Commission to avoid its obligation to apportion regulatory fees in a fair manner.”

The full filing is available here.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has submitted budgetary estimates to Congress for fiscal year 2027 that call for $398.3 million in budget authority from regulatory fee revenue, down 4.3% from $416.1 million in FY 2026. It is also expecting total spending on salaries and expenses to fall to $531.0 million, down from $548.8 million in FY 2026.

The agency reported that the number of “full-time equivalent" employees will drop to 1,294 in FY 2027, down from 1,404 in FY 2026. The FCC said it plans to achieve the reductions through “planned and early retirements and other attrition.”

In addition, the Commission requested $132,681,000 in budget authority for the Spectrum Auctions Program (Auctions Program). This is at the same level as the FY 2026 enacted level.

In making the request, the agency reminded congress that the Commission’s Spectrum Auctions Program has generated over $233.5 billion for government use and that the total cost of the Spectrum Auctions Program has been less than $2.8 billion or 1.2 percent of the total auctions’ revenue.

The agency did not provide a detailed breakdown of regulatory fees or how the decline in revenue might impact the fees levied on TV and radio broadcasters. Those specifics are typically released mid-year.

More details are available here.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has issued a request for public comment on its proposed regulatory fees for fiscal year 2025 that would see only a slight increase in fee revenue from broadcasters to fund the Media Bureau.

In the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comment on the $390,192,000 in congressionally required regulatory fees for fiscal year 2025, the FCC noted that it expects to get $51,286,000 from broadcasters to fund the Media Bureau, which is only up only slightly from the $51,193,000 in regulatory fee revenue in FY 2024. That is a tiny 0.018% increase.

The NPRM also details the regulatory fees for individual TV stations around the country in Appendix F of the document.

Overall, the FCC is expecting to get $22,622,022 in regulatory fees from digital television, which includes satellite TV, and $1,503,075 from LPTV/Class A/FM Translators & FM Trans/Boosters.

Separately, the FCC has proposed a budget of $416.1 million for fiscal 2026, up about 6.6% from FY 2025 if approved by Congress.

The NPRM detailing the regulatory fees and their calculation is available here.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has issued an order that would reduce regulatory fees for broadcasters for the second year in a row. The decision follows a major push in recent years by the NAB and state broadcasting association to reduce the regulatory burden on stations. 

Like FY 2023, the FCC calculated regulatory fees for TV stations based on population but reduced the rate to $0.006598. This is down “from the $.007799 per-person-served used for FY 2023 TV regulatory fees,” according to the Common Law Center Blog, which also noted that “Some additional shifts will be caused by FY 2024 fees being the first to incorporate 2020 U.S. Census data into these calculations.”

According to the order issued Sept. 6. the FCC is expecting revenue from the category of digital television of $23,363,518 in FY 2024, down from FY 2023 revenue estimate of $25,463,735. 

Radio will also see a decline in rates by about 6% according to Radio World.  

Overall, FCC has a revenue requirement of $390,192,000, the same as FY 2023, that needs to be covered by regulatory fees. In contrast to broadcasters, cable TV operators will get a rate hike. They will pay $1.27 per subscriber in FY 2024, up 3.24% from FY 2023 according to Policyband. 

While fees are declining for broadcasters, the FCC denied requests by the NAB, state broadcasters, pay TV providers and others that might have further lowered rates.

Once again, the FCC did not move to include YouTube TV and other streamers in its rate calculations even though YouTube TV is now the fourth largest operator with 8 million subs. 

The FCC also rejected a proposal by state broadcasters that the Commission adopt new regulatory fee categories for broadband Internet access service providers and manufacturers of equipment that use spectrum on an unlicensed basis.

In FY 2024, the FCC is also discontinuing three relief efforts to help broadcasters. Those three relief efforts were adopted during the pandemic and continued into FY 2023. The NAB and state broadcasters had pushed the FCC to continue them indefinitely. 

The Full Order can be found here.  

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has released a budgetary request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 that asks for $448,075,000 in budget authority from regulatory fee offsetting collections. This request represents an increase of $57,883,000 or 14.8 percent from the FY 2024 Annualized Continuing Appropriations Act level of $390,192,000.

If enacted by Congress, that could lead to higher fees for broadcasters, though the FCC has not explained how it would achieve the regulatory fee increases. 

The FCC also requests $139,000,000 in budget authority for the Spectrum Auctions program. Last year Congress allowed the FCC’s authority to conduct auctions to expire and the FCC is currently pushing Congress to renew the authority.  As of December 31, 2023 the Commission’s spectrum auctions program has generated over $233.5 billion for government use; at the same time, the total cost of the spectrum auctions program has been less than $2.5 billion or 1.1 percent of the total auctions’ revenue, the FCC said. 

In terms of staffing, the FCC’s budgetary request noted that “in creating a lean, accountable, and efficient Commission that works for the American people, the Commission requests 1,600 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) funded by budget authority from S&E, Spectrum Auctions program, and other budget authorities provided by the President and Congress. This FTE level is the same level as the FY 2023 appropriated and enacted level and the FY 2024 Congressional request level. With this FTE level, the Commission will meet its mission demands in FY 2025.”

The FY 2025 budget request calls for spending for the Enforcement Bureau to increase from $44,816,000 in the Annualized Level - Continuing Appropriations Act for FY 2024 to $49,340,000 in FY 2025. Staffing would remain the same with the equivalent of 204 full time staffers. 

The Media Bureau would see increases from $28,545,000 in FY 2024 to $29,739,000 in FY 2025. Staffing would remain the same with 35 staffers. 

The full request and the FCC’s discussion of its goals for FY 2025 are available here. 

WASHINGTON D.C.—The FCC is asking Congress for budgetary authority of $410,743,000 for its Fiscal Year 2024. That represents an increase of $20,551,000 or 5.3 percent from the FY 2023 appropriated level of $390,192,000. 

In terms of staffing, the FCC requested 1,600 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) funded by budget authority from regulatory fee offsetting collections, spectrum auctions program, and other budget authorities provided by the President and Congress. That would represent no increase from the 1,600 FTEs approved for FY23. 

In making its budget requests, the FCC also asked Congress to renew its spectrum auction authority, which expired for the first time in more than 30 years on March 9, through 2033. 

For FY24, the FCC requested $136,167,000 in budget authority for the spectrum auctions program, up $3,936,000 or 3 percent from the FY 2023 appropriated level of $132,231,000. 

In urging Congress to renew the spectrum auction authority, It also noted that as of January 31, 2023, the Commission’s spectrum auctions program has generated over $233.5 billion for government use and that the total cost of the auctions program has been less than $2.5 billion or 1.1 percent of the total auctions’ revenue. 

“Absent an extension of its auction authority for spectrum, the Commission’s authority to grant licenses or construction permits for stations using spectrum subject to mutually exclusive application using competitive bidding will terminate on March 9, 2023, except  for spectrum identified pursuant to the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015 and IIJA,” the FCC noted. “The budget proposes to extend the FCC’s auction authority for ten years through 2033.”

The budget request also laid out six goals for the agency: 

• Strategic Goal 1: Pursue a “100 Percent” Broadband Policy 
• Strategic Goal 2: Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility 
• Strategic Goal 3: Empower Consumers 
• Strategic Goal 4: Enhance Public Safety and National Security 
• Strategic Goal 5: Advance America’s Global Competitiveness 
• Strategic Goal 6: Foster Operational Excellence   

WASHINGTON—The NAB is welcoming words of support from congressional allies of both parties in its fight against higher FCC regulatory fees.

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota is co-founder and chair of the Congressional Broadcasters Caucus. He sent a letter to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel with the signatures of 93 fellow legislators.

He told Rosenworcel that the pending fee increase “is appalling and out-of-step with regulatory costs for any other industry under the FCC’s jurisdiction.” The letter asks Rosenworcel to explain the benefits and to justify why broadcasters will see a higher rate of increase than other sectors.

It said the hikes will erode strained station budgets and that “the American people will be forced to pay the price with decreased access to trusted local news and information services.” 

Emmer’s letter echoed NAB’s arguments that the commission is forcing broadcasters to bear heavy costs to subsidize large tech companies that benefit from the FCC’s work. (Read the letter.)

NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt thanked Emmer and his colleagues “for their bipartisan leadership in working to right-size the FCC’s fees so that broadcasters are not paying more than our share at the expense of the unparalleled free and local service we provide.”

The FCC plan would increase broadcasters’ fees by 13%, which the NAB says works out to about $7.3 million. “The planned rate increase on broadcasters amounts to nearly the entire $7.95 million expansion of the FCC’s budget.”

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Radio World. 

WASHINGTON D.C.—Responding to FCC proposals to increase regulatory fees on broadcasters, the NAB has filed new comments criticizing the FCC’s proposed fees as “unfairly, unlawfully, and disproportionately burdening broadcasters.”

The NAB also complained that the FCC is proposing to “raise broadcasters’ fees by a staggering 13%, despite the Commission’s budget increasing by 2.1%,” a fee increase that is more than six times the magnitude of the Commission’s budget increase. 

The NAB noted that “for years, broadcasters have urged the Commission to reform its methodology to ensure that the fees broadcasters pay bear a meaningful relationship to the work performed by Commission…to benefit or regulate the broadcast industry” and that “the Commission last year made important strides in conforming its fee methodology to the law by acknowledging that broadcasters do not benefit from the Commission’s broadband activities and modifying its methodology to exempt broadcasters from certain broadband-related costs.”

“Though last year’s regulatory fee process represented a step forward,” the NAB noted, “this year’s fee proposal takes significant steps backward by abandoning the modifications and taking no action on the growing need to expand the base of payors to include the beneficiaries of the bulk of the Commission’s primary activities – broadband internet service providers.”

“The FCC must ensure that its regulatory framework, including its assessment of regulatory fees, does not hinder broadcasters’ abilities to operate as viable private enterprises in a competitive market and to effectively serve the public interest and their local communities,” the NAB said. “The Commission must also disabuse itself of any notion that broadcasters can easily absorb unjustified regulatory fee increases. Fee proposals that require broadcasters to pay more than their fair share of the Commission’s costs directly harm broadcasters’ ability to compete in the communications marketplace, and have detrimental impacts on the Commission’s effort to advance digital equity for all by threatening small broadcasters’ ability to continue to serve rural and underserved communities.”

“Broadcasters are already subject to far more regulatory costs and burdens than other regulatees, and radio industry margins are already very thin,” the NAB continued. “Most radio stations operate with staff in the single digits, many doing more than one job to keep the station going. With stations dealing with continued fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and other inflationary pressures, many stations are simply trying to stay in business. A dollar more in regulatory fees is a dollar that can no longer go to the provision of local programming, including local news, or the purchase of equipment.  Given these realities, and the Commission’s duty to preserve the public interest in free, over the air broadcast radio and television service, it is essential that the Commission approach regulatory fees with the same care it would if its own money or that of its employees were at stake.”

To remedy the unfair fee structure, the NAB urged the Commission to: 

• Ensure its methodology to properly account for the benefits received by the payor by the Commission's activities;
• Refrain from holding broadcasters responsible for costs associated with the Commission's broadband work;
• Reallocate broadband-related costs among fee payors that benefit from the FCC’s broadband activities; and
• Consider increasing the de minimis fee amount.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has issued a Report and Order adopting a schedule of regulatory fees for Fiscal Year 2021 that offers broadcasters some victories in the arguments they had made against higher fees. 

The order says that broadcasters won’t have to pay a share of the $33 million in additional funding that was specifically appropriated by Congress to implement the Broadband DATA Act and create new broadband maps. That decision will however increase fees for cable operators, telcos and others involved in broadband.  

The FCC also noted in the order that “we seek comment on whether we should adopt new regulatory fee categories and on ways to improve our regulatory fee process regarding any and all categories of service. Some commenters suggest that we impose fees on particular industry participants, essentially asking that we consider new fee categories. For example, NAB asks that unlicensed spectrum users, especially large technology companies, be required to pay regulatory fees, and we seek comment on this proposal. We seek comment on the legal basis for assessing regulatory fees on such users, consistent with the precedent interpreting our section 9 authority.”

In recent months, the NAB had pushed back against FCC proposed regulatory fee increases, saying in a statement that “its original regulatory fee proposal...would have required local radio and television broadcasters to subsidize unrelated work at the Commission.”

In a June 18 filing with the FCC, the NAB noted that on June 4, 2021, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Telesat Canada v. FCC that dismissed non-U.S. licensed space stations’ challenge to the FCC’s decision to expand the base of regulatory fees to include such entities. 

“The court found that it is reasonable for the FCC to charge regulatory fees to entities that benefit from its activities, regardless of whether the entity is a licensee. The Telesat decision therefore directly supports NAB and others’ repeated requests that the Commission consider steps to expand the base of regulatory fee payors to include Big Tech and other unlicensed spectrum users that use the Commission’s resources to their benefit. For example, Big Tech is one of the primary drivers of the policy work being done by the currently non-core Office of Engineering and Technology (OET),” the NAB said in the June filing. 

Under the FCC's initial regulatory fee proposal for Fiscal Year 2021, broadcasters faced a 5-15% increase in regulatory fees, despite the Commission’s general salary and expenses budget increasing by only 0.5%. 

In its comments and reply comments, NAB said the proposed increase was based on the FCC’s decision to make broadcasters pay for a significant portion of the $33 million in additional funding that was specifically appropriated by Congress to implement the Broadband DATA Act and other inequities in the FCC’s approach.

In its meetings with FCC Commissioners and staff, NAB has urged the FCC to adjust its proposal so that only the beneficiaries of the Commission’s Broadband DATA Act initiatives pay for the associated costs.

The NAB has also argued that the wireless industry should pay for its fair share of the Commission’s costs and that the FCC expand the base of fee payers to include big tech and other unlicensed spectrum users that use a substantial amount of the Commission’s resources and benefit from its activities.

In a statement on the issue, NAB senior vice president of communications Ann Marie Cumming noted that “NAB greatly appreciates the FCC’s efforts to revise its original regulatory fee proposal that would have required local radio and television broadcasters to subsidize unrelated work at the Commission. The change is not only the right outcome, but critical to the many broadcasters’ ongoing service to their local communities.”

"NAB and our members look forward to working with the FCC in the coming year to take a deeper look at the regulatory fee process to ensure all stakeholders that benefit from the Commission’s work are paying their fair share and that those currently subsidizing the Commission are no longer paying for work unrelated to their industries,” she continued. 

WASHINGTON—The FCC’s current proposal on application fees would force many TV and radio broadcasters to essentially pay twice for FCC services while others reap the benefits of these services without paying their fair share, the NAB argued in recent comments.

The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that looks to amend the scheduling of application fees. In the NPRM, the FCC proposes to increase several application fees and add new fee categories for TV and radio broadcasters based on the estimated direct labor costs to the FCC for providing these services, citing the RAY BAUM’s Act requirement of the commission recovering its costs to process applications, per NAB.

The commission says that the NPRM will take a “careful approach” to calculating the costs for those paying application fees that already have to pay regulatory fees so as to try and avoid doubling the costs of these services. However, the NAB argues that the proposed approach is the same whether a group pays regulatory fees, like broadcasters, or not, like big tech companies, giving the latter “a significant discount relative to costs.”

This is a continuation of the FCC’s refusal to acknowledge flaws in the regulatory fee process, according to NAB. In earlier comments regarding setting regulatory fees for FY2020, NAB and other broadcasters said the commission should account for broadcasters’ payments of application fees so as to avoid being charged twice. NAB also argued that the RAY BAUM’s Act gave the FCC the ability to expand the base of contributors to include technology companies that benefit from the FCC’s resources, including some of the largest companies in the world, with the NAB calling them “free-riders.” The FCC ignored these requests.

“As a result, broadcasters and other licensees not only pay twice for the commission’s costs of processing their own applications, but also bear the substantial costs of their competition’s fee-free participation in rulemaking and other proceedings,” NAB said in its most recent comments.

In addition to being unjust, the NAB says that this ultimately restricts broadcasters’ ability to provide free local broadcast services to the public.

The NAB therefore is calling for the FCC to ensure that its collection of regulatory fees is fair and accurately reflects the work the commission performs. However, until that time, the FCC must minimize the application fee increases in the NPRM by ensuring that only tasks involved in the review of unopposed applications are included and by excluding all levels of supervisory review. NAB also says that the commission should refrain from imposing any new application fees on broadcasters.

“The commission must take steps now to overhaul its fee collection methodologies to ensure that broadcasters are not paying twice for the same services and that the costs of the commission are recovered fairly from all of the commission’s work,” NAB concluded.

NAB’s full comments are available online. 

WASHINGTON—Cable operators, broadcasters and any others required to submit their annual regulatory fees have gotten a little extra breathing room, as the FCC has announced an extension of the due date for FY 2020 regulatory fees.

Previously, regulatory fees were going to be due tonight, Sept. 25, by 11:59 p.m. Those still needing to get their fees in will now have the weekend and all of Monday to do so, as the new deadline is for 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 28

The extension applies to all annual regulatory fee payors, though no reason was given as to why an extension was granted.

WASHINGTON—The FCC is moving forward with the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 regulatory fees that would collect $339 million, despite multiple arguments over different aspects of the plan from both cable operators and broadcasters.

The FCC is required to assess regulatory fees every year as a primary form of support for the commission. In May, the FCC proposed the $339 million total for fees, with an increase in fees for broadcasters as well as an increase in fees for DBS operators, bringing them closer to the fees paid by MVPDs. This latest action approves that proposal.

The FCC is determining the increase in broadcaster regulatory fees by switching up its method for calculating the fees. Previously, full-power TV station fees were based on the Nielsen Designated Market Area groupings. Now, after using a hybrid approach in 2019, the FCC is completely basing fees off of the actual population covered by a station that is calculated at .78 of one cent times population.

Many broadcasters and the NAB were against the proposal of raising broadcasters’ fees, particularly this year as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the bottom line of many stations. 

The increase for DBS fees—from 72 cents per sub to 89 cents per sub—is a continuation of a regulatory fee policy that the FCC has been employing since 2015 that is bringing the annual regulatory fee for direct broadcast satellite operators closer to the level of MVPDs. Both sides of this argument, cable operators and DBS, had issues with this.

NCTA and ACA Connects, on the side of cable operators, wanted the fees to be raised to level with that of MVPDs, but the FCC said that its yearly increase is still a “reasonable” process. For the DBS side, AT&T and Dish sought to stop the fee increases, arguing MVPD issues do not impact them, an idea the FCC rejected.

NAB issued a comment from Senior Vice President of Communications Ann Marie Cumming in response to the FCC's decision:

"NAB believes strongly that the commission's methodology for calculating regulatory fees is deeply flawed and would not survive judicial review. However, we very much appreciate Chairman Pai and his staff correcting certain errors in the proposal's original calculations to result in reduced fees for many radio broadcasters. NAB urges the commission to convene stakeholders to take a closer look at its approach to regulatory fees to ensure that they are fairly and equitably applied for all entities that utilize commission resources." 

The FCC says that all regulatory fees are due in September.

The full Report and Order from the FCC is available online. 

WASHINGTON—As so much has changed over the last five months dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, something has remained unchanging, disappointingly for broadcasters. The FCC’s decision to increase TV and radio regulatory fees for Fiscal Year 2020 has been a point of contention amid the pandemic, and NAB has been a strong opponent of it.

A filing from the NAB summarized two recent teleconferences its representatives had with FCC officials to discuss the Report & Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the proposed increased regulatory fees. Citing the dramatic effect of the pandemic, NAB once again requested that the FCC not raise any industry segment’s contribution, apart from any that were determined prior to the pandemic.

“The FCC’s regulatory fee process remains a frustrating, impenetrable exercise despite repeated calls for more transparency and justification of how the fees are calculated,” the NAB wrote. The organization made the case that radio broadcasters are being forced to deal with “disproportionate, unjustified and unduly burdensome fee increases,” despite no change to the FCC’s budget compared to FY2019.

NAB believes that a series of “missteps” have resulted in these fee increases:

• [T]he commission’s current approach results in broadcasters arbitrarily paying for higher percentage of FTEs in offices such as the Office of Engineering and Technology, which is largely focused on unlicensed spectrum issues and provides little to no benefits to broadcasters; 
• There is no explanation of how the work of certain commission employees are characterized, or if these employees are even paid out of regulatory fees; 
• No discussion or justification of the apportionment within the bureaus and offices to which industry work is attributed; 
• Failure to broaden the FCC’s base of payors to include the numerous well-funded technology companies that interact with the commission; and 
• The unlawful failure to account for application fees already paid by broadcasters in assessing regulatory fees, effectively resulting in broadcasters paying twice for the work done to process such applications. 

NAB believes the current FCC regulatory fee process does not adhere to the Administrative Procedure Act and raises serious constitutional questions.

All of these issues are being exacerbated by the pandemic, according to the NAB. “These are extraordinary times that more than justify a slight deviation from the commission’s usual approach to regulatory fees,” the organization wrote.

The NAB officially asked the FCC to not require any industry to pay more regulatory fees than they did in FY2019. It also asked for temporary reforms to ease the regulatory fee burden on broadcasters amid the pandemic.

No action has been taken by the FCC as of yet to these requests.

WASHINGTON—Again the National Association of Broadcasters is blasting the Federal Communications Commission for a planned increase in certain regulatory fees on U.S. radio and TV stations.

NAB submitted reply comments responding to the FCC’s current proposed rate structure. The filing reiterates arguments the association has already made against the fees, in some cases over years. A sampler of phrases in NAB’s latest filing gives you the gist:

“utterly fails to explain its rationale”

“abject failure”

“jeopardize the ability of struggling broadcasters to stay on the air”

“violates the law”

“fly in the face of the statutory mandate”

“increases … created from whole cloth as a means for the FCC to solve a math problem”

“the timing could not be worse”

“inequities in its regulatory fee approach”

“an additional, potentially insurmountable hurdle”

The association repeated its many earlier arguments, including that the FCC proposal doesn’t provide a basis of fee increases; that there has been no change to the total amount of fees the commission is required to collect; that broadcasters are subsidizing unlicensed spectrum users that require a lot of FCC resources; and that the pandemic highlights the unfairness of the FCC’s approach.

The NAB also said it supports suggestions from broadcasters for additional temporary reforms, for instance to allow waiver requests via a single filing; allowing stations in default to seek a waiver of this year’s fees; and a waiver of the automatic 25 percent penalty for late payment of regulatory fees.

Read the NAB comments online.

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication Radio World.

WASHINGTON—Cable operators are calling on the FCC to level the regulatory fee playing field and require satellite operators (DBS) to match their cable fees.

This comes from the latest batch of comments from ACA Connects and NCTA—The Internet & Television Association in response to comments filed by AT&T and Dish opposing the FCC’s proposal to increase their Fiscal Year 2020 DBS regulatory fee by 12 cents per subscriber.

With this particular proposal, ACA and NCTA make the case that DBS providers’ arguments against any raise for this fiscal year are “predictable and remain meritless,” saying the FCC “must again repudiate them.”

In the past, satellite operators’ reg fees were based on per license rather than per sub. However, the FCC decided a half-decade ago that it would begin charging DBS on a per sub basis and raise their fees annually so as to put them on a path toward parity with cable. Cable operators, however, would rather see fees raised to equal levels immediately.

“[T]he commission should assess all MVPDs, including DBS providers, the same regulatory fee to fund the Media Bureau’s activities in FY 2020 and onward,” the comments read. The cable ops argue that there is no reason for the delay other than that the FCC initially adopted the phase-in approach.

To read the full comments from ACA and NCTA, visit the FCC’s ECFS. 

WASHINGTON—The push for the FCC to eliminate regulatory fee increases for broadcast licenses in 2020 has some bipartisan support, as House Representatives Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.) and Chris Stewart (R-Utah) sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to halt increases due to COVID-19.

The FCC has stated that it will collect $339 million in regulatory fees from broadcast licensees for Fiscal Year 2020, which would result in many broadcasters facing increased regulatory fees.

Kuster and Stewart plead that the commission halt any increases to annual regulatory fees for broadcasters because of the financial impact that broadcasters have felt as a result of the coronavirus pandemic while still providing critical services to communities. This would require no action from Congress, the pair says.

“The FCC can take meaningful, positive action by halting the increase in regulatory fees on local broadcasters who continue to support and inform their communities during this challenging time,” the letter reads.

The NAB also recently commented on the FCC’s stance regarding regulatory fees, calling it “unfair and unlawful.”

The letter also notes that since broadcasters are likely still going to be dealing with the financial impact, including the loss of advertising revenue, when regulatory fees are due in September, Kuster and Stewart ask that the FCC notify Congress of any statutory change necessary to allow payment of regulatory fees after Sept. 30.

Congress has been a big support of broadcasters during the pandemic. Bipartisan coalitions have called for and passed multiple bills that have provided funds and small business aid to local broadcasters.

The full letter from Kuster and Stewart is available online. 

WASHINGTON—The FCC’s approach to Fiscal Year 2020 regulatory fees for broadcasters is “patently unfair and likely unlawful,” ignoring the impact COVID-19 is having on the industry, according to comments filed by the NAB.

The comments are in response to an FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require the commission to collect $339 million in regulatory fees for the fiscal year. While that amount is the same as last year, the NAB says that the FCC proposal would see many broadcasters have to pay increased regulatory fees for the second consecutive year.

The NAB says that the FCC has failed to adequately explain the basis for these fee increases, which in turn hinders the ability of the stakeholders who pay the fees to provide meaningful feedback to the proposal.

As the country is still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NAB notes that broadcasters have been faced with physical constraints on their operations and significant economic losses, all while still providing critical emergency news and information to the public.

“Given the uncertainty on the duration of the pandemic, there is no telling when broadcast operating revenues will return to previous levels,” the NAB writes.

The organization points out that President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to regulatory agencies to address the economic effects of the pandemic and examine ways they can waive, modify and/or extend regulatory requirements that may impeded the economic recovery.

“We urge the commission to use its authority to help alleviate broadcasters’ financial burdens by—at the very least—suspending regulatory fee increases or allowing broadcasters to pay their regulatory fees in installments over a period of six to nine months,” the comments read.

In addition, the NAB says that the FCC should broaden the base of entities that are subject to regulatory fees, saying that broadcasters “unfairly subsidize” certain companies.

The full comments are available online. 

WASHINGTON—The FCC has voted to collect $339 million in regulatory fees for the Fiscal Year 2020, an increase on fees from 2019.

Some broadcasters, including New Jersey Broadcast Association President and CEO Paul Rotella, were asking the commission not to raise the regulatory fees for this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The commission is required by Congress to assess regulatory fees each year in an amount that can reasonably be expected to equal the amount of its appropriation,” the FCC said in a release.

In addition to the fee increase, the FCC also adopted new rules designed to ensure that domestic and foreign licensed space stations are responsible for the same regulatory fees. To do this, non-U.S. licensed commercial space stations that have access to the U.S. market through the FCC will now be assessed fees for the first time.

“It is unfair to saddle American satellite companies with fees while their foreign competitors with the same market access do not face those same credits,” the FCC said.

The full report and orders on license fees are available on the FCC’s website. 

MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J.—Now, amidst a pandemic, is not the time to raise regulatory fees for broadcasters, argues New Jersey Broadcasters Association President and CEO Paul Rotella in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the FCC commissioners. 

“I felt obligated to respectfully request that the FCC suspend any consideration of raising regulatory fees for radio and television during this particularly troublesome time and postpone the rulemaking process on this issue until our nation’s societal way of life and economy have been fully restored,” Rotella wrote.

The FCC is scheduled to discuss regulatory fees as part of its Commission Open Meeting on May 13.

Rotella cites that broadcasters have been hard hit during the coronavirus outbreak, most having sustained “60-70%” declines in ad revenues, he says. Rotella continues that raising fees will hobble stations that have become a key source of information during this crisis.

The FCC has broken down what it estimates 2020 regulatory fees will come out to online.

“If these snowballing fees force stations to go dark, there’s no other local entity that could ever replace them,” Rotella wrote. “To be sure, Mr. Chairman and commissioners, this is not the time to raise fees.”

WASHINGTON—The fiscal year 2019 came to a close at the end of September, but there is still discussions on the FCC’s process of collecting regulatory fees for that year. And according to the NAB, some revisions are needed, specifically regarding the fees of VHF stations.

Commenting on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the NAB requests that the FCC revise proposed regulatory fees for VHF stations so that they “more accurately reflect their actual population served,” the comments read.

The way regulatory fees were determined was changed in 2018, switching from Nielsen Designated Market Area groupings to population covered; FY2019 was the first year implementing this measurement tactic. The NAB does agree with this approach, but believes that it has a flaw that “unjustly” impacts VHF stations.

Using a station’s noise limited service contour (NLSC) as a basis for regulatory fees negatively impacts VHF stations operating at power levels above their normal maximum level to overcome environmental noise in a digital world, wrote the NAB. This in turn can extend the reach of many VHF stations, however the quality of the signal is weak because of different hindrances, NAB continues.

As a result, the NAB contends that “the new regulatory fees for some VHF stations are artificially high because they are based on viewer population figures that include viewers who are not able to receive a viewable signal.”

In addition, due to the broadcast spectrum repack, some TV stations have moved from UHF to VHF or to a lower frequency VHF channel and have not been able to officially determine their population served, which in turn does not allow them to gauge the effects of the new regulatory fees on their operating budgets.

“NAB believes that a more reasonable approach would be to calculate fees for such VHF stations based on a station’s contour under the commission’s original assignment of technical parameters during the DTV transition,” the organization wrote, calling it a more accurate reflection of a VHF’s station actual coverage and population reach.

To read NAB’s full comments, or other related comments filed, visit the FCC’s ECFS.

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters have until Sept. 24 to file their FY2019 regulatory fees, the FCC said this week. The commission is due to collect $339 million this year, a $16.9 million increase (5.2%) over 2018.

Although the commission rejected requests to base TV regulatory fees based on population served rather than DMA, it did say that it would seek further public comment on whether to adjust regulatory fees paid by stations on the VHF band, which some commenters said can have less coverage than their UHF counterparts due to such issues as terrain blockage.

The commission is also seeking comment on lowering regulatory fees on stations participating in the FCC’s incubator program. The commission also noted that fees are due by Sept. 24 based on who holds the license when the fees are due.

The FCC also rejected an argument from DBS operators AT&T and DISH, who argued for lower fees because the commission doesn’t deal with as many proceedings and regulations as with cable or telcos.

“Media Bureau employees dedicate substantially similar amounts of time and resources to the regulation of DBS as they do to cable television and IPTV,” the commission said.

Filers who miss the Sept. 24 deadline are subject to a late payment penalty of 25% of unpaid regulatory fee debt, to be assessed on the first day following the deadline for payment of the fees, the commission said.

The FCC is expected to issue further procedural rules on regulatory fee filing.

EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated with from a previous version that said the regulatory fee deadline was Sept. 30.

WASHINGTON—There is a difference between full-power stations and satellite stations, argues Nexstar Broadcasting Inc. and Gray Television Inc. in a recent filing to the FCC. Therefore, the proposed change of satellite TV station regulatory fees to match those of full-power TV stations is unjustified and illegal, according to the broadcasters.

Since 1995, full-power stations have been charged a per-sub fee by the FCC, while associated satellite stations, which retransmit a station’s programming to extend its reach or get to difficult locations, have paid a flat fee. Nexstar and Gray wrote that this decision was based on a couple of factors: “(1) ‘Congress intended the Commission to charge license fees based on the regulatory burden they impose, yet satellite stations require much less regulatory oversight than full powered stations,’ and (2) applying full-power television station fees to satellite stations ‘would place an unfair and illogical burden on small market licensees who use satellite television stations to reach remote areas in their markets.’” All licensed satellite stations have been charged fees based on this since 1995.

As the FCC prepares to “obliterate this distinction,” in the words of Nexstar and Gray, the broadcasters argue that the FCC “does not acknowledge the substantial change that its proposal embodies and offers no substantive discussion of its reversal of this decades-long policy.” It notes that in the NPRM the change is made in just four words—“including each satellite station”—not enough to defend the policy change in their opinion, as the FCC is required to do by the Administrative Procedure Act.

In addition, Nexstar and Gray make the case that satellite stations still require little regulatory oversight, as they did when the flat fee was initiated in 1995.

The FCC proposal to eliminate satellite stations’ flat fee is in response to the RAY BAUMS Act.

“The proposed fee increase for satellite stations is a starkly sudden departure—without adequate notice or explanation—from well-established and still valid Commission policy and practice, and it will have significantly adverse impacts to the licensees of satellite stations,” the filing summarizes. “... [T]he Commission should therefore dispense with that proposal and retain a separate flat regulatory fee for television satellite stations.”

The full Nexstar-Gray TV filing can be found here.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has released details on its final 2015 broadcast regulatory fees for television and radio. The deadline for filing the fees is 11:59 PM (ET), Sept. 24.

The 2015 fees for television stations show a slight increase of less than $400 across all markets (this handy fee chart is made available from CommLawBlog). As it began requiring in 2014, payments will only be accepted electronically (ACH, online credit card or by wire). Failure to pay on time could lead to a 25 percent late payment penalty of the unpaid amount as well as processing charges and administrative penalties. 

The commission also announced that it is seeking comment on whether, when and how it should reassess its regulatory fees on TV stations that will be affected by next year’s spectrum incentive auction. The NAB told the commission that there may be fewer stations, “resulting in material changes to the regulatory fee apportionment among the remaining stations.”

The FCC took most its electronic filing systems down for overhaul on Sept. 2. The commission says the system (including Fee Filer) will be back up by 8:00 a.m. on Sept. 8.

All told, the commission expects to collect $339,844,000 in regulatory fees (covering all communications entities) for FY2015.