WASHINGTON—After issuing audit letters seeking Equal Employment Opportunity data from a randomly selected group of TV and radio stations in August, the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has issued a notice extending the deadline for responses to October 17, 2025.
Each year, approximately five percent of all radio and television stations are selected for EEO audits. A list of the radio and television stations selected for the 2025 audit, as well as the text of the Aug. 8 audit letter, is available here.
The FCC had originally asked for replies by Sept. 22, a deadline that has now been extended to Oct. 17.
The FCC also clarified some aspects of the data it was seeking to collect and the process for submitting data.
The FCC noted that "regarding paragraph two of the audit letter requesting certain audit data from respondents, EB issues the following additional guidance for questions 2(b)(vi)(a-b), (vii-viii) (the Inquiries). In coordination with the Media Bureau, EB finds that, in order to protect privacy and confidential business information from public disclosure, pursuant to section 1.3 of the Commission's rules, good cause exists to waive the requirement that responses to the Inquiries be uploaded to a station's OPIF. The responses to the Inquiries should instead be submitted under separate cover via email to the Enforcement Bureau at EB-EEO@fcc.gov. The email should also include a statement indicating that the remaining audit data was uploaded to a station's. Additionally, we clarify that station employment units with fewer than five full-time employees (defined by section 73.2080(e) f the Rules as employees regularly assigned to work 30 hours a week or more) are exempt from responding to the Inquiries. Finally, respondents are not required to include advertising contracts in response to the Inquiries."
