OAB FCC Ruling on Public File

The FCC has eliminated the need for commercial broadcasters to retain letters and emails from the public in their public inspection files. This removes the last piece of broadcasters’ local paper public files. Additionally, the FCC concluded that because commercial broadcasters will no longer need to maintain correspondence from the public, licensees will also no longer need to summarize correspondence from the public related to violent programming when renewing their license. The Commission directed the Media Bureau to revise renewal Form 303-S to be consistent with this decision.

Note, however, that until these rules take effect, broadcasters must continue to maintain their correspondence file locally and make it available to the public, as well as complete the current Form 303-S.

For more information on the order, visit David Oxenford’s blog post. We will keep you posted on further developments.