January
• January 1 – Post-filing renewal announcements should continue for radio stations in Georgia. Additional post-filing announcements should be made on January 16, February 1, and February 16.
• January 10 – All full power and Class A television stations that are being repacked must electronically file an FCC Form 2100-Schedule 387 Transition Progress Report. This form is used to provide an update on the station’s efforts to construct facilities for its new channel and the termination of operations on its current channel. Such reports must be filed on a quarterly basis until the station has completed its transition and has filed a final report indicating that fact. In addition to these quarterly reports, a repacked station must file a Schedule 387 report 10 weeks before the end of its assigned construction deadline, 10 days after completion of all work related to constructing facilities on its new channel, and 5 days after ceasing operations on its pre-auction channel.
• January 10 – Children’s Television Commercial Limitations Certification. The final quarterly certification of compliance with the commercial limits in children’s TV programming must be placed by all commercial full-power and Class A TV stations in their online public inspection files by January 10. This certification should cover the period from October 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. NOTE: No children’s programming report is due on this date. The FCC has extended the deadline for filing the first annual children’s programming report to March 30, 2020 (see separate entry below). Beginning in 2021, TV stations will file their certifications of compliance with the commercial limits in children’s programming annually rather than quarterly, within 30 days after the end of each calendar year.
• January 10 – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists. All radio and television broadcast stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare and place in their online public inspection files a list of important issues facing their communities, and the programs aired in the months of October, November, and December 2019 dealing with those issues.
• January 10 – All noncommercial educational radio and television stations that are not affiliated with NPR or CPB, and that suspended regular programming to conduct third- party fundraising for the benefit of a non-profit organization, must generate relevant documentation for the period October 1-December 31, 2018 and place it in their public inspection file by this date. Such stations can devote no more than 1% of their total airtime to such fundraising efforts.
• January 17 – Stations assigned to Phase 7 of the incentive auction repacking process must have ceased operating on their pre-auction channel and commenced operations on their post-auction channel.
• January 18 – Phase 8 of the incentive auction repacking process begins on January 18 and ends on March 13, 2020.
• January 23 – The FCC’s Media Bureau will hold a webinar on Thursday, January 23, 2020 from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm ET to review the functionality of, and changes to, the children’s TV programming report.
• January 30 – The revised children’s programming report will be available in the FCC’s Licensing and Management System (LMS) by this date. The first annual children’s programming report is now due March 30, 2020 (see separate entry below).
• January 31 – Biennial ownership reports are due for all full-power radio and television stations, including Class A and Low Power TV stations. Information in the reports must be accurate as of October 1, 2019.
February
• February 8 – The first day of the Lowest Unit Rate period for the presidential primaries to be held in Georgia on March 24.
March
• March 8 – Daylight Saving Time begins. Daytime-only radio stations and stations with pre-sunrise and/or post-sunset authorizations should check their sign-on and sign-off times on their current FCC authorizations to ensure compliance. All times listed on FCC licenses are in Standard Time.
• March 13 – Stations assigned to Phase 8 of the incentive auction repacking process must have ceased operating on their pre-auction channel and commenced operations on their post-auction channel.
• March 14 – Phase 9 of the incentive auction repacking process begins on March 14 and ends on May 1, 2020.
• March 24 – Presidential primaries in Georgia.
• March 30 – Deadline for filing the first annual children’s TV programming report. This first report must cover the period from September 16, 2019 through December 31, 2019.
The revised report will be available in the FCC’s Licensing and Management System (LMS) by January 30, 2020.
April
• April 4- The first day of the Lowest Unit Rate period for non-presidential primaries to be held in Georgia on May 19th.
• April 10 – All full power and Class A television stations that are being repacked must electronically file an FCC Form 2100-Schedule 387 Transition Progress Report. This form is used to provide an update on the station’s efforts to construct facilities for its new channel and the termination of operations on its current channel. Such reports must be filed on a quarterly basis until the station has completed its transition and has filed a final report indicating that fact. In addition to these quarterly reports, a repacked station must file a Schedule 387 report 10 weeks before the end of its assigned construction deadline, 10 days after completion of all work related to constructing facilities on its new channel, and 5 days after ceasing operations on its pre-auction channel.
• April 10 – All noncommercial educational radio and television stations that are not affiliated with NPR or CPB, and that suspended regular programming to conduct third- party fundraising for the benefit of a non-profit organization, must generate relevant documentation for the period January 1-March 31 and place it in their public inspection file by this date. Such stations can devote no more than 1% of their total airtime to such fundraising efforts.
• April 10 – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists. All radio and television broadcast stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare and place in their public inspection files a list of important issues facing their communities, and the programs aired in the months of January, February and March dealing with those issues. Television and radio stations should place these quarterly issues programs lists in their FCC-hosted online public inspection file.
• April 18-22 – NAB Show, Las Vegas, Nevada
May
• May 1 Stations assigned to Phase 9 of the incentive auction repacking process must have ceased operating on their pre-auction channel and commenced operations on their post-auction channel.
• May 2 – Phase 10 of the incentive auction repacking process begins on May 2 and ends on July 3, 2020. This is the final scheduled phase of the repacking process.
• May 19 – Primary elections in Georgia (non-Presidential)
June
None.
July
• July 3rd- Stations assigned to Phase 10 of the incentive auction repacking process must have ceased operating on their pre-auction channel and commenced operations on their post-auction channel. This is the final scheduled phase of the repacking process.
• July 10 – All full power and Class A television stations that are being repacked must electronically file an FCC Form 2100-Schedule 387 Transition Progress Report. This form is used to provide an update on the station’s efforts to construct facilities for its new channel and the termination of operations on its current channel. Such reports must be filed on a quarterly basis until the station has completed its transition and has filed a final report indicating that fact. In addition to these quarterly reports, a repacked station must file a Schedule 387 report 10 weeks before the end of its assigned construction deadline, 10 days after completion of all work related to constructing facilities on its new channel, and 5 days after ceasing operations on its pre-auction channel.
• July 10 – All noncommercial educational radio and television stations that are not affiliated with NPR or CPB, and that suspended regular programming to conduct third- party fundraising for the benefit of a non-profit organization, must generate relevant documentation for the period April 1-June 30, and place it in their public inspection file by this date. Such stations can devote no more than 1% of their total airtime to such fundraising efforts.
• July 10 – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists. All radio and television broadcast stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare and place in their public inspection files a list of important issues facing their communities, and the programs aired in the months of April, May, and June dealing with those issues. Television and radio stations should place these quarterly issues programs lists in their FCC-hosted online public inspection file.
• July 1-31 – Copyright Royalty Claims. All television stations that were carried as a distant signal by a cable system during 2019 and that aired a program that they produced for which they own the copyright and which was retransmitted by a cable system: File a copyright royalty claim form between July 1-31, 2020 in order to share in the 2019 cable royalty distribution. Please also refer to the information in the NAB’s Counsel Memo, expected to be published in June/July 2020, for additional details on this subject.
August or September
• Annual FCC Regulatory Fees. Although the precise dates will not be determined until the summer, the window for paying the FCC’s Annual Regulatory Fees in recent years has been as early as August, but can be in September. Broadcasters must pay their FCC Annual Regulatory Fees by the deadline established by the FCC or incur a 25% penalty. Regulatory fees cover the period from October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020.
September
• September 4 – The first day of the Lowest Unit Rate period for the November 3 general election.
• September 13-16 – NAB Radio Show, Nashville, Tennessee
October
• October 1 – Pre-filing announcements for television stations in Georgia must begin in connection with their license renewal applications that must be filed on or before December 1, 2020. Additional pre-filing announcements should be made on October 16, November 1, and November 16.
• October 10 – All full power and Class A television stations that are being repacked must electronically file an FCC Form 2100-Schedule 387 Transition Progress Report. This form is used to provide an update on the station’s efforts to construct facilities for its new channel and the termination of operations on its current channel. Such reports must be filed on a quarterly basis until the station has completed its transition and has filed a final report indicating that fact. In addition to these quarterly reports, a repacked station must file a Schedule 387 report 10 weeks before the end of its assigned construction deadline, 10 days after completion of all work related to constructing facilities on its new channel, and 5 days after ceasing operations on its pre-auction channel.
• October 10 – All noncommercial educational radio and television stations that are not affiliated with NPR or CPB, and that suspended regular programming to conduct third- party fundraising for the benefit of a non-profit organization, must generate relevant documentation for the period July 1-September 30 and place it in their public inspection file by this date. Such stations can devote no more than 1% of their total airtime to such fundraising efforts.
• October 10 – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists. All radio and television broadcast stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare and place in their public inspection files a list of important issues facing their communities, and the programs aired in the months of July, August, and September dealing with those issues. Television and radio stations should place these quarterly issues programs lists in their FCC-hosted online public inspection file.
November
• November 1 – This is a good time of year to check your tower for FCC and FAA lighting and painting requirements.
• November 1 – Daylight Saving Time ends. Daytime-only radio stations and stations with pre-sunrise and/or post-sunset authorizations should check their sign-on and sign-off times on their current FCC authorizations to ensure compliance. All times listed on FCC licenses are in Standard Time.
• November 3 – General election.
December
• December 1 – Annual EEO Public File Report. Radio and television station employment units in Georgia must place in their online public inspection file an FCC Annual EEO Public File Report, unless the station is exempt from EEO requirements. The report must also be posted on the station’s website, if it has one and is required to prepare the report.
• December 1 – License renewal applications for full-power TV, Class A TV, and Low Power TV/TV translator stations in Georgia must be filed on or before this date, along with an EEO program report. Post-filing license renewal announcements should begin on December 1. Additional post-filing announcements should be aired on December 16, January 1, January 16, February 1, and February 16.
• December 1 – Television stations that provided any subscription-based “ancillary or supplementary services” during the 12-month period ending on September 30, 2020 must file an FCC Form 2100-Schedule G (formerly known as FCC Form 317).
