FCC fees

The owner of two radio stations in the Midwest is so far behind on payment of federal regulatory fees that he is in jeopardy of losing both licenses. The FCC has warned the owner and licensee, Daniel S. Stratemeyer, that he could be subject to license revocation if he failed to catch up on his payments within 60 days. He also has the option to demonstrate that “payment is inapplicable or should be waived or deferred.”

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.

Broadcasters this month pressed the FCC to change course and not force TV and radio stations to pay for a portion of the FCC broadband data collection, from which they said they derive no benefit. The National Association of Broadcasters, in meetings with the FCC’s Office of Managing Director, said that should only make regulated industries pay user fees on activities that have at least minimal relevance to that industry.

The National Association of Broadcasters is expressing concern about the changes the FCC is proposing to make in calculating FY 2021 regulatory fees — objecting to both the increased amounts and proposed calculation methods. For the third consecutive year, the commission plans to increase fees to “unfair, unsustainable levels,” the NAB said in a filing with the commission.

Should public TV stations that use a portion of their spectrum to provide noncommercial data services have to pay fees for that service? That question is before the FCC in a rulemaking proceeding, with groups including PBS, America’s Public Television Stations and the Public Media Venture Group arguing that the fees are hindering development of ATSC 3.0 “broadcast internet” datacasting.

Some broadcasters are asking the FCC to postpone any consideration of an increase in broadcast regulatory fees —radio and TV — during the current pandemic. Paul Rotella, president of the New Jersey Broadcasters Association (the state is one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 virus) wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to say he had grave concerns about the FCC’s plan to consider the fee boost at the May 13 public meeting (by teleconference).

The FCC yesterday released several fact sheets detailing how the regulatory fees due to be paid by Sept. 24 of this year should be paid. For broadcasters, perhaps the most important is the Media Bureau Regulatory Fees Fact Sheet. This sheet sets out specific information about how to determine the amount of the fees to be paid by each broadcast station.