Countdown To TV License Renewals

July 10 marked the most-recent deadline for stations to upload Quarterly Issues Programs lists onto their online public file portals. Given that this is a quarterly exercise, it can be easy to treat it as a routine task that does not require a lot of thought.

However, with the clock counting down to the next license renewal period — which begins in 2019 for radio stations and 2020 for TV stations — there is a lot riding on how well these reports reflect a station’s responsiveness to the interests of the communities it serves.

David Oxenford, a partner in the law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, reports that the largest single source of fines in the last license renewal period was prompted by missing Quarterly Issues Programs lists. Those fines were as high as $15,000 per station.

“As alarming as a financial hit from a Federal Communications Commission fine might be, the importance of Quarterly Issues Programs lists goes beyond that,” warns Oxenford, who also publishes the popular Broadcast Law Blog. He goes on to explain: “The lists, which detail broadcasters’ public affairs content, are the only officially mandated document showing how a broadcaster served the needs of its community.”

Heightened Importance

In an article Oxenford wrote for the current issue of MFM’s The Financial Manager (TFM) magazine, he points out that recent deregulatory actions by the FCC have given added importance to a station’s issues program lists.

He notes: “When the FCC decided to allow stations to get rid of their main studios and abolished the requirement that licensees have a physical presence in their community of license, they did not disturb the requirement that stations serve the needs and interests of their communities.”

This means the FCC is going to take a closer look at these lists to determine whether a station is adequately serving the public interest by addressing the issues of greatest importance to the community. Stations that fail do so could risk losing their licenses.

Another change since the last renewal period is that station documents are now online. “FCC staffers can review these lists from behind their desks in Washington, D.C.,” Oxenford reminds TFM readers. Since each document that is added to the online file is automatically date stamped, reports that are not filed on time increase the likelihood of being fined.

Additionally, these online files are accessible to members of public interest groups and other parties. “The outside groups may ask for the FCC to do more than fine a station, Oxenford warns. “They can ask that a license renewal be denied if they conclude that the station has not served the needs of its community.”

Creating The Lists

The Quarterly Issues Programs lists are expected to identify the most important issues facing the station’s community in the prior quarter, and the programs that the station aired to address those issues. Fortunately, formal community surveys are not required.

This does not mean that station management has free reign to determine issues. Oxenford, who has represented broadcasters before the FCC, other government agencies and the courts for more than 30 years, says FCC management does expect station management to find some way to assess, on a regular basis, areas of community interest.

Thus, formal surveys can be a valuable tool for demonstrating that the station is proactive in ascertaining top community concerns. Documentation reflecting regular meetings and informal exchanges with community leaders can also be used to show the station’s efforts to synchronize its programming with key community issues.

Each Quarterly Issues Programs list should begin by describing the most important concerns facing the community in the prior quarter. Oxenford says five or more are enough. The station then needs to list the programming that it broadcast in the same period that responded to each of these issues.

“For each program, stations should include the name of the program on which the issue-responsive segment aired; the duration of the discussion; the time and date that it aired; and a brief description of what the segment was about and how it addressed the issue,” Oxenford recommends. In addition, the programming should be aired during the different times community residents are watching television. Clearly, as Oxenford observes, “It does not look good if all of a station’s issue-responsive programming aired on Sunday at 5 a.m.”

Acceptable Content

Some of the programs responding to a community issue should contain in-depth discussion of each of the topics. Oxenford points out that public service announcements (PSAs) can and do count as being issue-responsive. However, the “FCC has fined broadcasters who relied solely on PSAs to address topics of public concern.”

Stations should list any program that addresses an issue of importance in a serious manner, even if the program might normally be considered an entertainment program. Oxenford uses the example of a TV entertainment program that seriously addresses problems faced by the elderly in a community that is concerned about its aging population. Since news segments and public affairs programs are issue-responsive, stations should include all of the shows that addressed community concerns.

Know what issues are important to your community and make sure to address them in a variety of ways. Then, include all applicable programs in a Quarterly Issues Programs list that is posted by tenth day following the end of the calendar quarter.

Plan Ahead

In the last cycle of license renewals, the largest single cause of fines was missing Quarterly Issues Programs lists. “Those violations were all self-reported by stations or discovered by interested local residents or FCC inspectors who had to visit stations’ main studios to look at their paper public files,” Oxenford notes. “Online accessibility to these files means that the FCC or interested public-interest groups will be able to raise questions about a given station’s compliance with the rules from afar.”

In an era where “ascertainment” studies are no longer required (a process dropped more than 30 years ago), programs lists are the only documentation required to show how a TV station is serving the needs and interests of its communities. Accordingly, Oxenford concluded his article with this advice: “Treat them seriously to avoid problems that could become quite costly.”

If you would like to read Oxenford’s article about quarterly Issues Programs lists and the upcoming license renewal process, a copy of the July-August issue will be available from MFM’s website shortly. We will also be addressing this type of issue in upcoming educational programs, such as MFM’s Distance Learning Seminars, Media Outlook 2019 seminar, the 2019 CFO Summit, and Media Finance Focus 2019, our annual conference, which will be held in New Orleans next May.

In the meantime, I encourage you to begin talking with your station’s legal counsel about the best ways to prepare for a smooth and successful license renewal.

Please also let us, at MFM, know how we may be of any assistance to the process. As our TV station members can attest, the potential financial risks of being non-responsive to community interests is a secondary matter. Their primary goal of financial stability and growth depends upon offering the type of public interest programming that merits the loyalty and support of their viewers.

This is what makes license renewals a time of celebration rather than one of dread.

Mary M. Collins is president and CEO of the Media Financial Management Association and its BCCA subsidiary, the media industry’s credit association. She can be reached at [email protected] and via the association’s LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook sites.