[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 15 (Monday, January 25, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3871-3873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1246]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 73

[MB Docket Nos. 07-294, 06-121, 02-277, 04-228; MM Docket Nos. 01-235, 
01-317, 00-244; DA 09-2618]


Promoting Diversification of Ownership in Broadcast Services; 
Suspension of Filing Date

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; suspension of compliance date.

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SUMMARY: This Order suspends the requirement that Form 323, Ownership 
Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations, be filed biennially by the 
January 11, 2010 filing deadline and grants an extension of time to 
file the form once the form is available again for biennial filings, of 
at least 90 days from that date. We will announce the new filing 
deadline in a subsequently-released document. This temporary suspension 
will permit us to investigate what changes can be made to the form to 
reduce the time required to complete it and to lessen any unanticipated 
burdens in this regard without undermining the completeness, quality, 
usefulness, and aggregability of the data.

DATES: The compliance date for the final rule published at 74 FR 56135 
on October 30, 2009, which amended the requirement that Form 323 must 
be electronically filed no later than November 1, 2009, and every two 
years thereafter, is suspended indefinitely. The Commission will 
publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the new 
compliance date.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mania Baghdadi, Judith Herman, or 
Kristi Thompson, Industry Analysis Division, Media Bureau, at (202) 
418-2330.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Media Bureau's 
Order adopted on December 23, 2009. The full text of this document is 
available for public inspection and copying during regular business 
hours in the FCC Reference Center, Federal Communications Commission, 
445 12th Street, SW., CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. This document will 
also be available via ECFS (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs). The complete 
text may be purchased from the Commission's copy

[[Page 3872]]

contractor, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554.

Summary of Order

    1. On December 18, 2009, a number of counsel and legal assistants 
to various broadcasters and broadcaster organizations (the ``Broadcast 
Counsel'') filed an Ex Parte Notice and Request for Relief, asking that 
the Media Bureau extend the time to file Form 323 and adopt other 
changes to FCC Form 323, including changing Section II-B Question 3(c) 
of the form to allow filers to respond by uploading machine-readable 
data instead of requiring manual data entry of the responses to the 
question.\1\ The Broadcast Counsel also asked that filing of the form 
be suspended until improvements are made to the form. By this Order, 
the Media Bureau suspends the requirement that Form 323 be filed 
biennially by the January 11, 2010 filing deadline. The Bureau will 
also grant an extension of time to file the form once the form is 
available again for biennial filings, of at least 90 days from that 
date, and the Bureau will announce the new filing deadline in a 
subsequently-released Public Notice. The ``as of'' date, November 1, 
2009, will remain the same.
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    \1\ ``MB Docket No. 07-294, Ex Parte Notice and Request for 
Relief,'' filed December 18, 2009 (the ``Request''). The Request was 
signed by representatives of 14 law firms and the National 
Association of Broadcasters. In addition, on December 21, 2009, 
Simmons Media Group filed a letter in support of the Request. 
Simmons also asked that the form be revised to allow multiple 
licensees to be identified (through sub-forms) in response to 
Section I Question 7.
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    2. On April 8, 2009, the Commission adopted a Report and Order and 
Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the above-captioned 
proceeding revising filing requirements for FCC Form 323, the broadcast 
Ownership Report.\2\ Among other things, the 323 Order substituted a 
uniform biennial filing deadline for the current system of rolling 
filing deadlines that are tied to a station's renewal anniversary. 
Pursuant to these new requirements, all commercial full-power AM, FM, 
TV, LPTV, and Class A stations, as well as entities with attributable 
interests in them, were required to file the revised FCC Form 323 on or 
before January 11, 2010, with information current as of November 1, 
2009, and to file biennially thereafter.\3\
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    \2\ Report and Order and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, MB Docket No. 07-294, 24 FCC Rcd 5896 (2009) (``323 
Order'').
    \3\ 323 Order, 24 FCC Rcd at 5902-05, 5908-09 paras. 12-15, 22. 
For this 2009 biennial filing period, the Media Bureau previously 
extended the ``as of'' date to November 1, 2009 and the biennial 
filing deadline to January 11, 2010. See Public Notice, Media Bureau 
Extends the Biennial Filing Deadline for the Commercial Broadcast 
Ownership Report Form (Form 323), DA 09-2457 (rel. Nov. 23, 2009); 
Promoting Diversification in the Broadcasting Services, Order, DA 
09-2165 (rel. Oct. 2, 2009). See also Public Notice, Media Bureau 
Announces 2009 Biennial Filing Deadline For Commercial Broadcast 
Ownership Report (Form 323), DA 09-2275 (rel. Oct. 30, 2009). For 
future biennial filings, the ``as of'' date is October 1 and the 
filing date is November 1 of the applicable filing year.
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    3. In their Request, the Broadcast Counsel note that they have been 
working diligently to compile the information needed to complete Form 
323 and to enter the data so as to file the form by the January 11, 
2010 filing deadline. However, they note that they have experienced 
delays in completing the form because of the large amounts of data 
required to be entered for entities with complex ownership structures 
and because of technical problems working with the form on CDBS. In 
particular, they note that fully responding to Question 3(c) of Section 
II-B of the form requires large amounts of time for entities that have 
moderately complex ownership structures. Accordingly, they request that 
the Commission allow filers to respond to that question by uploading a 
machine-readable file rather than having to enter the data needed for 
the response manually. According to the Broadcast Counsel, if the 
current deadline is not extended, ``many Forms will be incomplete, 
inaccurate or will not be filed at all because of time constraints and 
Form failures.''
    4. The Bureau finds that good cause has been shown and that it 
would serve the public interest to suspend the current January 11, 2010 
filing deadline.\4\ The Bureau will temporarily suspend the ability to 
start a new biennial Form 323 during this interim suspension period but 
will allow filers to complete and file forms that they have already 
started should they wish to do so. This temporary suspension will 
permit us to investigate what changes can be made to the form to reduce 
the time required to complete it and to lessen any unanticipated 
burdens in this regard without undermining the completeness, quality, 
usefulness, and aggregability of the data. Once these changes have been 
made, the Bureau will again enable new biennial filings and will 
release a Public Notice with a new extended filing deadline. The new 
filing deadline will be at least 90 days from the date that the form is 
made available for new biennial filings.\5\ The ``as of'' date will 
remain the same, November 1, 2009, and will not be suspended or 
changed. During the interim biennial suspension period, the Bureau will 
not suspend non-biennial filings of Form 323 that are required by 
Section 73.3615 of the Commission's rules and will require that these 
continue to be filed by the deadlines enumerated in that rule.\6\
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    \4\ In light of the filing extension, the Bureau dismisses as 
moot, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC's (``FHH'') November 16, 2009 
Motion for Stay, which asked the Commission to stay, or otherwise 
hold in abeyance, the initial December 15, 2009 deadline for filing 
biennial broadcast ownership reports. The Bureau dismisses the 
motion without prejudice.
    \5\ The Bureau will not require those who have already completed 
and filed their 2009 biennial Ownership Report to file again.
    \6\ See 47 CFR 73.3615.
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    5. Congressional Review Act. The Commission will not send a copy of 
the Order pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 
801(a)(1)(A), because the rule was previously adopted and subject to a 
CRA submission at that juncture.
    6. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis. Document DA 09-2618 does not 
contain new or modified information collection requirements subject to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. In addition, 
therefore, it does not contain any new or modified information 
collection burden ``for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees,'' pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 
2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).
    7. Accordingly, it is ordered, that pursuant to authority under 
Section 4(i) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 
154(i), authority delegated to the Media Bureau pursuant to Sections 
0.61, 0.204 and 0.283 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.61, 0.204, 
0.283, and authority delegated to the Media Bureau by the Commission's 
Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order in this 
proceeding,\7\ the Bureau grants the Ex Parte Notice and Request for 
Relief to the extent described in this Order.
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    \7\ See 323 Order, 24 FCC Rcd at 5915 para. 51; Memorandum 
Opinion & Order and Fifth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MB Docket 
No. 07-294, FCC 09-192 (rel. Oct. 16, 2009).
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    8. It is further ordered, that pursuant to authority under Section 
4(i) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 
authority delegated to the Media Bureau pursuant to Sections 0.61, 
0.204 and 0.283 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.61, 0.204, 0.283, 
and authority delegated to the Media Bureau by the Commission's Report 
and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order in this proceeding, we 
dismiss as moot and without

[[Page 3873]]

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prejudice Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC's Motion for Stay.

William T. Lake,
Chief, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-1246 Filed 1-22-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P