Right as everyone was set to enjoy the last glimmer of summer over the long weekend, the FCC issued its Report and Order on the regulatory fees for 2016. The FCC adopted all the fees for broadcast stations as proposed in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (about which we wrote about here) with some adjustments to the regulatory fees on radio and television broadcasters, based on type and class of service and on the population served. No date has yet been set, though, for when these fees will be die this month.
The fees for all categories of broadcasters are as follows:
| FY 2016 RADIO STATION REGULATORY FEES | ||||||
|
Population Served |
AM Class A | AM Class B | AM Class C | AM Class D |
FM Classes A, B1 & C3 |
FM Classes B, C, C0, C1 & C2 |
| <=25,000 | $990 | $715 | $620 | $685 | $1,075 | $1,250 |
| 25,001 – 75,000 | $1,475 | $1,075 | $925 | $1,025 | $1,625 | $1,850 |
| 75,001 – 150,000 | $2,200 | $1,600 | $1,375 | $1,525 | $2,400 | $2,750 |
| 150,001 – 500,000 | $3,300 | $2,375 | $2,075 | $2,275 | $3,600 | $4,125 |
| 500,001 – 1,200,000 | $5,500 | $3,975 | $3,450 | $3,800 | $6,000 | $6,875 |
| 1,200,001 – 3,000,00 | $8,250 | $5,950 | $5,175 | $5,700 | $9,000 | $10,300 |
| 3,000,001 – 6,000,00 | $11,000 | $7,950 | $6,900 | $7,600 | $12,000 | $13,750 |
| >6,000,000 | $13,750 | $9,950 | $8,625 | $9,500 | $15,000 | $17,175 |
|
Fee Category
|
Annual Regulatory Fee (U.S. $s) |
| AM Radio Construction Permits | 620 |
| FM Radio Construction Permits | 1,075 |
| Digital TV (47 CFR part 73) VHF and UHF Commercial | |
| Markets 1-10 | 60,675 |
| Markets 11-25 | 45,675 |
| Markets 26-50 | 30,525 |
| Markets 51-100 | 15,200 |
| Remaining Markets | 5,000 |
| Construction Permits | 5,000 |
| Satellite Television Stations (All Markets) | 1,750 |
| Low Power TV, Class A TV, TV/FM Translators & Boosters (47 CFR part 74) | 455 |
The Commission noted that, with the Incentive Auction underway, all broadcast television licensees must still pay FY 2016 regulatory fees if they held a license or construction permit as of October 1, 2015, as well as for payment of FY 2017 regulatory fees if they continue to hold their license or construction permit as of October 1, 2016. It cautioned licensees to pay their regulatory fees in order to avoid delay of payments resulting from the Incentive Auction.
The FCC will release a Public Notice setting the filing deadline. We expect it to come out any day. As the fees need to be paid before the start of the FCC’s new fiscal year on October 1, expect that those fees will be due at some point before the end of September.