2013 Broadcast Legal Calendar
Important Dates Arkansas Broadcasters Need To Know*
By June 14
Commercial and non-commercial webcasters and online simulcasters: Must file Monthly Report of Use and Monthly Usage Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange for the month ending April 30, 2013.
July: Regulatory Fees Announced: The FCC is expected to release a Public Notice this month indicating the dates by which annual regulatory fees must be filed with the FCC and the amounts of those fees. Broadcasters should remain alert for this announcement.
By July 10
All Stations: Place the Issues/Programs list for the April 1-June 30 calendar quarter in Public Inspection File (online for TV Stations).
All Commercial Television Stations: Electronically file the Children’s TV Programming Report (FCC Form 398) for April 1-June 30 calendar quarter. Stations should place a copy of the report and documentation regarding children’s programming commercial time in your public file. Stations also must place in their public inspection files records "sufficient to verify compliance" with the FCC's commercial time limitations in children's programming broadcast during that same period.
By July 15
Commercial and non-commercial webcasters and online simulcasters: Must file Monthly Report of Use and Monthly Usage Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange for the month ending May 31, 2013.
By July 31: Copyright Royalty Claims Due: Television stations with locally-produced programming whose signals were carried as distant signals by at least one cable or satellite system in 2012 are eligible to file royalty claims for compensation with the Copyright Office in Washington, DC. Stations that do not file claims by the deadline will not be able to collect royalties for carriage of their signals during 2012.
By August 14
Commercial and non-commercial webcasters and online simulcasters: Must file Monthly Report of Use and Monthly Usage Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange for the month ending June 30, 2013.
By September 14
Commercial and non-commercial webcasters and online simulcasters: Must file Monthly Report of Use and Monthly Usage Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange for the month ending July 31, 2013.
By September 30
All Stations: Broadcasters that are subject to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) reporting requirements, and employing more than 100 or more workers, must file their EEO 1 Report (Form 100) by this date.
On this date, all PRE-RECORDED programming that is shown on the Internet after being shown on television and that is edited for Internet distribution must be captioned for online viewing, in accordance with the rules implementing the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Programming edited for Internet distribution means video programming for which the TV version is "substantially edited" prior to its Internet distribution.
By October 10
All Stations: Place the Issues/Programs List for the July 1-September 30 calendar quarter in the Public Inspection File.
All Commercial Television Stations: Electronically file the Children’s TV Programming Report (FCC Form 398) for July 1-September 30 calendar quarter. Stations should place a copy of the report and documentation regarding children’s programming commercial time in your online public file. Stations also must place in their public inspection files records "sufficient to verify compliance" with the FCC's commercial time limitations in children's programming broadcast during that same period.
By October 15
Commercial and non-commercial webcasters and online simulcasters: Must file Monthly Report of Use and Monthly Usage Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange for the month ending August 31, 2013.
November 3
ALL STATIONS: Daylight Saving Time ends. The ending date for Daylight Saving Time was modified by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Daylight Saving Time now ends on the first Sunday in November. ALL DAYTIME-ONLY RADIO STATIONS and stations with pre-sunrise and/or post-sunset authorizations: Check your sign-on and sign-off time (and any pre-sunrise and/or post-sunset times) with your station's current authorization to be sure you are operating legally.
By November 14
Commercial and non-commercial webcasters and online simulcasters: Must file Monthly Report of Use and Monthly Usage Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange for the month ending September 30, 2013.
December 1
All Commercial Digital Television Licensees: File the Annual Ancillary/Supplemental Services Report (Form 317). Each commercial DTV station licensee must file whether it provided ancillary or supplemental services at any time during the twelve-month period ending on the preceding September 30th. DTV stations must remit to the FCC 5% of its gross revenues derived from the ancillary services. The report must be filed even if no ancillary services were provided in the prior year. Note that since this filing deadline falls on a weekend, the submission of this item to the FCC can be made until December 2.
December 13
First Annual CALM Act Compliance Spot Check Deadline - By this date, those television stations and MVPDs subject to the annual spot-checking obligation imposed by the FCC pursuant to the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act must complete their annual spot-checks to verify compliance with the volume requirements of the CALM Act.
By December 15
Commercial and non-commercial webcasters and online simulcasters: Must file Monthly Report of Use and Monthly Usage Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange for the month ending October 31, 2013.
* This calendar is intended to be a general source of information on issues of interest to Arkansas Broadcasters. For information on specific circumstances you should seek advice from your attorney. Always double-check specific filing dates and requirements. ffff