January 2025 Regulatory Updates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Children’s Television Programming Reporting, Expansion of Audio Description Requirements, Political Windows, and More

As 2024 comes to an end, 2025 is beginning to come into focus – a new year that will likely bring big changes to the Washington broadcast regulation scene with the inauguration of a new President and installation of a new FCC chair who has already promised to move forward with policies very different than those of the current administration (see our discussion here and here).  But while we are waiting for the big changes that may occur, there are many more mundane dates and issues to which broadcasters need to pay attention.  Let’s look at what is coming up in the next month.

Broadcasters need to remember that January 10 is the deadline for all full power and Class A TV stations, and full power AM and FM radio stations, both commercial and noncommercial, to upload to their Online Public Inspection Files their Quarterly Issues/Program lists for the fourth quarter of 2024.  The lists should identify the issues of importance to the station’s community and the programs that the station aired between October 1 and December 31, 2024, that addressed those issues.  These lists must be timely uploaded to your station’s OPIF, as the untimely uploads of these documents probably have resulted in more fines in the last decade than for any other FCC rule violation.  As you finalize your lists, do so carefully and accurately, as they are the only official records of how your station is serving the public and addressing the needs and interests of its community.  See our article here for more on the importance of the Quarterly Issues/Programs list obligation.

For television, there are several routine dates in the month that can’t be overlooked.  For all commercial full power TV and Class A television stations, January 30 is the deadline to file the Children’s Television Programming Report (Form 2100, Schedule H – formerly Form 398), which details the programming broadcast by a station to meet its obligations to provide educational and informational programming addressing the needs of children during 2024.  See our article here on the FCC’s basic requirements for children’s programming, and our articles here and here about this annual filing requirement.  January 30 is also the date for each commercial full power TV and Class A TV station to upload to its OPIF records documenting its compliance during 2024 with the limits on the number of commercial minutes that stations can include in children’s programming.

There are a number of other quarterly OPIF obligations that fall on January 10 for both radio and TV.  That is the deadline for noncommercial educational broadcast stations not affiliated with NPR or CPB to upload to their public file information on any on-air fundraising benefitting third parties that interrupted their normal programming (see our article here).  That is also the date that Class A TV stations need to upload to their public file documentation showing their continuing eligibility for Class A status.  Finally, January 10 is the deadline for stations (full power TV, Class A TV, and full power radio stations) to upload information about any programming time that was leased in the last quarter by a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government, or any programs provided by a foreign government entity for free in exchange for its airing (see our articles here and here for more information).

Some TV stations in Markets 101-110 will have a new obligation beginning January 1.  On that date, TV stations affiliated with the Top 4 Networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC) operating in those Nielsen Markets will be subject to the FCC’s audio description rules.  Those markets are: (101) Tri-Cities, TN-VA; (102) Reno, NV; (103) Greenville-New Bern-Washington, NC; (104) Davenport-Rock Island-Moline, IA-IL; (105) Tallahassee-Thomasville, FL-GA; (106) Lincoln & Hastings-Kearney, NE; (107) Evansville, IN; (108) Ft. Wayne, IN; (109) Johnstown-Altoona-State College, PA; and (110) Augusta-Aiken, GA-SC.  As of that date, these stations, as well as all Top 4 network TV stations in DMAs 1 through 110, must provide audio description for 50 hours of programming per calendar quarter, either during prime time or in children’s programming, and 37.5 additional hours of audio description per calendar quarter between 6:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. local time, on each programming stream carrying a Top 4 Network.  The FCC issued a reminder in November about that obligation. 

Coming up in January, thereare also a number of dates and deadlines before the FCC or other government agencies unique to this year.  Highlights of those deadlines are listed in chronological order below.

January 9 is the deadline for reply comments on the National Association of Broadcasters’ request (here) for a rulemaking to modify the FCC’s rule requiring TV stations to provide aural description on their SAP channel, of non-textual emergency information (such as maps or other graphic displays) conveyed outside of station newscasts (see the FCC’s request for comments here).  The NAB proposes that broadcasters be able to comply with the rule by providing “textual crawls that provide emergency information duplicative or equivalent to the information conveyed by the visual image.”  As we noted in our last weekly update on regulatory matters of importance to broadcasters, the FCC has waived the requirement to provide such aural descriptions until May 27, 2025 while it considers the NAB’s rulemaking request (see FCC order here). 

January 13 is the effective of the FCC’s final rules to allow full power FM and LPFM stations to use FM booster stations to originate programming on a permanent basis, which it adopted in its November Order (see our discussion here).  These new rules allow FM boosters to originate up to three minutes an hour of programming different from their primary station to provide localized news, ads, or other information.  Certain rules adopted in the Order, including originating boosters’ political and public file recordkeeping requirements, interference protection and complaints procedures, and notification requirements, however, require the Office of Management and Budget’s approval before becoming effective.  The FCC will announce when those rules requiring OMB approval become effective.

January 14 is the deadline for the tentative selectees from 93 groups of mutually exclusive (MX) LPFM construction permit applications (applications that cannot all be granted under the FCC’s technical rules) filed during the December 2023 LPFM filing window to propose voluntary time-sharing agreements to the FCC to resolve their mutual exclusivities.  As we discussed here, in October 2024, the FCC identified the tentative selectees of each MX group (listed in bold here), and provided guidance on filing of voluntary time-sharing agreements to resolve their mutual exclusivities (see here).  The FCC will impose time-sharing agreements on any MX applicants that do not enter into voluntary time-sharing agreements or file major technical amendments to their applications to resolve their mutual exclusivities.

January 14 is also the effective date of the FTC’s “Click to Cancel Rule,” which amends its existing “Negative Option Rule” by requiring sellers to allow consumers to easily cancel their enrollments in subscriptions and services with “negative options.”  As we discussed here and here, the amended rule prohibits sellers from: (1) misrepresenting the terms and conditions of goods or services with a negative option; (2) failing to clearly disclose material terms for goods or services with a negative option before charging a consumer; (3) failing to obtain a consumer’s consent to the negative option before charging the consumer; and (4) failing to provide consumers with an easy way to cancel the product or service.  While the Click to Cancel Rule takes effect on January 14, compliance with the new rule is not required until May 14, 2025.

January 16 is the extended deadline for the radio and TV stations listed in the FCC’s Second 2024 EEO Audit Notice that are located in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia and were impacted by Hurricanes Helene or Milton to upload their EEO Audit Responses to their OPIFs (if they did not already do so by December 2, 2024).  Audited stations and their station employment units (commonly owned stations serving the same area) must provide to the FCC their last two years of EEO Annual Public File Reports and other documentation showing that the stations complied with the FCC’s EEO rules.  See our articles here and here for more on the second round of 2024 EEO audits and the importance the FCC places on broadcast stations’ EEO compliance.

Looking ahead to February, Radio and Television station Employment Units in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma with 5 or more full-time employees in their station employment unit must upload their Annual EEO Reports to their online public inspection files (OPIFs) and station websites by Monday, February 3.  A station employment unit is a station or cluster of commonly controlled stations serving the same general geographic area having at least one common employee.  For employment units with 5 or more full-time employees, the annual report covers hiring and employment outreach activities for the prior year. The filing of these reports will start the mid-term review of the EEO performance of TV stations in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi that are part of employment units with 5 or more full-time employees, and of radio stations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma that are part of employment units with 11 or more full-time employees. 

And, while it seems like the election just ended, we have “off-year” elections to look forward to in 2025, and there are even some lowest unit rate periods that begin in January.  As we noted in our article here, lowest unit charges apply even to off-year state and local elections.  Broadcasters located in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, and Wisconsin should also be aware of the opening of the following political windows tied to state and local elections (and two special congressional elections in Florida) occurring in February, March, and April – meaning that Lowest Unit Rates apply to sales to candidates and their authorized committees (see our article here on the basics of computing LUR):

LUR DATESTATE/ TERRITORYELECTION DATEELECTION TYPEJanuary 2, 2025DelawareMarch 3, 2025Municipal Elections – Middletown, Leipsic, Kenton, and FeltonJanuary 3, 2025AlabamaMarch 4, 2025Municipal Election – TuscaloosaCaliforniaMarch 4, 2025Municipal Election – Santa Clara CountyMissouriMarch 4, 2025Charter City/County Elections – VariousOklahomaMarch 4, 2025Special Election – PropositionsTennesseeMarch 4, 2025Municipal Election – ChattanoogaJanuary 4, 2025WisconsinFebruary 18, 2025State/Municipal Primary Elections – VariousJanuary 10, 2025ArizonaMarch 11, 2025Municipal Runoff Election – PhoenixMinnesotaMarch 11, 2025Township Elections – VariousNew HampshireMarch 11, 2025Town/SB2 Town Elections – VariousOregonMarch 11, 2025TBDJanuary 11, 2025IllinoisFebruary 25, 2025Consolidated Primary ElectionJanuary 24, 2025DelawareMarch 25, 2025Municipal Elections – Viola and CheswoldJanuary 26, 2025DelawareMarch 27, 2025Municipal Election – LaurelJanuary 28, 2025DelawareMarch 29, 2025Municipal Elections – Farmington, Houston, and WoodsideJanuary 31, 2025ColoradoApril 1, 2025Municipal Election – Colorado SpringsDelawareApril 1, 2025Municipal Election – Delaware CityFloridaApril 1, 2025Special Elections – Florida Congressional Districts 1 and 6IllinoisApril 1, 2025Consolidated ElectionOklahomaApril 1, 2025Municipal (Oklahoma City)/Board of Education ElectionsWisconsinApril 1, 2025State/Municipal Elections

As a refresher, in the 45 days before a primary election, and 60 days before a general or special election, broadcasters must extend to legally qualified candidates their lowest unit rate and continue to follow all other applicable political broadcasting rules.  For a deeper dive on how to prepare for the 2025 elections, see our post here, which also includes a link to our comprehensive Political Broadcasting Guide.

As always, consult your own legal and technical advisors for other dates of importance that might apply to your stations in the upcoming month.