In 2012, the Commission replaced the
decades-old requirement that commercial and noncommercial
television stations maintain public files at their main studios
with a requirement to post most of the documents in those files to
a central, online public file hosted by the Commission. On January
28, 2016, the Commission adopted a Report and Order (“R&O”) in
MB Docket No. 14-127, FCC 16-4, In the Matter of Expansion of
Online Public File Obligations to Cable and Satellite TV Operators
and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees. The R&O expands
the requirement that public inspection files be posted to an FCC-
hosted online public file database to cable operators, satellite TV
(also referred to as “Direct Broadcast Satellite” or “DBS”)
providers, broadcast radio licensees, and satellite radio (also
referred to as “Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services” or “SDARS”)
licensees. The Commission stated that its goal is to make
information that these entities are already required to make
publicly available more accessible while also reducing costs both
for the government and the public sector. The Commission took the
same general approach to transitioning these entities to the online
file that it took with television broadcasters in 2012, tailoring
the requirements as necessary to the different services. The
Commission also took similar measures to minimize the effort and
cost entities must undertake to move their public files online.
Specifically, the Commission required entities to upload to the
online public file only documents that are not already on file with
the Commission or that the Commission maintains in its own
database. The Commission also exempted existing political file
material from the online file requirement and required that
political file documents be uploaded only on a going-forward basis.
With respect to broadcast radio licensees, the Commission commenced
the transition to an online file with commercial stations in larger
markets with five or more full-time employees, while postponing
temporarily all online file requirements for other radio stations.
The R&O also requires stations to provide information to the
online file regarding the location of the station’s main studio.
With respect to cable operator public file requirements, the
R&O phased-in the requirement to commence uploading political
file documents to the online file for smaller cable systems and
exempted cable systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers from all
online public file requirements. Please note that the attached PRA
comment is for this collection as well per the commenter. It should
have been noted in the comment.
The Commission has the
following program changes to this collection as a result of the
information collection requirements adopted in FCC 16-4: 403
respondents, 846 responses, and $2,771,136 in annual costs will be
added to OMB’s inventory. The Commission will also have a reduction
in the annual burden hours of 297,424 hours. There are also
adjustments of +293 in annual responses,+15,236 in annual burden
hours and -395 in annual cost which are due to the Commission
reevaluating some burdens for this collection.
$200,000
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Kim Matthews 202
418-2130
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.