WASHINGTON� Commercial top 50 U.S. radio stations with more than five employees must post their public file online by Dec. 24 � Christmas Eve. That�s a reminder in the latest edition of the Alabama Broadcasters Association Engineering Notebook newsletter, by veteran engineer Larry Wilkins, but it applies across the country.
Stations should upload existing documents � annual EEO reports, issues and program list, political reports � already included in the paper public file, to an FCC-hosted website.
Luckily for everyone else, stations in smaller markets have a lot more breathing room; those files must be uploaded by March 1, 2018. Overachievers can begin this process at any time, however.
Wilkins seems optimistic about this FCC rule change. He writes, �This online file will be much easier to maintain than the old paper file system.�
This is because the commission will actually add ownership reports, assignment or transfer applications, construction permit applications, FCC licenses and more.
Wilkins writes that the ABA is planning a workshop to address this subject in 2017.
�
