The FCC has rejected a proposal put forth by the National Association of Broadcasters to require broadband and large technology companies to pay new regulatory fees to help pay for the commission’s work.
The commission issued that decision while finalizing its regulatory fee schedule for fiscal 2025. (Read its full assessment.)
After the FCC asked for comment about this year’s fees in June, the NAB and Telesat asked it to create five new regulatory categories. They argued that the current system places a “disproportionate burden on a limited group of legacy industries.” Iridium and several state broadcast associations supported this proposal.
But the Telecommunications Industry Association, CTIA-The Wireless Association, the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Consumer Technology Association, among others, opposed NAB’s proposal. They deemed it “vague,” “unwarranted” and based on “prior flawed arguments.”
The commission sided with the opposition, stating that the proposal was unworkable and lacked clarity. It said that NAB’s claim that broadband and tech companies “benefit significantly” from the FCC’s work, such as promoting broadband deployment, was not a sufficient basis for new fees.
“As CTA correctly observes, consumers likewise benefit immensely from having fast and reliable broadband available, but if any benefits — no matter how attenuated — were the criterion, they too would be subject to regulatory fees,” the commission wrote.
Five categories
The NAB’s and Telesat’s proposal sought to create five new fee categories for:
- Broadband internet access service providers
- Large technology companies
- Holders of equipment authorizations
- Experimental license holders
- Entities that provide database services to unlicensed spectrum users
The new categories were intended to ensure that entities such as broadband providers and “large technology companies” that benefit from the commission’s work do not “escape paying the full amount of fees,” NAB said.
NAB also requested that the FCC host stakeholder roundtables before FY 2026 to discuss modernizing who pays into the system.
Several state broadcast associations, in support, said that radio and TV broadcasters “unfairly subsidize” the much “larger entities in healthy and growing industries that are far more able” to withstand the FCC’s operating costs.
But CTA and the TIA argued in turn that because the commission has outsourced nearly all testing and certification work, “there is no free regulatory ride” for these entities, but rather “only a system that functions efficiently because the commission wisely chose to privatize much of the burden.”
The commission was not convinced by the proposed fee category structure nor the roundtable idea. It stated that the proposed categories were “unworkable and logistically infeasible at this time.”
It also said NAB provided no specific examples of what it believed to be the unaccounted work burden on the commission’s full-time equivalent (FTE) employees for the oversight and regulation of these “unnamed entities.”
The FCC also declined Telesat and NAB’s proposal to create a new regulatory fee category for manufacturers or others that hold equipment authorizations.
Regulatory fees drop for radio stations
While its proposal to create new fee categories was unsuccessful, NAB supported the overall regulatory fee allocations, which are down again for AM and FM stations in FY 2025, marking a decline for the third straight year.
The final fees decreased approximately 2.7% from last year’s fees. The fees vary by the type of station and the population it serves. An FM Class B station in the largest market, for example, must pay $19,485 in FY 2025, which is a decrease from $19,995 in FY 2024.
The commission’s report and order does not specify an exact due date, but fees typically are due Oct. 1, the start of the government’s fiscal year.
A table with the regulatory fees by station class and population served is below, with the percentage decline from 2024.
| Population Served | AM Class A | AM Class B | AM Class C | AM Class D | FM A, B1 & C3 | FM B, C, C0, C1 & C2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤10k | $545 (-2.7%) | $395 (-2.5%) | $340 (-2.9%) | $375 (-2.6%) | $600 (-2.4%) | $685 (-2.1%) |
| 10–25k | $910 (-2.7%) | $655 (-3.0%) | $570 (-2.6%) | $625 (-3.1%) | $1,000 (-2.4%) | $1,140 (-2.6%) |
| 25–75k | $1,365 (-2.8%) | $985 (-3.0%) | $855 (-2.8%) | $940 (-3.1%) | $1,500 (-2.6%) | $1,710 (-2.6%) |
| 75–150k | $2,050 (-2.6%) | $1,475 (-3.0%) | $1,285 (-2.3%) | $1,405 (-3.1%) | $2,250 (-2.4%) | $2,565 (-2.7%) |
| 150–500k | $3,075 (-2.7%) | $2,215 (-2.9%) | $1,925 (-2.5%) | $2,115 (-3.0%) | $3,380 (-2.5%) | $3,855 (-2.5%) |
| 500k–1.2m | $4,605 (-2.6%) | $3,315 (-2.9%) | $2,885 (-2.5%) | $3,160 (-3.2%) | $5,060 (-2.4%) | $5,770 (-2.5%) |
| 1.2–3m | $6,915 (-2.7%) | $4,980 (-2.9%) | $4,330 (-2.6%) | $4,750 (-3.1%) | $7,600 (-2.4%) | $8,665 (-2.5%) |
| 3–6m | $10,365 (-2.7%) | $7,460 (-3.0%) | $6,490 (-2.6%) | $7,120 (-3.1%) | $11,390 (-2.4%) | $12,985 (-2.6%) |
| >6m | $15,550 (-2.7%) | $11,195 (-3.0%) | $9,740 (-2.6%) | $10,680 (-3.1%) | $17,090 (-2.4%) | $19,485 (-2.5%) |
For FY 2025, the commission is required to collect $390.1 million in regulatory fees, an amount equal to its annual salaries and expenses appropriation. The commission expects to collect approximately $116.1 million in fees from Media Bureau regulatory fee payers, which includes radio and TV broadcasters, slightly more than the amount collected in 2024.
The commission also confirmed its initial proposal to reclassify 61 indirect FTEs as direct FTEs, meaning that fee payers, such as those that fall under the Media Bureau, will see a proportional increase in the FTE burden assigned to their categories.
For the Media Bureau specifically, this change results in a total of 134 direct FTEs, with an additional 13 FTEs reallocated to it.
Finally, the FCC reaffirmed its policy that while the vast majority of radio stations qualify as a “small entity,” defined for this industry as having an average annual revenue of $47 million or less, they are not exempt from paying fees.
However, stations with financial hardships may qualify for relief through waivers, reductions, deferrals or installment payments.
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