The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released final regulatory fees for Fiscal Year 2008. Click here for the schedule of fees. Congress has mandated that the FCC collect $312 million in regulatory fees for 2005, a 7.5 percent increase over 2007. Fees will not increase by exactly 7.5 percent for every licensee, however, as the actual fee amount depends on the number of paying entities in each fee category and other factors, which will increase or decrease at different rates for different categories.

The FCC also issued several decisions and inquiries specifically relevant to broadcasters. First, the FCC noted that AM expanded band licensees are exempt from regulatory fees, although it clarified its intent to eventually impose fees on such licensees. However, the FCC also noted that it is still weighing whether to permit radio broadcasters to hold licenses in both the AM standard band and the AM expanded band, or to allow a broadcaster to sell one of these licenses. Therefore, the FCC decided not to make any changes to the current exemption for AM expanded band licensees until these other matters are resolved.

Second, the FCC seeks comment on how to treat digital television licensees with respect to regulatory fees. Currently, the FCC imposes fees only on a broadcaster’s analog facilities, and the FCC has no intention of imposing fees on both a broadcaster’s simultaneous analog and digital operations. However, it does need to update its regulatory fees rules and processes to account for the transition to digital television (DTV), in a manner that does not harm early transitioners to DTV or late transitioners from analog spectrum, and seeks comment on how to achieve this goal. Third, and more generally, the FCC seeks comment on ways to improve its collection processes, and how it might amend its rules to ensure that fees are assessed equitably and reflective of current market circumstances.

The deadline for submitting comments on the latter two issues has not yet been established, but we expect the deadline to occur sometime in late September 2008. Nor has the FCC established the deadline for submitting regulatory fees. NAB expects the FCC to open the payment window in the next two weeks, but please watch NAB’s newsletters and the FCC’s Web site for information on when fees will be due this year. Once again, the FCC will mail fee assessment postcards to broadcast licensees on a per-facility basis, and fees can be paid on-line or by mail, subject to a 25 percent late payment fee.