This summer, NAB and other broadcaster organizations and attorneys filed comments on the FCC’s planned changes to Form 323 (the ownership reporting form). In an initial round of comments submitted before a draft form was made available, NAB explained that meaningful input was not possible without further detail or an actual draft. At the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review phase, when the draft form was made available, NAB and several other broadcast commenters discussed the privacy and burden issues presented by the draft. Among other things, NAB noted that the FCC did not seek comment or issue an order regarding a new requirement for individuals in a broadcaster’s ownership chain to obtain FCC Registration Numbers (FRNs). Obtaining an FRN involves supplying a Social Security Number to the FCC. NAB and others observed that this would raise privacy issues, create burdens and could potentially deter investment in broadcasting.

With some changes, OMB approved the revised Form 323 in October. Two petitions for reconsideration of the decision to require individuals with attributable interests to obtain FRNs were filed FCC. The petition filed by the law firm of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth PLC can be accessed here. The petition filed by the law firm of Koerner & Olender PC, can be accessed here.

Recently, the FCC released a Public Notice regarding the petitions, accessible here. This Notice has now been published in the Federal Register. Parties may file oppositions to the Petitions by no later than Thursday, December 31, 2009. Replies to oppositions will be due on Monday, January 11, 2010. Rules regarding the obligations to serve copies of pleadings on parties to the proceeding can be found at 47 C.F.R. § 1.429.

Please note that these petitions do not impact the obligation of all commercial broadcast licensees to file ownership reports on FCC Form 323 by no later than January 11, 2010 - see related story.