Congress has mandated that the FCC collect $335,794,000 in regulatory fees for Fiscal Year 2010. These fees are used to recover the regulatory costs associated with the FCC’s enforcement, policy and rulemaking, user information, and international activities. This total represents an overall decrease of 1.8 percent from FY 2009.

With the completion of the digital television (DTV) transition on June 12, 2009, the FCC had eliminated the distinction between digital and analog full-power television stations, and will assess regulatory fees only on digital broadcast operations. Stations still operating under Special Temporary Authority until their digital license is issued are treated as fully operational licensed facilities for purposes of regulatory fees, and will be required to pay the same regulatory fee as a licensed full-power DTV station. See Appendix C of the FCC’s Order for the schedule of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2010.

With respect to AM and FM radio stations, the FCC received a few comments suggesting different ways to calculate regulatory fees, such as calculating fees based on a station’s income, or on a per-person basis based on a station’s city-grade contour. Although the FCC expressed interest in such proposals, it ultimately decided against changes to its existing method of calculating fees for AM and FM stations.

Of note, the FCC also expects substantial changes in the amount of fees collected from UHF and VHF television stations, as a result of the DTV Transition. Because many stations jumped from VHF to UHF channels, but the FCC collects fees based on the number of licensees in a particular service category, some remaining VHF stations should expect fee increases.

The FCC will collect regulatory fees during a filing window in August 2010. Click here for more information.