Attention All Television Stations: Post Your Carriage Election Contact Information Online by July 31, 2020

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently modernized its carriage election notice rules. By the end of this month, TV broadcasters need to take action to comply with some of these new rules.

How do TV stations now provide notice of their carriage elections?

Under the new rules, full power and Class A TV broadcasters must post their carriage elections online and send notices to covered multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) by email only when changing their carriage election status. Qualified low power TV (LPTV) and noncommercial (NCE) translator stations must send an initial baseline notice to covered MVPDs because they are not required to maintain an online public file and need only provide notice of changes to their election status via email following the baseline notice. This new approach replaces the requirement to send paper notices via certified mail to MVPDs every three years.

What must TV broadcasters do now?

By July 31, the new rules require all commercial and NCE television stations, including Class A, low power television and NCE translator stations eligible for carriage, to provide a contact email address and phone number for any carriage-related questions from MVPDs. For full-power stations, this information must be placed in a station's online public inspection file (OPIF). For Class A and LPTV stations, the contact information must be placed in the FCC's Licensing and Management System (LMS). The FCC has updated its OPIF system to allow full-power stations to upload carriage-related contact information. The information may be uploaded by signing into OPIF, accessing the "Profile" tab and completing the "Carriage Election Contact Information" fields.

Qualified LPTV and NCE translators may confirm the accuracy of their listed contact information by signing into LMS, accessing the "Facilities" tab to select the correct Facility, and reviewing the "Contact email" and "Contact phone number" fields. These stations can file an Administrative Update Notification if corrections are necessary. Again, broadcasters must upload their carriage election contact information by July 31, 2020. Elections for the 2021-2023 carriage cycle must be made no later than October 1, 2020. For further information, see the Media Bureau's Public Notice. For questions about the new carriage election process, please contact your station counsel or the NAB Legal department at (866) 682-0276.