Last week, the FCC announced deadlines for the Broadcaster Relocation Fund. Click here for the FCC Public Notice.
Many TV and some radio stations had costs associated with the post-incentive auction transition of TV stations to new channels. These costs included antenna and transmitter replacements, construction of new towers, erection of temporary or auxiliary antennas, engineering and legal fees and licensing and permitting costs. While the statutory deadline for obligating funds to reimburse TV and radio stations is July 3, 2023, the FCC has established earlier deadlines for submitting invoices.
The deadlines for final submission to the Broadcaster Reimbursement Fund are:
October 8, 2021 ¨C for full-power and Class A TV stations assigned to repack Phase 5 and earlier
March 22, 2022 ¨C for full-power and Class A TV stations assigned to repack Phase 6 and later
September 5, 2022 ¨C for all other entities including FM stations, low-power TV stations and TV translator stations
Your station must submit FCC reimbursement forms and initiate close-out procedures no later than the above dates. If you expect to have difficulty meeting these deadlines, you should contact your FCC regional coordinator or counsel. Failure to submit reimbursement requests by the deadlines may result in no reimbursement.
If you have any questions, please contact the NAB Legal and Regulatory Affairs department at (866) 682-0276.