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FCC Releases 2009 Regulatory Fees Schedule

August 6, 2009
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The FCC has issued its regulatory fees schedule for FY 2009 (attached). This year’s fees will be due during a soon-to-be-announced September filing window. Fees which may be of particular interest are:

Cable systems (per basic subscriber)   $0.88 (up from $0.80)
CARS                                                 $260 per station (up from $205)
TV (VHF)                                           $5,950 to $77,575 (depending on market size)
TV (UHF)                                           $1,950 to $24,250 (depending on market size)
FM Radio                                            $650 to $10,850 (depending on class and pop. size)
AM Radio                                           $500 to $8,100 (depending on class and pop. size)
Broadcast Microwave Auxiliaries       $10 (same as FY 2008)

As a general matter, regulatory fees for licenses, permits and other authorizations that are not based on a subscriber, unit, or circuit count must be submitted for any authorization held as of October 1, 2008. In the case of regulated entities whose fees are based on a per basic subscriber or other unit count basis, such as cable system operators, the number of customers on December 31, 2008 is used to calculate the fee payment. Basic cable subscribers include single family dwellings, each individual household in a multiple dwelling unit building, bulk rate customers and courtesy/free service customers.

Like last year, cable operators that have e-mail addresses populated in the Media Bureau’s Cable Operations and Licensing System should receive e-mail reminders to notify them of the amount due and the payment filing window. Unlike previous years, however, holders of Cable Television Relay Service licenses and Earth Station licensees will no longer receive pre-bills through the mail. Rather, pre-bill information for these licensees will be available online through the Commission’s Fee Filer system available on the FCC website.

With respect to broadcast stations, the FCC will continue generating regulatory fee assessment postcards and letters that indicate the regulatory fee owed and mailing them to the licensee’s primary and secondary contact persons identified in the Commission’s Consolidated Database System. The notifications also will direct parties to an FCC website where they can update or correct fee information, or certify their fee-exempt status (typically only for governmental entities), as necessary.

For the first time, all licensees/regulatees are required to begin the regulatory fee payment process via the Commission’s Fee Filer system. While the FCC will continue to accept actual payment via check or other non-electronic means, such payment must be accompanied by a copy of the electronic remittance form (Form 159-E) generated on Fee Filer.

As in the past, regulated entities whose total regulatory fee liability amounts to less than $10 will be exempt from paying such fees. Payment of regulatory fees may be made during or before the fee filing window. Late payments are subject to a 25% penalty and administrative processing charges, and failure to pay could result in the Commission’s withholding of action on and/or dismissal of applications filed by licensees/regulatees. Nonpayment also could result in initiation of license/authorization revocation proceedings.

Additional details regarding payment procedures and September filing window dates should soon be available on the FCC’s website. In the meantime, we would be pleased to respond to any questions regarding these matters.

Currently, there are no regulatory fee obligations for digital television (“DTV”) stations. Stations that were broadcasting in both analog and digital format on October 1, 2008 must pay regulatory fees only with respect to their analog facilities. Stations that were operating in digital-only format on that date do not have to pay any regulatory fees. Beginning in FY 2010, however, the FCC intends to collect regulatory fees from digital broadcasters to ensure they pay their share of regulatory fees in the years following completion of the nationwide DTV transition.

Cable operators can base the required subscriber count on a typical day during the last week of December 2008, rather than on December 31, 2008 specifically.

Currently, bulk rate customers are calculated on an equivalized basis, where the total annual bulk rate charge is divided by the basic annual subscription rate for individual households.