[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41014-41016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16487]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 73
[MB Docket No. 00-168; DA 13-1440]
Online Political File and Petition for Reconsideration
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice; solicitation of comments.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission solicits public comment
on the impact of the rules requiring broadcast television stations to
post their political files online, and on a Petition for
Reconsideration filed by the Television Station Group.
DATES: Comments may be filed on or before August 26, 2013, and reply
comments may be filed on or before September 23, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by MB Docket No. 00-168,
by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Federal Communications Commission's Web site: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. Follow the instructions for submitting
comments.
Mail: Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery,
by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S.
Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language
interpreters, CART, etc.) by email: [email protected] or phone: (202) 418-
0530 or TTY: (202) 418-0432.
For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Matthews, [email protected], of
the Policy Division, Media Bureau, (202) 418-2120.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Public
Notice in MB Docket No. 00-168, DA 13-1440, released on June 25, 2013.
The full text of this document is available for public inspection and
copying during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center,
Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-A257,
Washington, DC 20554. This document will also be available via ECFS at
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/. Documents will be available
electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat. The
complete text may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor,
445 12th Street SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. Alternative
formats are available for people with disabilities (Braille, large
print, electronic files, audio format), by sending an email to
[email protected] or calling the Commission's Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
Summary
1. In the Public Notice, the Media Bureau seeks comment on the
impact of the rules adopted by the Commission in the Second Report and
Order in MM Docket Nos. 00-168 and 00-44,\1\ requiring broadcast
television stations to post their political files online. We seek
comment also on the Petition for Reconsideration of the Second Report
and Order filed by the Television Station Group.\2\
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\1\ Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for
Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest Obligations, Extension
of the Filing Requirement for Children's Television Programming
Report, Second Report and Order, 27 FCC Rcd 4535 (2012) (``Second
Report and Order''). The effective date of the new online public
file requirements was August 2, 2012.
\2\ See Petition for Reconsideration, Television Station Group,
MM Docket Nos. 00-168 and 00-44 (June 11, 2012) (``Petition for
Reconsideration'').
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2. Background. In the Second Report and Order, the Commission
required stations to post their public files online in a Commission-
hosted database rather than maintaining the files locally at their main
studios. With respect to political file documents that must be
maintained in the public file, the Commission required stations that
are affiliated with the top four national networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, and
Fox) and that are licensed to serve communities in the top 50
Designated Market Areas (``DMAs'') to post these documents online as
part of the online public file, but exempted all other stations from
posting their political file documents to their online public file
until July 1, 2014.\3\ The Commission stated that, by July 1, 2013, the
Media Bureau would issue a Public Notice seeking comment on the impact
of this online posting requirement for the political file so that the
Commission can consider whether any changes should be made to the
requirement before it takes effect for other stations.\4\ The Media
Bureau is issuing this Public Notice consistent with the Commission's
commitment in the Second Report and Order.
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\3\ Id. at 4536-7, paragraph 3.
\4\ Id.
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3. The online public file requirement adopted in the Second Report
and Order replaced the decades-old requirement that commercial and
noncommercial television stations maintain public files at their main
studios with a requirement to post most of the documents in those files
to a central, online public file hosted by the Commission. The
Commission's goals were to modernize the procedures television
broadcasters use to inform the public about how they are serving their
communities, make information concerning broadcast service more
accessible to the public, and reduce broadcasters' cost of compliance.
The political file component of the public inspection file provides
information about requests by political candidates and other political
advertisers to purchase television advertising time, including the
station's disposition of each request and the rate charged for the
broadcast time.
4. Stations were required to upload new public file documents to
the online database starting August 2, 2012.\5\ Stations were given six
months from this date to upload documents that were already in their
public inspection file.\6\
[[Page 41015]]
However, the Commission did not require stations to upload their
existing political files to the online database; \7\ rather, stations
were required only to upload new political file content on a going-
forward basis.\8\ In addition, to better ensure that the Commission can
accommodate television broadcasters' online filings and to confine any
unforeseen start-up difficulties to those stations that are best able
to address them, the Commission phased in the new political file
posting requirement by, as noted above, limiting it for the first two
years, until July 1, 2014, to affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox
networks in the top-50 markets.\9\
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\5\ The National Association of Broadcasters (``NAB'') filed a
petition for review of the Second Report and Order with the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Nat'l Assoc.
of Broadcasters v. FCC, No. 12-1225 (D.C. Cir. May 21, 2012). NAB
sought an emergency stay of the Second Report and Order from the FCC
and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals; both requests were denied.
Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for Television
Broadcast Licensee Public Interest Obligations, 27 FCC Rcd 7683
(2012); Order, Nat'l Assoc. of Broadcasters v. FCC, No. 12-1225
(D.C. Cir. July 27, 2012). On January 18, 2013, NAB filed an
unopposed motion to hold further proceedings in the case before the
D.C. Circuit in abeyance pending (1) FCC action on the petition for
reconsideration filed by the Television Station Group and (2) the
Commission's opening of a notice and comment period concerning these
rules, prior to July 1, 2013, to consider whether changes to the
requirements are warranted. On February 12, 2013, the court granted
NAB's motion to hold proceedings in abeyance. Order, Nat'l Assoc. of
Broadcasters v. FCC, No. 12-1225 (D.C. Cir. February 12, 2013).
\6\ The six-month deadline expired February 4, 2013. See Public
Notice, Television Broadcast Stations Reminded of the Upcoming
Public Inspection File Deadline, DA 13-120, rel. January 30, 2013.
\7\ These documents must continue to be maintained at the
station, however, until the end of the two-year retention period.
\8\ Second Report and Order, 27 FCC Rcd at 4536, paragraph 2 and
at 4551, paragraph 33.
\9\ Id. at 4536-7, paragraph 3.
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5. To date, over 361,000 documents have been uploaded into the
online public file, including over 66,000 documents in political files.
During the month leading up to the November 6, 2012 general election,
stations uploaded nearly 27,000 documents to political files, peaking
at 1582 documents uploaded on November 5. In addition, the public file
has attracted over 2.5 million pageviews on 500,000 unique visits to
the site. The busiest day was September 11, 2012, on which the site
attracted 5,296 visits.
6. Online Political File. We hereby request comment on how moving
online the political file has impacted the approximately 240 stations
that are currently subject to this requirement. We seek comment
generally on the experience of this initial group of stations in
posting their political files online as well as the public's experience
in accessing this information. Have stations encountered particular
obstacles in connection with posting documents to the online political
file? Has online posting become easier over time as station personnel
have become more familiar with the process and as the Commission has
made improvements to its online database? \10\ Are there other steps
the Commission could take to make its online database more user-
friendly? We also ask members of the public, including political
candidates and their representatives, who review the online political
file to comment on whether they have found it easy to access
information in the file, whether there are other improvements that we
could make to the database to facilitate access and review of this
material, and whether the ability to view the political file online has
been beneficial.
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\10\ In October 2012, the Commission announced the availability
of a new, pre-generated ``Terms and Disclosures'' folder in the
online database where stations can upload explanations for any
terms, abbreviations or other language necessary for a full
understanding of any documents posted to the online political file.
The Commission also announced it was continuing work on other
improvements to the online public file including a public search
feature, RSS feeds for easy identification of new documents filed,
and a feature permitting broadcaster access to the interface through
Dropbox. See Public Notice, New Features in Online Public Inspection
File System Announced, DA 12-1578, rel. October 3, 2012.
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7. In addition, we seek comment on the ability of stations that are
currently exempt from the political posting requirement to comply with
the July 1, 2014 deadline. Are there changes we should make to our
rules or our database to facilitate compliance for stations that will
be subject to the online political file requirements for the first time
next year? We note that more than 200 television stations that are not
currently subject to the online political file requirement have posted
at least one document into the online political file. We invite these
stations to provide us with information about their experiences in
uploading political file documents to the Commission's database.
8. Petition for Reconsideration. Finally, we also seek comment on
the Petition for Reconsideration of the Second Report and Order filed
on June 11, 2012 by the Television Station Group, a group of large
television station owners. The petition requests that the Commission
reconsider the online political file requirement in the Second Report
and Order on the ground that it is not in the public interest for
stations to disclose online specific, spot-by-spot information about
the rates charged for advertisements placed by candidates or those
placed by other parties that concern candidates.\11\ Although the
Commission's rules formerly required that this information be made
publicly available in hard-copy in the station's local political files,
the petition argues that disclosure online of this sensitive pricing
information is anti-competitive, disrupts markets, and is not
contemplated by current campaign finance disclosure statutes.\12\ As an
alternative, the petition proposes, among other things, that the
Commission require television stations to continue to make this
specific rate information available in hard-copy in their local
political files and, in addition, that the Commission permit stations,
on an opt-in basis, to post to the Commission's database the aggregate
amount of money spent by a sponsor of political advertisements on the
station in lieu of posting specific rate information online.\13\
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\11\ See Petition for Reconsideration at 1-2, 5.
\12\ Id. at 2.
\13\ Id. at 5.
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9. The Public Interest Public Airwaves Coalition (``PIPAC'')
opposes the petition on the ground that allowing stations to post only
aggregate data regarding political ads would be contrary to the
Commission's efforts to modernize its reporting systems and to promote
transparency and data-driven policymaking.\14\ PIPAC also argues that
the Television Station Group proposal would make it more difficult for
the public to obtain specific information in the political file as
paper files are costly and time consuming to view.\15\ Finally, PIPAC
also argues that aggregated information is insufficient to enable the
public to ascertain whether stations are meeting their statutory
obligations with respect to lowest unit rate, equal opportunities, and
public disclosure of the sources of political ads.\16\
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\14\ See Ex Parte Communication, MM Docket No. 00-168, (February
11, 2013), at 1-2.
\15\ Id. at 2.
\16\ Id.
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10. We seek comment on the issues raised by the petition and
opposition. Would the voluntary nature of the proposal affect the
usefulness of the data collected? In addition, we invite comment on
whether there are other mechanisms that the Commission should consider
to improve consumer access to relevant data regarding political ads.
11. Permit-but-Disclose. This proceeding, including both the online
political file inquiry and the Petition for Reconsideration, will be
treated as a ``permit-but-disclose'' proceeding in accordance with the
Commission's ex parte rules.\17\ Persons making ex parte presentations
must file a copy of any written presentation or memorandum summarizing
any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation
(unless a different unless a different deadline applicable to the
Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral ex parte presentations
are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list
all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at
which the ex parte presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data
presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the
presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data
or arguments already reflected in the presenter's
[[Page 41016]]
written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the
presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her
prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant
page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be
found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown
or given to Commission staff during ex parte meetings are deemed to be
written ex parte presentations and must be filed consistent with rule
Sec. 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by rule Sec. 1.49(f) or for
which the Commission has made available a method of electronic filing,
written ex parte presentations and memoranda summarizing oral ex parte
presentations, and all attachments thereto, must be filed through the
electronic comment filing system available for that proceeding, and
must be filed in their native format (e.g., .doc, .xml, .ppt,
searchable, .pdf). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize
themselves with the Commission's ex parte rules.
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\17\ See 47 CFR 1.1200 et seq.
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12. Comments and Replies. Interested parties may file comments and
reply comments on or before the dates indicated on the first page of
this document. Comments and Reply Comments may be filed using the
Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (``ECFS'').\18\
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\18\ See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking
Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998).
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Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/.
Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket
or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers
must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or
rulemaking number.
Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial
overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service
mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary,
Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
[cir] All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for
the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445
12th Street SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours
are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together
with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be
disposed of before entering the building.
[cir] Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
[cir] U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail
must be addressed to 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554.
13. Availability of Documents. Comments, reply comments, and ex
parte submissions will be available for public inspection during
regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center, Federal
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW., CY-A257, Washington, DC
20554. These documents will also be available via ECFS. Documents will
be available electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe
Acrobat.
14. People with Disabilities. To request materials in accessible
formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic
files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] or call the FCC's
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice),
(202) 418-0432 (TTY).
15. Additional Information. For additional information on this
proceeding, contact Kim Matthews, [email protected], of the Media
Bureau, Policy Division, (202) 418-2154. Press contact: Janice Wise
(202-418-8165; [email protected]).
Federal Communications Commission.
William T. Lake,
Chief, Media Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2013-16487 Filed 7-8-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P