WASHINGTON—The FCC has released details on its final 2015 broadcast regulatory fees for television and radio. The deadline for filing the fees is 11:59 PM (ET), Sept. 24.
The 2015 fees for television stations show a slight increase of less than $400 across all markets (this handy fee chart is made available from CommLawBlog). As it began requiring in 2014, payments will only be accepted electronically (ACH, online credit card or by wire). Failure to pay on time could lead to a 25 percent late payment penalty of the unpaid amount as well as processing charges and administrative penalties.
The commission also announced that it is seeking comment on whether, when and how it should reassess its regulatory fees on TV stations that will be affected by next year’s spectrum incentive auction. The NAB told the commission that there may be fewer stations, “resulting in material changes to the regulatory fee apportionment among the remaining stations.”
The FCC took most its electronic filing systems down for overhaul on Sept. 2. The commission says the system (including Fee Filer) will be back up by 8:00 a.m. on Sept. 8.
All told, the commission expects to collect $339,844,000 in regulatory fees (covering all communications entities) for FY2015.
