FCC Form 323 Rules Include NCEs, Rejiggering Numbers
The FCC changed the way it issues FCC registration numbers (FRNs) and requirements for Form 323-E, it said in an order released Wednesday. The commission will now issue special restricted use FRNs (RUFRNs) within the commission’s registration system (CORES) that are to be used solely for filing broadcast ownership reports, the order said: “The Commission believes that the RUFRN will allow for sufficient unique identification of individuals listed on broadcast ownership reports without necessitating the disclosure to the Commission of individuals’ full Social Security Numbers.” The order also extends the biennial filing deadline, reduces the number of filings required and improves the reporting of other broadcast and newspaper interests.
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Commissioner Ajit Pai dissented in part from the order, because it extends reporting requirements to officers and directors of noncommercial education stations. “The case for requiring NCE board members and officers to obtain a reliable unique identifier from the Commission is incredibly thin,” said Pai.
The rule changes are intended to facilitate the FCC collection of data “reflecting a more useful, accurate, and thorough assessment of minority and female broadcast station ownership in the United States,” said the NPRM that proposed the changes. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, who approved the order in part and concurred in part, suggested that might not be the best use of the FCC's time. “I question whether the Commission’s limited resources are best spent collecting, crunching, and disseminating statistics about broadcast station owners, when the marketplace is extremely dynamic and fluid,” he said. O'Rielly also questioned the inclusion of NCE officials in the order. NCE licensees have “such attenuated relationships with their reportable interest holders” that it “strains the understanding of 'ownership' beyond recognition,” O'Rielly said. “I question whether the data collected will have any valuable impact on our decision making,” he said. “On a larger perspective, my support and concurrence in this item should not be read as an endorsement of the use of certain practices in other contexts.”
The FCC has "taken its sweet time" taking action to collect broadcaster demographic data, said Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman, who represents Prometheus Radio Project in ongoing litigation in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over FCC handling of the 2010 quadrennial review. "We will certainly raise this to the 3rd Circuit." The FCC is scheduled to take on the 2014 quadrennial review this summer, leaving little time for data collection under the new Form 323 order.
Including NCE stations in the order "will be a disaster," said Todd Gray of Gray Miller, who represents a group of NCE broadcasters that opposed the FCC proposals. Governing board members of universities and other nonprofit entities associated with NCE stations are likely to refuse to give up their personal information and will respond negatively to station managers asking for it, Gray said. He said many NCE board members are likely to quit or refuse to serve if they have to comply with the disclosure requirements.