The countdown is on for all full-power radio stations to move their public inspection files online. The Federal Communications Commission has ordered all stations to shift to an online file on the FCC’s searchable portal website by March 1. It’s the last wave of stations to make the switch. Television stations began posting their public files online in 2012 and radio stations in the top 50 markets followed in 2016.
For the final group converting over to the FCC’s web portal, the largest headache has been technical. “The single biggest question that we are getting isn’t what do I upload or anything along the traditional lines, it’s I can’t get the system to work—and as a result people can’t get even started in the process and it’s been incredibly frustrating,” said Fletcher Heald & Hildreth attorney Scott Flick on a recent webinar hosted by several state broadcast associations. It’s a good reason for stations not to put off the process until the last minute.
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