Sections 25.701, Other DBS Public Interest Obligations, and 25.702, Other SDARS Public Interest Obligations
New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)
No
Regular
Comment filed on proposed rule
04/07/2015
02/13/2015
COMMENT: OMB files this comment in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.11( c ). This OMB action is not an approval to conduct or sponsor an information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This action has no effect on any current approvals. If OMB has assigned this ICR a new OMB Control Number, the OMB Control Number will not appear in the active inventory. For future submissions of this information collection, reference the OMB Control Number provided. Resubmit when proposed rule is finalized.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
In 2012, the Commission 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. On December 17, 2014, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM") in MB Docket No. 14-127, FCC 14-209, In the Matter of Expansion of Online Public File Obligations to Cable and Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees, proposing to expand the requirement that public inspection files be posted to the FCC- hosted online public file database to satellite TV (also referred to as "Direct Broadcast Satellite" or "DBS") providers and to satellite radio (also referred to as "satellite Digital Audio Radio Services" or "SDARS") licensees, among other entities. The Commission stated that its goal is to make information that these entities are already required to make publicly available more accessible while also reducing costs both for the government and the public sector. The Commission proposed to take the same general approach to transitioning these entities to the online file that it took with television broadcasters in 2012, tailoring the requirements as necessary to the different services. The Commission also proposed to take similar measures to minimize the effort and cost entities must undertake to move their public files online. Specifically, the Commission proposed to require entities only to upload to the online public file documents that are not already on file with the Commission or that the Commission maintains in its own database. The Commission also proposed to exempt existing political file material from the online file requirement and to require only that political file documents be uploaded on a going-forward basis.
The Commission first adopted a public inspection file requirement for broadcasters more than 40 years ago. The public file requirement grew out of Congress' 1960 amendment of Sections 309 and 311 of the Communications Act of 1934. Finding that Congress, in enacting these provisions, was guarding "the right of the general public to be informed, not merely the rights of those who have special interests," the Commission adopted the public inspection file requirement to "make information to which the public already has a right more readily available, so that the public will be encouraged to play a more active part in dialogue with broadcast licensees." The information provided in the public file enables citizens to engage in an informed dialog with their local operator or to file complaints regarding provider operations. Satellite TV (also known as "Direct Broadcast Satellite" or "DBS") providers and satellite radio (also referred to as "Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services" or "SDARS") licensees have public and political file requirements modeled, in large part, on the longstanding broadcast requirements. With respect to DBS providers, the Commission adopted public and political inspection file requirements in 1998 in conjunction with the imposition of certain public interest obligations, including political broadcasting requirements, on those entities. DBS providers were required to "abide by political file obligations similar to those requirements placed on terrestrial broadcasters and cable systems" and were also required to maintain a public file with records relating to other DBS public interest obligations. The Commission imposed equal employment opportunity and political broadcast requirements on SDARS licensees in 1997, noting that the rationale behind imposing these requirements on broadcasters also applies to satellite radio.
If the proposed requirements are adopted by the Commission in a final rulemaking, 3 respondents, 3 responses, 54 annual burden hours and $592 in annual costs.
$5,667
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Kim Matthews 202 418-2130
Reginfo record details
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Supporting Statement OMB 3060-xxxx (FCC 14-209) (2015).doc
Sections 25.701, Other DBS Public Interest Obligations, and 25.702, Other SDARS Public Interest Obligations