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 January
28, 2016, the Commission adopted a Report and Order (“R&O”) in
MB Docket No. 14-127, FCC 16-4, In the Matter of Expansion of
Online Public File Obligations to Cable and Satellite TV Operators
and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees, expanding 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 took 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 took
similar measures to minimize the effort and cost entities must
undertake to move their public files online. Specifically, the
Commission required 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 exempted existing political file material from the online file
requirement and required that political file documents be uploaded
only on a going-forward basis.
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.