Two items that will be favorable to non-commercial radio stations will come up at the FCC’s next Commission meeting on April 20 and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has written about them in his latest blog. The first one involves easing the burden of non-com employees regarding their personal information and the second will give them more flexibility to raise money for charities. Here are the specifics…
Pai writes: “Recently, the FCC adopted a rule requiring officers and members of boards of directors of noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcaster stations to provide personal information to the FCC. However, public television and radio stations have complained that this rule is discouraging volunteers from serving in these positions. In my view, we should be thanking people who want to serve their community in this way, not imposing unnecessary regulatory burdens upon them. So next month, we’ll be voting to eliminate this rule.”
“We will also consider giving NCE broadcasters more flexibility to raise money for disaster relief groups, charities, and other non-profit organizations. In the past, the FCC has granted waivers to allow NCE television and radio stations to solicit donations for causes such as Hurricane Katrina and Haitian earthquake relief. I believe that we should make it easier for stations to engage in this type of activity so long as it doesn’t compromise their non-commercial nature. That’s why I’m proposing that stations be allowed to devote no more than 1% of their total annual airtime to fundraising for non-profit organizations. Moreover, because certain stations have indicated that they have no interest in engaging in such activity, this rule change would not apply to stations funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
Story kind of confusing…Commercial stations, when they file an ownership report, must obtain Federal registration numbers for their corporate boards and officers, as well as for the corporation. To get an FRN you must submit a social security number, name and address.
The Wheeler FCC was set to expand this requirement to the non-profit corporations owning NCE stations, starting with ownership reports filed this fall by the NCE’s.
But this rule created absurd results…many college boards have 20 or more trustees & schools owned by the state or local governments often have elected officials as “ex-officio” members. Of course, the governor of a state does not “own” the radio station at State U. This is the rule being eliminated