Broadcasters just got their first real refresh of self-inspection checklists since 2024, as NAB and the Society of Broadcast Engineers rolled out new self-inspection guides for AM and FM stations.
NAB and SBE developed the guides jointly to give stations standardized, up-to-date guidance for staying compliant with FCC rules and policies, the kind of document a chief engineer or GM can actually walk a station through rather than parse from scattered rule text.
The FCC published its own self-inspection checklists until 2003, then stopped, even as its rules and policies kept evolving; NAB and SBE’s version is meant to close that gap for the stations that have been operating without an updated reference directly from the Commission for more than 20 years.
The guides also serve a second audience: contract inspectors working under the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program, which most state broadcaster associations administer on the FCC’s behalf. That dual use, station self-checks and third-party inspections, gives the new guides a shot at becoming the default reference for AM/FM compliance across the industry.
Access is a member benefit. NAB and SBE members can download the guides through the NAB member portal or directly from SBE.
