FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: News media contact:

November 7, 2002 Audrey Spivack 202-418-0512

**FCC ESTABLISHES NEW EEO RULES AND POLICIES FOR**

**BROADCASTERS AND MVPDS**

Washington, DC -- Today in a Second Report and Order, the FCC
established new equal employment opportunity (EEO) rules and policies
for broadcasters and revised its EEO rules for multichannel video
programming distributors (MVPDs), such as cable and satellite TV
operators. The rules prohibit discrimination by broadcasters and MVPDs.
They also require these entities to provide notice of job vacancies and
to undertake additional outreach measures, such as job fairs and
scholarship programs, while at the same time affording them enough
flexibility to create the programs most effective for their communities.

Specifically, the Second Report and Order adopts the following
three-pronged outreach recruitment requirements, as they relate to
broadcasters:

> Prong 1: widely disseminate information concerning each full-time (30
> hours or more) job vacancy, except for vacancies filled in exigent
> circumstances;

Prong 2: provide notice of each full-time job vacancy to recruitment
organizations that have requested such notice; and

Prong 3: complete two (for broadcast employment units with five to ten
full-time employees or that are located in smaller markets) or four (for
employment units with more than ten full-time employees located in
larger markets) longer-term recruitment initiatives within a two-year
period. These include, for example, job fairs, scholarship and
internship programs, and other community events designed to inform the
public as to employment opportunities in broadcasting.

The Commission also adopted the following recordkeeping and reporting
requirements:

(a) collect, but not routinely submit to the Commission: (i) listings of
    all full-time job vacancies filled by the station employment unit,
    identified by job title; (ii) for each such vacancy, the recruitment
    sources used to fill the vacancy (including, if applicable,
    organizations entitled to notification, which should be separately
    identified), identified by name, address, contact person and
    telephone number; (iii) dated copies of all advertisements,
    bulletins, letters, faxes, e-mails, or other communications
    announcing vacancies; and (iv) documentation necessary to
    demonstrate performance of the Prong 3 menu options, *e.g*., job
    fairs, mentoring programs; (v) the total number of interviewees for
    each vacancy and the referral source for each interviewee; and (vi)
    the date each job was filled and the recruitment source that
    referred the hiree.

(b) place in the station public file annually a report including the
    following: (i) a list of all full-time vacancies filled during the
    preceding year, identified by job title; (ii) recruitment source(s)
    used to fill those vacancies (including organizations entitled to
    notification of vacancies pursuant to Prong 2), including the
    address, contact person, and telephone number of each source; (iii)
    a list of the recruitment sources that referred the people hired for
    each full-time vacancy; (iv) data reflecting the total number of
    persons interviewed for full-time vacancies during the preceding
    year and the total number of interviewees referred by each
    recruitment source; and (v) a list and brief description of Prong 3
    menu options implemented during the preceding year.

(c) submit the station's EEO public file report to the Commission as
    part of the renewal application and midway through the license term
    for the Commission's mid-term review for those stations subject to
    mid-term review (television stations with five or more full-time
    employees and radio stations with more than ten full-time
    employees). EEO public file reports for the preceding two year
    period will be required because broadcasters have two years in which
    to complete the Prong 3 menu options. Broadcasters must also post
    the current EEO public file report on their web site, if they have
    one.

    Although the Commission declined to change the small business size
    exemption, the new rules provide limited relief for entities in
    smaller markets. Such entities will be required to implement fewer
    Prong 3 menu options than stations in larger markets, based on the
    fact that smaller markets might lack the resources to support some
    of the activities contemplated in Prong 3.

    The EEO rules will be enforced through review at renewal time, at
    mid-term for larger broadcasters, and through random audits and
    targeted investigations resulting from information received as to
    possible violations.

    The same outreach requirements will apply to MVPDs, except as
    necessary to comply with statutory requirements applicable to MVPDs.
    For example, Section 634 requires that MVPDs file reports on an
    annual basis containing information specified in the statute. The
    Commission is also required to certify that MVPD employment units
    are in compliance with the EEO requirements on an annual basis.
    Accordingly, to comply with the Prong 3 requirements, MVPD
    employment units with six to ten full-time employees or employment
    units located in smaller markets would be required to undertake one
    recruitment initiative each year and larger employment units located
    in larger markets two recruitment initiatives per year. MVPD
    employment units are also not subject to a renewal process at the
    Commission. The Commission is required to conduct a more thorough
    review of each MVPD employment unit's EEO compliance every five
    years. Thus, under the new rules, MVPDs with six or more full-time
    employees must submit copies of their EEO public inspection file to
    the Commission every five years.

    The Commission noted that the broadcast and MVPD EEO rule and
    policies adopted today are consistent with the decision of the U.S.
    Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Court in
    *MD/DC/DE Broadcasters Association v. FCC* (2001). The court struck
    down the EEO program requirements for broadcasters adopted by the
    Commission in 2000. The court had found that Option B of the 2000
    rule was subject to, and could not withstand, strict scrutiny
    because those broadcasters that elected to design their own programs
    under Option B were required to report the race and gender of each
    job applicant. The court found no constitutional defect in Option A
    of the 2000 rules. Finding that Option B could not be severed from
    the rest of the rule, however, the court vacated the entire rule.
    The new program requirements adopted today are substantially similar
    to the Option A requirements upheld by the D.C. Circuit.

    The Commission deferred action on the collection of data concerning
    the race/ethnicity and gender of the workforce of broadcast and MVPD
    employment units. Such data would not be used to determine
    compliance with the EEO rules adopted today. The Commission said it
    expects to act on these forms before the next filing deadline,
    September 30, 2003.

    The Commission also issued a Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
    seeking comment on whether and how to apply the EEO rule to
    part-time positions. The Commission said that the current record was
    insufficient to provide a basis for making that determination now.

    If broadcasters, MVPDs, or members of the public have questions
    about the new rules and forms and how they will be implemented, they
    are encouraged to contact the Media Bureau for guidance at the
    numbers listed below, or the general number for the EEO staff,
    202-418-1450.

    Action by the Commission November 7, 2002, by Second Report and
    Order and Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 02-303). Chairman
    Powell, Abernathy, Copps and Martin with Chairman Powell,
    Commissioners Abernathy, Copps and Martin issuing separate
    statements.

    MM Docket 98-204

    Media Bureau contacts: Roy Boyce 202-418-1438, Estella Salvatierra
    418-1789, or Lewis Pulley 418-1456.

    -FCC-