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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 14 (Thursday, January 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8023-8025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01528]

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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB Control Number 3060-xxxx; FR ID 275222]

Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the 
general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to 
comment on the following information collections. Comments are 
requested concerning: whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Commission, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology; and ways to further reduce the 
information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer 
than 25 employees. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management 
and Budget

[[Page 8024]]

(OMB) control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for 
failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA 
that does not display a valid OMB control number.

DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before March 24, 
2025. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find 
it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, 
you should advise the contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Cathy Williams, FCC, via email 
[email protected] and to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 3060-xxxx.
    Title: Reporting Requirements for Commercial Television Broadcast 
Station Blackouts.
    Form Number: N/A. Information will be collected via a FCC-hosted 
reporting portal. Respondents will be given notice of the specific 
reporting procedures by public notice before being required to submit 
information via the reporting portal.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 22 respondents; 264 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 
Sections 1, 4, 303, 325, and 403, of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154, 303, 325, and 403, and section 401 of RAY 
BAUM'S Act of 2018, 47 U.S.C. 163.
    Total Annual Burden: 132 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Needs and Uses: On January 3, 2025, the Commission released a 
Report and Order (Order), FCC 24-138, in MB Docket No. 23-427, in which 
the Commission adopts a rule requiring that it be notified when a 
blackout of a broadcast television station, or stations, occurs on a 
video programming service offered by a multichannel video programming 
distributor (MVPD) for 24 hours or more due to a breakdown in 
retransmission consent negotiations between broadcasters and MVPDs.
    Blackouts are the unfortunate result of failed retransmission 
consent negotiations. The Order concludes that a reporting requirement 
is necessary to provide information that will enable the Commission to 
assess the functioning of the retransmission consent process, including 
the effects of blackouts on competition and consumers, and inform 
Congress. Currently, there is no official, public source that 
aggregates and reports information on such blackouts. As a result, the 
Commission and the public do not always have access to this important 
information through a consistent, reliable, and systematic means. To 
close this information gap, the Order concludes that obtaining blackout 
information from MVPDs would be the most effective method for the 
Commission to gain timely and reliable information about broadcast 
station blackouts occurring across the country and allow us to better 
assess the functioning of the retransmission consent process consistent 
with our statutory obligations and the consequences of breakdowns, and 
to better advise Congress on the state of the retransmission consent 
regime and its effectiveness with respect to relevant policy goals. 
Blackout reports will also provide data that, when combined with other 
information, can inform empirical analysis of competition and consumer 
access to programming. In addition, the reporting will enable the 
Commission to provide better information on the state of the video 
programming markets as part of the statutorily required Communications 
Marketplace Report and thus will facilitate a more informed assessment 
of marketplace developments. The Order contains the following 
information collection requirements which require OMB approval.
    Reporting Portal. The Order provides that the blackout information 
be collected through an online reporting portal that is hosted and 
administered by the Commission. The Order delegates to the Media Bureau 
the authority to issue a public notice giving Reporting Entities notice 
of the specific reporting procedures to submit blackout information via 
the reporting portal and identifying the date on which the reporting 
requirement would become effective. Public blackout information 
collected through the portal would then be available on the 
Commission's website.
    Initial Blackout Notification. The new information collection in 
rule 47 CFR 76.68(a) requires Reporting Entities to submit an Initial 
Blackout Notification in the event of a reportable Broadcast Station 
Blackout lasting over 24 hours. Reporting Entities must submit the 
Notification within two business days after 24 hours have elapsed since 
the initiation of a Broadcast Station Blackout. This Notification will 
be available to the public and shall identify: (i) the name of the 
Reporting Entity; (ii) the commercial television broadcast station or 
stations no longer being retransmitted, including the call sign, 
Facility ID, the network affiliation(s), if any, of each affected 
primary and multicast stream, and the unaffected streams, if any; (iii) 
the Designated Market Area(s) in which affected subscribers reside; and 
(iv) the date and time of the initial interruption to programming. In 
addition, the new information collection in rule 47 CFR 76.68(b) 
requires Reporting Entities to submit an estimate of the number of 
subscribers affected as part of the Initial Blackout Notification. This 
information will be treated as presumptively confidential and will not 
be routinely available for public inspection.
    Final Blackout Notification. The new information collection in rule 
47 CFR 76.68(a) also requires Reporting Entities to submit a Final 
Blackout Notification, no later than two business days after the 
resumption of carriage to subscribers. This Notification will be 
available to the public and shall state, with respect to each station 
identified in the Initial Blackout Notification, the extent to which 
retransmission has resumed and include the date on which retransmission 
resumed.
    Supplemental Reporting. Under rule 47 CFR 76.68(c), the licensee of 
a commercial television broadcast station may seek correction of a 
Reporting Entity's Initial or Final Blackout Notification if the 
Notification involves the station and contains a substantive error. The 
licensee must submit any correction notice electronically in accordance 
with procedures specified by the Media Bureau by public notice.
    Definitions. Section 47 CFR 76.68(d) of the rule defines a 
``Reporting Entity'' as ``the multichannel video programming 
distributor reporting a Broadcast Station Blackout.'' A ``Broadcast 
Station Blackout'' is defined as ``any time an MVPD ceases 
retransmission of a commercial television broadcast station's signal 
due to a lapse of the broadcast station's consent for such 
retransmission.'' A ``reportable Broadcast Station Blackout'' is 
defined as a ``Broadcast Station Blackout lasting over 24 hours but 
less than three years from the Initial Blackout Notification.'' For the 
purposes of this rule, a ``commercial television broadcast station'' is 
defined to include all commercial full power, Class A, and low power 
television broadcast stations.

[[Page 8025]]

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-01528 Filed 1-22-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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