Texas Association of Broadcasters
09/29/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/29/2026 09:30
Timely Filing Your FCC Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists
posted on 9.29.2026
The next FCC-mandated station Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists (covering July 1 through Sep. 30 of 2026) must be uploaded to the station Online Public Inspection File (OPIF) by Saturday, Oct. 10. The Quarterly Lists are required to be placed in the OPIC by Jan. 10, April 10, July 10, and Oct. 10 of each year. All full power and Class A TV stations, commercial and noncommercial AM and FM radio stations, and certain LPTV stations are required to file the lists.
The lists are meant to demonstrate a station's compliance with FCC station public interest obligations.
Otherwise, stations risk a determination by the FCC that they did not adequately serve the public interest during their license term. Stations' attention to timely filing of the lists is critical because of the migration from a physical station public inspection file onsite to the FCC-hosted station online public inspection file. That migration occurred in the previous decade. It means FCC staff can now review a station's timeliness for the filing of these lists, or any other required station OPIF documents, with any computer that has an Internet connection.
Failure to meet the filing deadlines can have severe FCC repercussions. Attorneys Scott Flick and Elizabeth Craig of TAB's FCC legal counsel Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman say the FCC's base fine for missing or late quarterly lists is $10,000.
Most FCC fines in this area are the result of stations' self-admitting such during a license renewal. Apart from timely filing of the quarterly lists, Flick and Craig urge stations not to "skimp" on the quarterly lists, and to err on the side of over-inclusiveness.
Flick and Craig prepared an informative primer this month on preparing the lists' content and uploading the required lists. The article includes a sample format that stations can use to compile the station's list.
The guidance in this article would apply to the upcoming Oct. 10 quarterly list upload.
Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.
Texas Association of Broadcasters published this content on September 29, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 29, 2026 at 15:30 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]