On November 18, 2022, a summary of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Second NPRM) proposing to amend its rules for the identification of foreign government-sponsored programming was published in the Federal Register. As a result, comments are due on December 19 and reply comments are due on January 3. As we explained previously, the proposals contained in the Second NPRM would increase regulatory burdens on broadcasters by, among other things, expressly requiring standardized certifications by licensees and the third parties to which they lease broadcast time. Although licensees already were recently required to make inquiries of such third parties to comply with the FCC’s existing foreign government-sponsored programming rules, the Second NPRM proposes to impose upon broadcasters an obligation to go back to lessees and obtain renewed certifications containing FCC-dictated language. The Second NPRM would also require broadcasters to upload all such certifications to their online public files.

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