New FCC Filing System and Application Form for Television Stations

February 19, 2015

Beginning Monday, February 23, 2015, all Class A television stations, low power television stations, and television translator stations will be required to use the FCC’s new e-filing system known as the Licensing Management System (LMS). LMS will ultimately replace the FCC’s Consolidated Data Base System, otherwise known as CDBS. Full power television stations began using LMS on October 2, 2014.

LMS uses a single form (FCC Form 2100) that will ultimately replace all of the existing radio and television application forms that broadcast stations currently use. The FCC Form 2100 has two parts – the Main Form and Schedules. All applicants must complete the Main Form, which includes general information such as the applicant’s name, contact representative, station information, and qualification information. The Schedules an applicant files will depend on the type of application submitted. The Schedules to the Form, and the CDBS equivalent, are as follows:

Schedule

Purpose

CDBS Form Equivalent

Schedule A

Full Power TV Station Construction Permit

FCC Form 301

Schedule B

Full Power TV Station License to Cover

FCC Form 302-DT

Schedule C

LPTV and TV Translator Construction Permit

FCC Form 346

Schedule D

LPTV and TV Translator License to Cover

FCC Form 347

Schedule E

Class A TV Station Construction Permit

FCC Form 301-CA

Schedule F

Class A TV Station License to Cover

FCC Form 302-CA

Once the applicable Schedules to the Form become available, applicants will no longer be able to use CDBS to file applications now covered by the FCC Form 2100. Instructions for using the FCC Form 2100 are available here and access to LMS is available here.

If you have any questions about LMS or FCC Form 2100, please contact any attorney in our office.

Categories: Media