At the request of members of the LPFM community, prompted by the recent LMS vulerability incident, the FCC has granted a short extension of the LPFM filing window.  

The window will now close on Friday, December 15 at 12 NOON EASTERN TIME.  

During an FCC filing window for new broadcast construction permits, such as the 2021 Noncommercial Educational (NCE) FM filing window and the current 2023 Third Generation Low Power FM (LPFM) filing window, the FCC suppresses the applications in the License Management System (LMS) from being publicly viewed until after the close of the window.  This is in order to assure the fairness of the window as all applications filed in the window are considered as simultaneously filed.

A recent discussion on a Facebook group related to Low Power FM (LPFM) had expressed concern over what was being called by some as a “data breach”.  Specifically, it was reported that it was possible to view LPFM applications that were filed during the window period prior to the close of the window period.

In an Order released today by the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, the FCC has granted in part, the request made by REC Networks and the National Association of Broadcasters to extend the compliance date to support the new CAP Polling and revised EAS descriptors from December 12, 2023 through March 11, 2024.  

Broadcast ownership reports are due on December 1, 2023.  The Third Generation LPFM Filing Window will take place between December 6 and December 13, 2023.   To accommodate these dates and to keep a load off of the FCC systems, REC will place the following temporary changes in effect: