LPFM Station License Renewal

Enter your station's call letters

For personalized information, enter your LPFM station's call letters:
-LP

For renewal filing services, please use REC EZforms or contact REC at 1-844-REC-LPFM.

LPFM license renewals are coming up.

For those LPFM stations that were applied for in the 2000/2001 filing windows, it's that time again. For those who applied in the 2013 window, welcome to your first experience with the renewal process. Once every 8 years, all broadcast stations must renew their station licenses. The process is more than just filling out a form, but there is a substantial public notification process that takes place. Perhaps you have heard these renewal announcements on other radio stations. If you filled in your LPFM call letters above, this information will be personalized for your station.

LICENSE RENEWALS ARE DUE 4 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE EXPIRATION DATE ON THE LICENSE. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE EXPIRATION DATE, OTHERWISE YOU MAY RECEIVE A $1,500 FINE FROM THE FCC.

Verify that your mailing address & e-mail address are correct in the FCC records

To make the process a smoother one, the FCC recommends that all licensees verify their mailing and e-mail addresses in CDBS is correct. If it needs to be corrected, you will need to file a Mailing Address Change form in CDBS. Clients retaining REC for the renewal process will have this handled by us.

No Pre-Filing Renewal Announcement is required.

With the rule changes that went into effect on October 30, 2020, the "pre-file" announcements are no longer required for renewals.

Post Filing-Announcement

Under the new rules, there are no specific times or dates that the announcements need to be made. Instead, the announcements must be made within the following parameters:
  • A total 6 announcements will need to be made over a 4 week period (this means that you can run 2 announcements in 2 of the 4 weeks)
  • No more than one announcement can be made in a single day.
  • Announcements can only be made Monday through Friday between 7:00 AM and 11:00 PM local time. (No announcements on weekends)
  • The first announcement must air within 5 days of the renewal application appearing in the FCC "Applications" public notice.
  • Stations not broadcasting in English should translate the renewal message to your own language.
The "Applications" public notice is published each weekday. You will be able to view each day's notice at REC's FCC.today (desktop version only) and you can search for public notices by station call sign by going to the FCC's LMS Application Public Notice Search.

The following is the text for the post-filing announcement. The FCC Rules suggest that it may need to be read (or translated) verbatim:

"On [DATE THE RENEWAL APPLICATION WAS FILED IN LMS], [NAME OF LICENSEE ORGANIZATION], licensee of [CALL LETTERS], [STATION FREQUENCY], [COMMUNITY OF LICENSE], [STATE], filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for renewal of license. Members of the public wishing to view this application or obtain information on how to file comments and petitions can visit www.fcc.gov/stationsearch and search in the list of [CALL LETTERS]'s filed applications."

Silent Stations

For stations that are currently silent, the public notice must be provided on the station's website. There are some basic web design requirements for the display of these messages.
  • The website can be the actual station website or for the licensee's parent organization's website.
  • A conspicious link or table labelled "FCC Applications" must be placed on the main landing (home) page of the website.
  • The actual public notice must reside on a separate page.
  • Public notices and the link from the main page must reside for a minimum of 30 consecutive days.
  • Just posting a public notice on Facebook, Twitter, CraigsList or other similar site does not meet the requirements.
  • No modifications are necessary for station mobile apps.
  • Stations without websites will need to have their public notices listed on a public local website such as a site for a city government, chamber of commerce, community bulletin board local newspaper or state broadcaster's association.
For silent stations, this is the text of the message that needs to be carried:
"On [DATE THE RENEWAL APPLICATION WAS FILED IN LMS], [NAME OF LICENSEE ORGANIZATION], licensee of [CALL LETTERS], [STATION FREQUENCY], [COMMUNITY OF LICENSE], [STATE], filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for renewal of license. Members of the public wishing to view this application or obtain information on how to file comments and petitions can visit [URL OF THE RENEWAL APPLICATION IN LMS*]."
For silent stations, to get your renewal application's URL:
  • Go to the REC Renewal Status page (https://recnet.com/renewal-status)
  • Enter you station's call sign.
  • Look for the field called "Renewal Application File Number".
  • Right click on that link and click on "Copy link address".
  • Then you can paste (ctrl-V) that link into your page.
The FCC does not give any specific guidance stating what wording can be associated with a hyperlink to that application URL. Therefore, there should be no reason can't be written like this:

<a href="https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/draftcopy/FL/25076f916adca429016ae518d45d0c68">this link</a>

Reminders

LPFM stations are not required to file Equal Opportunity Program Reports (FCC Form 396) nor are LPFM stations required to file ownership reports (Form 323-E). There is no FCC filing fee for renewals.

Petitions to Deny/Informal Objections

The last day for filing a petition to deny is one month prior to the license expiration date. For late-filed renewal applications, the deadline for Petitions to Deny is the 90th day after the FCC gives public notice that the application is accepted for filing. (If that day falls on a non-work day, then the deadline is the next work day).

Petition to Deny requirements

In order for someone to file a Petition to Deny, they must have "standing". Standing is defined as someone who is a regular listener or has some other contact with the station that gives the petitioner a real stake in the outcome of the renewal process. A petition must be supported by an affidavit of a person or persons with personal knowledge of the allegations of fact contained in the petition. Finally, the petition must contain a certification that a copy of the petition was mailed to the station. Failure to include the certification that a copy was mailed to the station and the affidavit of personal knowledge will result in dismissal of the Petition to Deny.

Informal objection procedure

A person or entity opposing the grant of a station's license renewal application may file an informal objection against the license renewal application at any time prior to staff action on the license renewal application. An informal objection is less formal than a Petition to Deny, but some requirements still apply. It may take the form of a letter signed by the objector and mailed or delivered to one of the FCC addresses above. An informal objection need not contain the affidavit required for a Petition to Deny. It should, however, contain sufficient information to establish any violation alleged. Additionally, an informal objection not received by the time the station's license renewal is granted will not be considered.

Positive comments

Affirmative comments concerning a licensee's service during the prior license term should be filed by the Petition to Deny deadline through the Office of the Secretary at the addresses listed in the next section. While positive comments are nice, they carry absolutely no weight at the FCC and they do not offset any objections that may be filed. If anything, the filing of positive comments will delay the grant of the renewal because the application would need to be off-lined in order for staff to review the pleading. Please follow the scripting and do not specifically suggest that people file positive comments.

What to do if you get a Petition to Deny or Informal Objection

The regular Commission processes apply. See §73.3584 for Petitions to Deny and §73.3587 for Informal Objections. You may also want to contact an attorney to assist in preparing your reply. REC recommended attorneys can be found on our recommendations page. You may also contact REC with general questions that would not constitute legal advice.