Lawyer Article

We want to remind all our clients that 2004 annual regulatory fees are due a month earlier this year. Rather than in mid-September, as in all previous years, the Commission is requiring that regulatory fees be submitted no later than August 19, 2004. Any payment received after August 19 will be assessed a 25% late payment penalty. (Although the FCC had announced a window beginning August 10, FCC staff advises that payments may be made before then.)

In past years, the Commission released public notices listing each station's fees based on its service, class and estimated population served. This year, the Commission is sending a postcard to licensees for each authorized broadcast station. The postcard provides basic identifying information (facility ID, call sign, city of license and name of licensee), service (AM, FM or TV), status (licensed or a construction permit), class or type of station, estimated population (or market size for TV), the applicable payment type code and the amount due. In addition, fee information is available at fccfees.com. Please note - neither the postcards nor the fee website includes auxiliary facilities (such as STLs and RPUs), which use a fee code of 0469 and require payment of $10 each.

We will be glad to assist you in paying your regulatory fees. Please let us know by telephone call, email or fax if you would like for us to prepare the FCC Form 159 and coordinate the filing of your annual regulatory fees. If you wish our assistance with the payment of the annual regulatory fees, please let us know no later than Friday, August 6, 2004.

If you prefer to handle the procedures for the annual regulatory fees yourself, you may pay your fees this year on-line through the Commission's website (http://www.fcc.gov/fees/feefiler.html) or by sending your payment to the Commission's lockbox bank in Pittsburgh. Payment may be made by check or credit card (or, if prior authorization is established, by electronic or wire transfer). In addition to the payment, each submission must include FCC Form(s) 159.

If mailed, payment and Form(s) 159 should be sent to:

Federal Communications Commission
Regulatory Fees
P.O. Box 358835
Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5835

If sent by courier, the material should be sent as follows:

Federal Communications Commission
Regulatory Fees
c/o Mellon Client Service Center
500 Ross Street
Room 670
Pittsburgh, PA 15262-0001
Attn: FCC Module Supervisor

Once you receive your postcard, please check the classification information carefully to be sure that you agree with the basis upon which the Commission has calculated the fee for each primary station. The fees assessed for this year are mostly the same as the Commission's proposal issued this past March. Please note, though, that VHF TV fees for markets 1-100 and the TV CP satellite fee have been increased beyond the amounts previously proposed. For your reference, we attach an updated chart. If you disagree with the amount the Commission has assessed, it is essential that you either quickly bring this to the staff's attention or be prepared to pay the fee on your postcard and request a refund for the difference later. If you do not receive postcards within the next few days, please let us know so that we may determine the reason.

Please contact us if you have any question concerning regulatory fee payment procedures for this year.