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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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size standard.110 We note that the Commission neither requests nor collects information on whether cable system operators are affiliated with entities whose gross annual revenues exceed $250 million.111 Therefore, we are unable at this time to estimate with greater precision the number of cable system operators that would qualify as small cable operators under the definition in the Communications Act.
Direct Broadcast Satellite DBS
Service. DBS service is a nationally distributed subscription service that delivers video and audio programming via satellite to a small parabolic dish antenna at the subscribers location. For the purposes of economic classification, establishments providing satellite television distribution services using facilities and infrastructure that they operate are included in the Wired Telecommunications Carriers industry.112 The Wired Telecommunications Carriers industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in operating and/or providing access to transmission facilities and infrastructure that they own and/or lease for the transmission of voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired telecommunications networks.
Transmission facilities may be based on a single technology or combination of technologies. Establishments in this industry use the wired telecommunications network facilities that they operate to provide a variety of services, such as wired telephony services, including VoIP services, wired cable audio and video programming distribution; and wired broadband internet services.113 The SBA
determines that a wireline business is small if it has fewer than 1,500
employees.114 Economic census data for 2012 indicate that 3,117 wireline companies were operational during that year. Of that number, 3,083 operated with fewer than 1,000 employees.115
110 S&P Global Market Intelligence, Top Cable MSOs as of 12/2019, https platform.market intelligence.spglobal.com. The five cable operators all had more than 486,460 basic cable subscribers.
111 The Commission does receive such information on a case-by-case basis if a cable operator appeals a local franchise authoritys finding that the operator does not qualify as a small cable operator pursuant to 76.901e of the Commissions rules. See 47 CFR 76.910b.
112 See 2017 NAICS Definition, 517311 Wired Telecommunications Carriers, https
www.census.gov/cgi-bin/sssd/naics/naicsrch?code=
517311&search=2017%20NAICS%20Search last accessed Jul. 27, 2020.
113 Id.
114 13 CFR 121.201 NAICS Code 517311.
115 See Information: Subject SeriesEstab and Firm Size: Employment Size of Firms for the U.S.:
2012, 2012 Economic Census of the United States, TableID: EC1251SSSZ5, https data.census.gov/

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Based on that data, we conclude that the majority of wireline firms are small under the applicable standard.
However, currently only two entities provide DBS service, which requires a great deal of capital for operation:
DIRECTV owned by AT&T and DISH
Network.116 According to industry data, DIRECTV and DISH serve 14,831,379
and 8,957,469 subscribers respectively, and count the third and fourth most subscribers of any multichannel video distribution system in the U.S.117 Given the capital required to operate a DBS
service, its national scope, and the approximately one-third share of the video market controlled by these two companies,118 we presume that neither would qualify as a small business.
Satellite Radio. The rules proposed in this NPRM would affect the sole, current U.S. provider of satellite radio SDARS services, Sirius-XM, which offers subscription services. Sirius-XM
reported revenue of $5.78 billion and a net income of $1.1 billion in 2018.119 In light of these figures, we believe it is unlikely that this entity would be considered small.
Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements Reporting Requirements. The NPRM
does not propose any new or modified reporting requirements.
Recordkeeping Requirements. The NPRM proposes to revise the political file rules, consistent with the BCRAs amendment to section 315e of the Act, to reflect statutory requirements that broadcast licensees, cable television system operators, DBS providers, and SDARS licensees are obligated to maintain in their online political inspection files records of each request for advertising time that is made on behalf of a legally qualified candidate cedsci/table?q=EC1251&hidePreview=true&
table=EC1251SSSZ5&tid=ECNSIZE2012.
EC1251SSSZ5&lastDisplayedRow=28 last accessed Jul. 27, 2020 NAICS Code 517110
applied at the time of the 2012 Economic Census.
116 See Communications Marketplace Report et al., GN Docket No. 18231 et al., Report, 33 FCC
Rcd 12558, 12597, paras. 5051 2018.
117 See S&P Global Market Intelligence, MediaCensus, Operator Subscribers by Geography:
National Report, Subscribers by Operator, https
platform.mi.spglobal.com/web/client?auth=inherit industry/mediaCensusHome last visited Jul. 31, 2020.
118 See S&P Global Market Intelligence, Global Multichannel Top Operators, U.S., https
platform.mi.spglobal.com/web/client?auth=inherit industry/multichannelIndustryBenchmarks last visited Jul. 31, 2020 There were approximately 63,650,261 total multichannel subscribers in the U.S. in 2019.
119 See https s1.q4cdn.com/750174072/files/
doc_financials/2019/ar/2fb89e07-9f09-4e20-be799e194d70cd5e.pdf.

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for public office and each request for advertising time that communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance i.e., issue ads.
In addition, the NPRM proposes to list the specific records that must be maintained in political files.
Other Compliance Requirements. The NPRM proposes to revise the political programming rules to add the use of social media to the list of activities that a broadcast licensee or cable operator may consider in determining whether an individual who is running as a writein candidate has made a substantial showing of his or her candidacy.
Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant alternatives that it has considered in reaching its proposed approach, which may include the following four alternatives among others: 1 The establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into account the resources available to small entities; 2 the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; 3 the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and 4 an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small entities.120
The proposed revisions to the political file rules to implement the BCRA would largely codify existing Commission policy and guidance. Thus, we expect that these revisions, if adopted, would not impose significant new recordkeeping burdens on small entities. We also seek comment on possible modifications to the proposed revisions to the political file rules to lessen any burdens on small entities.
In addition, we anticipate that the proposal to add the use of social media to the list of activities that may be considered in determining whether an individual who is running as a write-in candidate has made a substantial showing of his or her candidacy would only benefit small entities by providing additional guidance on how to make such determinations.
Federal Rules That May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed Rule None.
Ordering Clauses Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority contained in 120 See
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