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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 115 / Thursday, June 17, 2021 / Rules and Regulations although the NPRM sought comment on this issue, no commenters addressed this point.
55. With regard to the frequency of the disclosure, consistent with the NPRM and the existing rules for political broadcast matter or any broadcast matter involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance, the Commission requires that the disclosure be made at both the beginning and conclusion of the broadcast station programming to ensure the audience is aware of the source of its programming. Also consistent with its existing rules for political broadcast matter or any broadcast matter involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance, the Commission requires that for any broadcast of 5
minutes duration or less, only one such announcement must be made at either the beginning or conclusion of the program.
56. The Commission deviates from its existing sponsorship identification rules in one respect. The Commission adopts its tentative conclusion from the NPRM
that for programming of greater than sixty minutes in duration, an announcement must be made at regular intervals during the broadcast, but no less frequently than once every 60
minutes. Sponsorship announcements at regular intervals are not explicitly required under the current rules. While NAB urges the Commission not to deviate from the existing timing and frequency rules, the Commission believes that this one additional requirement is necessary given the importance of disclosure related to foreign government-provided programming. While APTS notes that NCE stations are prohibited by statute from interrupting programming to identify funding sources, which could override and nullify the proposed frequency requirement in the context of NCE stations, as stated above, the Commission believes that NCE stations will rarely, if ever, fall within the ambit of the new rules. To the extent an issue does arise, the Commission will address such situations on a case-by-case basis through either its waiver process or the means that appear appropriate at that time. As discussed in the NPRM, the Commission finds that periodic announcements are necessary, particularly in those instances where a foreign governmental entity is continually broadcasting programming without an identifiable beginning or end, such as through a lease of a 100%
of a stations airtime. No commenter objected to the Commissions reasoning for this finding nor commented on the
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burden of recurring announcements.
The Commission notes that in the case of a political broadcast matter or any broadcast matter involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importancewhich typically does not have an obvious sponsorthe current rules require a sponsorship identification both at the beginning and conclusion of any such broadcast of greater than 5 minutes. Similarly, here the Commission believes that periodic announcements once every 60 minutes are necessary for any foreign government-provided programming with a duration of greater than one hour because of the lack of transparency regarding the true sponsor of such programming. The Commission notes that periodic announcements i.e., once every hour versus at the beginning and conclusion of the program are also necessary because of the longer blocks of programming time foreign governmental entities typically purchase in connection with leasing arrangements.
57. Finally, consistent with the proposal in the NPRM, the Commission finds that its standardized disclosure requirements apply equally to any programming transmitted on a broadcast stations multicast streams. The Commission received no objections to this proposal, and consequently finds no reason to exclude multicast streams.
As such, multicast streams are subject to all the disclosure requirements pertaining to foreign governmentprovided programming that the Commission adopts in this document.
58. Public File. Consistent with the NPRM, the Commission adopts a requirement that stations airing programming subject to the proposed disclosure requirement must place copies of the disclosures in their OPIFs, in a standalone folder marked as Foreign Government-Provided Programming Disclosures so that the material is readily identifiable to the public, as well as a requirement with regard to the frequency of placing such material in the public file. For broadcast stations that do not have obligations to maintain OPIFs, the Commission recommends such stations retain a record of their disclosures in their station files consistent with previous Commission guidance. The Commission does not, however, require licensees to submit additional information to their OPIFs concerning the list of persons operating the foreign governmental entity providing programming.
59. Specifically, the Commission finds that licensees must place in their OPIFs the actual disclosure and the name of the program to which the
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disclosure was appended. In addition, the licensee must state the date and time the program aired. If there were repeat airings of the program, then those additional dates and times should also be included in the OPIF. With regard to the frequency with which licensees must update their OPIFs with this disclosure information, the Commission aligns this requirement with its existing requirement to update the TV Issues/
Programs Lists on a quarterly basis, as this will minimize the need for licensees to track different public filing requirements. The Commission also establishes the same OPIF two-year retention period for disclosures related to foreign government-provided programming as currently exists for the retention of lists regarding the executives of any entity that sponsored programming concerning a political or controversial matter.
60. The Commission does not adopt the as soon as possible disclosure standard contained in 73.1943 of its rules or require posting to occur within twenty-four hours of the material being broadcast as proposed in the NPRM.
The Commission is persuaded by NABs comments that the as soon as possible standard contained in 73.1943c of the rules need not apply to disclosures associated with foreign governmental entities. As NAB notes, the immediacy requirement in the political advertising context stems from the need to ensure that candidates can exercise their statutory rights to equal opportunities at statutorily mandated rates and the timesensitive need to reach potential voters before an election. The Commission finds no corresponding need to respond within an expedited timeframe in the case of foreign government-provided programming.
61. The Commission concludes that, to the extent the foreign programming consists of a political matter or matter involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance, licensees obtain and disclose in their OPIFs a list of the persons operating the entity providing the programming, as currently required.
The Commission clarifies that licensees can satisfy the required OPIF
disclosures by identifying the officers and directors of the lessee in a single filing per lessee rather than separate filings concerning each individual program sponsored by the same lessee together with other filings required by the foreign sponsorship identification rules. The Commission is not persuaded by NABs contentionthat, in the case of foreign-government-provided programming, the on-air and OPIF
disclosures will provide the necessary
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