Japan Relief Fundraising Waivers for Educational Broadcast Stations
NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
445 12th Street, S.W.Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
Washington, D. C. 20554
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
March 16, 2011
Janice Wise (202) 418-8165Email: Janice.Wise@fcc.gov
MEDIA BUREAU ANNOUNCES PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING COMMISSION
APPROVAL FOR NCE STATION FUNDRAISING TO AID JAPAN RELIEF EFFORTS
The Commission generally prohibits noncommercial educational stations from engagingin on-air fundraising activities on behalf of any entity other than the station itself. See, 47
C.F.R. 73.503(d), 73.621(e). See also, Commission Policy Concerning the Noncommercial
Nature of Educational Broadcast Stations, 90 FCC 2d 895, 907 (1982). The Commission,
however, has granted rule waivers for fundraising appeals to support relief efforts following
disasters of particular uniqueness or magnitude, such as Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, the January 2005 tsunami in Southeast
Asia and the January 2010 Haiti earthquake. These waivers have been issued for a specific
fundraising program or programs, or for sustained station appeals for periods which generally do
not exceed several days.
Should a licensee wish to solicit contributions from viewers or listeners for relief efforts in light
of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it may file an informal request for a Section
73.503(d) or 73.621(e) waiver, whichever is appropriate, as follows:
1) The licensee may submit an electronic mail request to Barbara Kreisman
(barbara.kreisman@fcc.gov), if the request involves a television station, or to Peter Doyle
(peter.doyle@fcc.gov) and Michael Wagner (michael.wagner@fcc.gov), if the request involves a
radio station.
2) The request should provide basic details of the fundraising activity:
a. the nature of the fundraising effort;
b. the proposed duration of the fundraising effort;
c. the organization(s) to which funds will be donated; and
d. whether the fundraiser will be part of the licensee's regularly scheduled
pledge drive or fundraising effort.
For additional information, please contact the television or radio contacts provided above.
--FCC--
Note: We are currently transitioning our documents into web compatible formats for easier reading. We have done our best to supply this content to you in a presentable form, but there may be some formatting issues while we improve the technology. The original version of the document is available as a PDF, Word Document, or as plain text.
