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Federal Communications Commission

DA 12-467

Before the

Federal Communications Commission

Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of
)
)
2010 Quadrennial Regulatory Review – Review of
)
MB Docket No. 09-182
the Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules and
)
Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section 202 of
)
the Telecommunications Act of 1996
)
)
Promoting Diversification of Ownership
)
MB Docket No. 07-294
In the Broadcasting Services
)

ORDER

Extended Reply Comment Date: April 17, 2012

Adopted: March 26, 2012

Released: March 26, 2012

By the Chief, Media Bureau:
1.
On January 19, 2012, the Federal Register published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(“NPRM”) in the above-captioned proceeding.1 That NPRM established a comment deadline of March 5,
2012 and a reply comment deadline of April 3, 2012. On March 22, 2012, the Office of Communication
of the United Church of Christ, Inc. (“UCC”), Media Alliance, National Organization for Women
Foundation (“NOW”), Communications Workers of America (“CWA”), Common Cause, Benton
Foundation, Media Council Hawai’i, Free Press, National Hispanic Media Coalition (“NHMC”), Media
Access Project and Prometheus Radio Project (collectively, “Citizen Commenters”) filed a motion
requesting that the reply comment deadline be extended 30 days to May 3, 2012.2
2.
Citizen Commenters argue that additional time is necessary, in part, to provide sufficient
time to analyze and respond to the “voluminous industry filings” submitted in the initial comment period
and because many of the Citizen Commenters are also participating in other active Commission
proceedings, some with filing deadlines similar to the reply comment deadline in this proceeding.3
Citizen Commenters also assert that the 30-day extension should be granted because on April 13, 2012,
the Supreme Court is expected to rule on certain pending petitions for a writ of certiorari that may impact
the issues to be discussed in the reply comments.4 According to Citizen Commenters, no party would be
prejudiced by this extension.5 We grant the Citizen Commenters request in part.
3.
The Commission’s policy, as set forth in Section 1.46(a) of the Commission’s Rules,6 is


1 2010 Quadrennial Regulatory Review, 77 Fed. Reg. 2868 (Jan. 19, 2012).
2 Motion for Extension of Reply Comment Deadline, Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc.
(“UCC”) et al., filed March 22, 2012 (“Citizen Commenters Motion”).
3 See Citizen Commenters Motion at 1-2.
4 Id. at 2; see also Media General, Inc., Petition for a Writ of Certiorari, 11-691 (Dec. 5, 2011); National Association
of Broadcasters, Petition for a Writ of Certiorari, 11-698 (Dec. 5, 2011); Tribune Company, et al., Petition for a Writ
of Certiorari, 11-696 (Dec. 5, 2011).
5 Citizen Commenters Motion at 3.
6 47 C.F.R. § 1.46.

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Federal Communications Commission

DA 12-467

that extensions of time shall not be routinely granted. Given the importance of the issues in this
proceeding and in the interest of encouraging thoughtful consideration of these issues, however, we
believe that a partial grant of Citizen Commenters’ request will facilitate the development of a full record.
While an extension is warranted here, we find that the request for an additional 30 days in which to file
reply comments is unnecessarily long. Instead, we grant a 14-day extension of the reply comment
deadline, which will establish April 17, 2012, as the new reply comment deadline.
4.
Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED

that, pursuant to Section 4(i) of the Communications Act
of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 154(i), and Sections 0.61, 0.283, and 1.46 of the Commission's rules,
47 C.F.R. §§ 0.61, 0.283, and 1.46, the motion for extension of time filed by the Citizen Commenters is
granted in part, and the deadline to file reply comments in this proceeding is extended to April 17, 2012.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
William T. Lake
Chief, Media Bureau
2

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