The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will raise regulatory fees on broadcast radio and television stations during its next fiscal year as part of a new schedule adopted late last week.
Last Wednesday, the agency released its Report and Order on the fiscal year 2026 fee schedule, which aims to collect more than $416 million in regulatory fees assessed to broadcast stations.
The FCC largely adopted proposals from an April rulemaking, including changes to how certain staff work is allocated for fee purposes. More than 60 staffers will be relocated from various offices within the agency to its core licensing bureaus.
For broadcasters, the FCC will continue assessing full-power television regulatory fees based on the population covered by a station’s service contour, a methodology the agency has used since 2020. The Commission said the approach reflects the service broadcasters are authorized to provide: television service to the American public.
In adopting the fee schedule, the FCC rejected calls from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and other industry advocates to revise its fee schedule in a way that would ease burdens on radio and TV stations. The NAB and others also encouraged the FCC to create new categories for streaming cable-like services like Fubo and YouTube TV, which would allow them to collect fees from those platforms as well, which the agency also rejected.
The new fee schedule demands $0.007090 per person served by a full-power TV station, $5,300 for the construction of a new digital TV station tower, $255 in similar fees for low-power TV stations and FM translator stations and $1.60 per subscriber in fees paid by cable and satellite systems.
The full FCC Report and Order on its fiscal year 2026 fee schedule is available to view by clicking or tapping here.
