FCC Re-Opens For Business

The government shutdown is over, most FCC staffers are supposed to be back at their desks, but, according to the Broadcast Law Blog, not everything is operating as normal yet today.

The Commission has published a notice saying that most filing deadlines that fall on or before October 21 remain suspended, and parties with such deadlines should refrain from filing anything with such a deadline until the FCC issues further guidance. Note that this guidance applies only to FCC deadlines, not court deadlines or other filing dates that may be set by law and cannot be waived by the FCC.  If you have an important filing deadline coming up, Broadcast Law Blog advises to check with counsel as to how this may affect you.

According to BLG, as of 9:45 AM, the FCC's website seems to have returned to operation, though there have been sporadic problems from time to time during the course of the morning. 

It does appear that routine FCC applications can be filed at this time.  But watch for more information as it becomes available for the many deadlines to be faced by broadcasters – including the LPFM window, and the myriad routine filing deadlines which all came and went while the government was closed.