FCC Shutdown and OPIF Impact

With the FCC staff furloughed due to the October 2025 government shutdown, most operations—including the Online Public Inspection File (OPIF) system—are suspended. Broadcasters are unable to upload required documents such as Issues and Programs Lists, EEO filings, political file submissions, and local marketing agreements to name a few. The FCC issued a Public Notice confirming that all filing deadlines during the shutdown are automatically extended to the first business day after operations resume. While no specific tolling notice has been issued, broadcasters are advised to prepare filings and upload them promptly once systems are restored. For a slightly deeper dive, continue reading and click on the link for a primer regarding what the FCC expects from your Issues and Programs reports.

Legal Background

The FCC’s online public inspection file (OPIF) system — hosted at publicfiles.fcc.gov — is the official repository for stations’ required public records (such as Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, EEO Reports, Political Files, etc.).

Under 47 C.F.R. § 73.3526 (commercial) and § 73.3527 (noncommercial):

•              Licensees are required to maintain a complete public inspection file.

•              The online file maintained through the FCC portal is that official file for most stations.

•              The rule explicitly states that once documents are uploaded to the FCC’s online system, stations no longer have to maintain a local paper file for those same items.

During a Government Shutdown

FCC Public Notice DA 16-1126 (October 13, 2016)

If the FCC’s website is down or inaccessible (as during a shutdown), the key question is whether the licensee still meets its recordkeeping obligation.

•              Yes, stations are still responsible for compliance with all filing and recordkeeping deadlines, even if the system is offline.

•              However, the FCC has historically granted leniency or tolled deadlines for filings affected by shutdowns or outages — but that requires an official FCC notice (which won’t be issued if staff are furloughed).

Practical Expectation

Even though they are not required to keep parallel paper files, prudent broadcasters should consider maintaining backup copies (digital or hard copy) of all filings locally, so they can:

•              Demonstrate compliance if the FCC system loses data;

•              Re-upload materials once the system comes back online;

•              Provide access if a member of the public requests it during the outage.

So while there’s no explicit rule requiring hard copy backups now, the duty to maintain the record itself still applies — and if the system is unavailable, a station without backups could possibly be considered noncompliant once access returns.

Let’s take a look at the Issues and Programs Report since most are waiting for the government shutdown to end before filing.  Keeping in mind that the FCC expects those to be uploaded to OPIF the day after the shutdown is lifted.

A review of the FCC decisions on renewal applications and the fines that have been issued for failure to properly maintain and document the quarterly Issues/Programs Lists reveals that a surprising number of broadcasters are either entirely unaware of the Issues/Programs List requirement or have allowed the exigencies of other business to supersede the efforts required for total compliance. You’d be surprised at some of the things we see when auditing stations’ OPIF files!

We have prepared a “primer” regarding the Issues and Programs requirements and more specifically what the FCC expects to see and what they do not expect to see.  A copy of that primer is available HERE.