§ 73.621   Noncommercial educational TV stations.

   In addition to the other provisions of this subpart, the following
   shall be applicable to noncommercial educational television broadcast
   stations:

   (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, noncommercial
   educational broadcast stations will be licensed only to nonprofit
   educational organizations upon a showing that the proposed stations
   will be used primarily to serve the educational needs of the community;
   for the advancement of educational programs; and to furnish a nonprofit
   and noncommercial television broadcast service.

   (1) In determining the eligibility of publicly supported educational
   organizations, the accreditation of their respective state departments
   of education shall be taken into consideration.

   (2) In determining the eligibility of privately controlled educational
   organizations, the accreditation of state departments of education or
   recognized regional and national educational accrediting organizations
   shall be taken into consideration.

   (b) Where a municipality or other political subdivision has no
   independently constituted educational organization such as, for
   example, a board of education having autonomy with respect to carrying
   out the municipality's educational program, such municipality shall be
   eligible for a noncommercial educational television broadcast station.
   In such circumstances, a full and detailed showing must be made that a
   grant of the application will be consistent with the intent and purpose
   of the Commission's rules and regulations relating to such stations.

   (c) Noncommercial educational television broadcast stations may
   transmit educational, cultural and entertainment programs, and programs
   designed for use by schools and school systems in connection with
   regular school courses, as well as routine and administrative material
   pertaining thereto.

   (d) A noncommercial educational television station may broadcast
   programs produced by or at the expense of, or furnished by persons
   other than the licensee, if no other consideration than the furnishing
   of the program and the costs incidental to its production and broadcast
   are received by the licensee. The payment of line charges by another
   station, network, or someone other than the licensee of a noncommercial
   educational television station, or general contributions to the
   operating costs of a station, shall not be considered as being
   prohibited by this paragraph.

   (e) Each station shall furnish a nonprofit and noncommercial broadcast
   service. Noncommercial educational television stations shall be subject
   to the provisions of § 73.1212 to the extent that they are applicable to
   the broadcast of programs produced by, or at the expense of, or
   furnished by others. No promotional announcements on behalf of for
   profit entities shall be broadcast at any time in exchange for the
   receipt, in whole or in part, of consideration to the licensee, its
   principals, or employees. However, acknowledgements of contributions
   can be made. The scheduling of any announcements and acknowledgements
   may not interrupt regular programming, except as permitted under
   paragraph (f) of this section.

   Note to paragraph (e): Commission interpretation of this rule,
   including the acceptable form of acknowledgements, may be found in the
   Second Report and Order in Docket No. 21136 (Commission Policy
   Concerning the Noncommercial Nature of Educational Broadcast Stations),
   86 F.C.C. 2d 141 (1981); the Memorandum Opinion and Order in Docket No.
   21136, 90 FCC 2d 895 (1982); the Memorandum Opinion and Order in Docket
   21136,  49 FR 13534 , April 5, 1984; and the Report and Order in Docket
   No. 12-106 (Noncommercial Educational Station Fundraising for
   Third-Party Non-Profit Organizations), FCC 17-41, April 20, 2017.

   (f) A noncommercial educational television station may interrupt
   regular programming to conduct fundraising activities on behalf of a
   third-party non-profit organization, provided that all such fundraising
   activities conducted during any given year do not exceed one percent of
   the station's total annual airtime. A station may use the prior year's
   total airtime for purposes of determining how many hours constitute one
   percent of its total annual airtime. With respect to stations that
   multicast programming on two or more separate channels, the one-percent
   annual limit will apply separately to each individual programming
   stream. For purposes of this paragraph, a non-profit organization is an
   entity that qualifies as a non-profit organization under 26 U.S.C.
   501(c)(3).

   (1) Audience disclosure. A noncommercial educational television station
   that interrupts regular programming to conduct fundraising activities
   on behalf of a third-party non-profit organization must air a
   disclosure during such activities clearly stating that the fundraiser
   is not for the benefit of the station itself and identifying the entity
   for which it is fundraising. The station must air the audience
   disclosure at the beginning and the end of each fundraising program and
   at least once during each hour in which the program is on the air.

   (2) Reimbursement. A noncommercial educational television station that
   interrupts regular programming to conduct fundraising activities on
   behalf of a third-party non-profit organization may accept
   reimbursement of expenses incurred in conducting third-party
   fundraising activities or airing third-party fundraising programs.

   (3) Exemption. No noncommercial educational television station that
   receives funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shall
   have the authority to interrupt regular programming to conduct
   fundraising activities on behalf of a third-party non-profit
   organization.

   (g) Telecommunications Service on the Vertical Blanking Interval and in
   the Visual Signal. The provisions governing VBI and visual signal
   telecommunications service in § 73.646 are applicable to noncommercial
   educational TV stations.

   (h) Non-program related data signals transmitted on Line 21 pursuant to
   § 73.682(a)(22)(ii) may be used for remunerative purposes.

   (i) Mutually exclusive applications for noncommercial educational TV
   stations operating on reserved channels shall be resolved pursuant to
   the point system in subpart K.

   (j) With respect to the provision of advanced television services, the
   requirements of this section will apply to the entire digital bitstream
   of noncommercial educational television stations, including the
   provision of ancillary or supplementary services.

   [ 28 FR 13660 , Dec. 14, 1963, as amended at  35 FR 7558 , May 15, 1970;  47 FR 36179 , Aug. 19, 1982;  48 FR 27068 , June 13, 1983;  49 FR 29069 , July
   18, 1984;  50 FR 4664 , Feb. 1, 1985;  50 FR 4684 , Feb. 1, 1985;  61 FR 36304 , July 10, 1996;  65 FR 36378 , June 8, 2000;  66 FR 58982 , Nov. 26,
   2001;  82 FR 21135 , May 5, 2017]

   Effective Date Note: At  82 FR 21135 , May 5, 2017, § 73.621 was amended
   by adding new paragraph (f). Paragraph (f)(1) contains information
   collection and recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective
   until approval has been given by the Office of Management and Budget.
   Paragraph (f)(1) has been approved by the Office of Management and
   Budget and will become effective on Nov. 13, 2017.

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