A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the upp ...

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

in a given geographical area for

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary from band to band. Spectrum may be divided according to use. As indicated in a graph from the

National Telecommunications and Information Administration The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' ec ...

(NTIA),

frequency allocation Frequency allocation (or spectrum allocation or spectrum management) is the allocation and regulation of the electromagnetic spectrum into radio frequency bands, normally done by governments in most countries. Because radio propagation does no ...

s may be represented by different types of services which vary in size. Many options exist when applying for a broadcast license; the FCC determines how much spectrum to allot to licensees in a given band, according to what is needed for the service in question. The determination of frequencies used by licensees is done through frequency allocation, which in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

is specified by the FCC in a

table of allotments In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American bro ...

. The FCC is authorized to regulate spectrum access for private and government uses; however, the

of the

Commerce Department The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for busin ...

allocates spectrum for use by the federal government (including the military). In some cases (e.g. CB radio), the public may use spectrum without a license. Commercial users (such as television, AM/FM radio, and some types of two-way communications) will receive an FCC assignment to a portion of spectrum, which may be a single frequency or a band of frequencies. In issuing broadcast licenses the FCC relies on "comparative hearings", whereby the most qualified user will be granted use of the spectrum to best serve the public interest; researchers have pointed out that this procedure favors incumbents. Violation of the terms of a license (due to technical fault or illegal content) may result in

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

s or

revocation Revocation is the act of recall or annulment. It is the cancelling of an act, the recalling of a grant or privilege, or the making void of some deed previously existing. A temporary revocation of a grant or privilege is called a suspension. Con ...

of the license. Licenses have also been jeopardized by misrepresentation on the part of the holder or failure to keep a

public file A public file (or public inspection file) is a collection of documents required by a broadcasting authority to be maintained by all broadcast stations under its jurisdiction. Such a file is required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) i ...

(in the U.S. and Canada).

Unlicensed broadcasting Unlicensed broadcasting, also called pirate broadcasting is a term used for any type of broadcasting without a broadcast license. Some unlicensed broadcasting, such as certain low-power broadcasting, may be legal. For example, in the United St ...

refers to legal devices allowed to transmit at low power without a license and pirate stations, which violate the law.

Economics

In the U.S. broadcast licenses were issued for only a nominal payment, but economist

Ronald Coase Ronald Harry Coase (; 29 December 1910 – 2 September 2013) was a British economist and author. Coase received a bachelor of commerce degree (1932) and a PhD from the London School of Economics, where he was a member of the faculty until 1951. ...

challenged the FCC's approach. Coase proposed that, as for other resources (land, metal, etc.), the market should regulate the use of radio spectrum. This proposition is based on the

Coase theorem In law and economics, the Coase theorem () describes the economic efficiency of an economic allocation or outcome in the presence of externalities. The theorem states that if trade in an externality is possible and there are sufficiently low tra ...

: with well-defined property rights, the free market will allocate resources to their most efficient use if transaction costs are low. Coase's theory indicated that broadcast licenses in a spectrum that was limited had high

economic value In economics, economic value is a measure of the benefit provided by a good or service to an economic agent. It is generally measured through units of currency, and the interpretation is therefore "what is the maximum amount of money a specif ...

, which should be paid on the

open market The term open market is used generally to refer to an economic situation close to free trade. In a more specific, technical sense, the term refers to interbank trade in securities. In economic theory Economists judge the "openness" of markets a ...

. Licenses are increasingly offered via

spectrum auction A spectrum auction is a process whereby a government uses an auction system to sell the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources. Depending on the specific auction form ...

s; however, this fails to consider

non-commercial educational A non-commercial educational station (NCE station) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements (TV ads or radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was or ...

users (who are shut out of the process for economic reasons). Licensing is conducted by a broadcasting authority (a government agency) to manage the radio-frequency spectrum and implement

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

, such as that regarding the

concentration of media ownership Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates in ...

. In the U.S. the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) does not assign licenses to exclusive users, instead permitting qualified users to apply for a license. The

Radio Act of 1927 The Radio Act of 1927 (United States Public Law 632, 69th Congress) was signed into law on February 23, 1927. It replaced the Radio Act of 1912, increasing the federal government's regulatory powers over radio communication, with oversight vested ...

established the regulatory premise that the spectrum belongs to the public, and licensees have no property rights to use it. Although the spectrum is licensed to bidders, its purchase does not entail ownership or rights but the privilege of using that portion of the spectrum.

Process

The process of obtaining a new broadcast license may be lengthy. A

broadcast engineer Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering, and now to some extent computer engineering and information technology, which deals with radio and television broadcasting. Audio engineering and RF engineering are also essential pa ...

first determines an available frequency, which may be unavailable in a crowded

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

(such as a

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

). If a frequency is available, an engineering study is submitted with an application to the broadcasting authority, to demonstrate that the licensee will not cause

RF interference Electromagnetic interference (EMI), also called radio-frequency interference (RFI) when in the radio frequency spectrum, is a disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electrosta ...

to existing stations. There is a limited term for the license, once acquired. According to the United States Government Printing Office in 1997, the term could exceed 8 years; however, this has been shortened to five years or less (depending on whether the FCC requires further evaluation). A

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

is first issued, with the license receiving approval when the station certifies that the permit has been executed (after testing to ensure that all parameters are within allowable tolerances). Once a facility is built and operational, it may be allowed to operate under

program test authority {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) In broadcasting, program test authority (PTA) is an authorization to conduct on-air testing of broadcast station facilities authorized to be built under a construction permit. Once this testi ...

until the license is issued (or denied). Where a station is close to an

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

, a license may also need to be approved by the foreign country's broadcasting authority for

frequency coordination Frequency Coordination is a technical and regulatory process that removes or mitigates radio-frequency interference between different radio systems that operate on the same frequency. Normally frequency coordination is a function of an administr ...

. This is done even if the border is outside of a station's predicted

broadcast range A broadcast range (also listening range or listening area for radio, or viewing range or viewing area for television) is the service area that a broadcast station or other transmission covers via radio waves (or possibly infrared light, which ...

, since

radio propagation Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are propagated, from one point to another in vacuum, or into various parts of the atmosphere. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affecte ...

sometimes causes stations to be heard outside their service area. Existing stations apply for permits and license amendments when making changes to their facilities (such as relocation to another site, changing the

radio antenna In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an ...

height Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For example, "The height of that building is 50 m" or "The height of an airplane in-flight is abou ...

, making changes to a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

radiation pattern In the field of antenna design the term radiation pattern (or antenna pattern or far-field pattern) refers to the ''directional'' (angular) dependence of the strength of the radio waves from the antenna or other source.Constantine A. Balanis: “A ...

, or when adding—or converting to—

digital broadcasting Digital broadcasting is the practice of using digital signals rather than analogue signals for broadcasting over radio frequency bands. Digital television broadcasting (especially satellite television) is widespread. Digital audio broadcasting is ...

). Other situations (such as a change in the

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...

) are covered in

rulemaking In administrative law, rulemaking is the process that executive and independent agencies use to create, or ''promulgate'', regulations. In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more deta ...

proceeding In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the conferen ...

s in the U.S., which may be a prerequisite to moving a station a significant distance (leaving its original community outside its new coverage area). Temporary situations are covered by

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stat ...

(STA) to operate at a variance from the license or permit or a

Restricted Service Licence A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL), is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofc ...

(RSL) to operate for a fixed period at reduced power. While these are FCC and

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

terms, respectively, other countries have similar regulations. In the U.S., court cases can prolong the process when

mutually exclusive In logic and probability theory, two events (or propositions) are mutually exclusive or disjoint if they cannot both occur at the same time. A clear example is the set of outcomes of a single coin toss, which can result in either heads or tails ...

applications are received. The FCC opens application window periods of about a week. Some applications have been pending for years; others end up in

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

courts or

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

, sometimes with one applicant seeking a

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyout ...

of another.

Technical specifications

Management of technical

specification A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard. There are different types of technical or engineering specificati ...

s (such as those in

broadcast television systems Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized by ...

) is normally undertaken as a part of broadcast licensing in each country.

Radio band The radio spectrum is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies from 0 Hz to 3,000 GHz (3 THz). Electromagnetic waves in this frequency range, called radio waves, are widely used in modern technology, particular ...

s carry

signals In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

(such as

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

and

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

, digital and

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

narrowband Narrowband signals are signals that occupy a narrow range of frequencies or that have a small fractional bandwidth. In the audio spectrum, narrowband sounds are sounds that occupy a narrow range of frequencies. In telephony, narrowband is usua ...

broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

and

content Content or contents may refer to: Media * Content (media), information or experience provided to audience or end-users by publishers or media producers ** Content industry, an umbrella term that encompasses companies owning and providing mas ...

), and are licensed differently. The broadcast license typically specifies the following minimum information: *

Geographic coordinate The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various ...

s, with exact

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

and

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

Carrier frequency In telecommunications, a carrier wave, carrier signal, or just carrier, is a waveform (usually sinusoidal) that is modulated (modified) with an information-bearing signal for the purpose of conveying information. This carrier wave usually has a m ...

and

bandwidth Bandwidth commonly refers to: * Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range * Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...

Modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...

type *

Effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) *

Height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT) *

Directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

, specified at several

azimuth An azimuth (; from ar, اَلسُّمُوت, as-sumūt, the directions) is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. More specifically, it is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north. Mathematicall ...

s Additionally, it often specifies: *Operating hours (for

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...

and

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

) *

Transmitter power output In radio transmission, transmitter power output (TPO) is the actual amount of power (in watts) of radio frequency (RF) energy that a transmitter produces at its output. This is not the amount of power that a radio station reports as its power, as i ...

(TPO) (before any

attenuation In physics, attenuation (in some contexts, extinction) is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and sound at variable att ...

gain Gain or GAIN may refer to: Science and technology * Gain (electronics), an electronics and signal processing term * Antenna gain * Gain (laser), the amplification involved in laser emission * Gain (projection screens) * Information gain in de ...

) *

Broadcast auxiliary service A broadcast auxiliary service or BAS is any radio frequency system used by a radio station or TV station, which is not part of its direct broadcast to listeners or viewers. These are essentially internal-use backhaul channels not intended for ac ...

s (BAS) linking studio and transmitter sites *

Antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

brand and model *Height

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

(AMSL) and above ground level (AGL) *Backup facilities (which may have separate licenses) *Additional service authorizations (

subcarrier A subcarrier is a sideband of a radio frequency carrier wave, which is modulated to send additional information. Examples include the provision of colour in a black and white television system or the provision of stereo in a monophonic radio broa ...

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...

) Some countries (such as the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

) specify

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

or the

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

television programming Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...

, to ensure diversity. Community stations (such as

class A television service The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television (LPTV) stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" (analog) or "-CD" (digital), although very many analog -C ...

and

LPFM Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...

stations in the U.S.) may be required to broadcast local content each week. U.S.

broadcast translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

licenses ''prohibit'' local content on FM, while

LPTV Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly ...

stations can choose, except those tied to a DTV station as a fill-in translator or booster to overcome the shortcomings of the

ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards are an American set of standards for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable and satellite networks. It is largely a replacement for the analog NTSC standard and, like that ...

system mandated by the FCC.

Sharing

In some cases, two stations may share the same frequency in the same area, or even the same facility.

Time sharing In computing, time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users at the same time by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking.DEC Timesharing (1965), by Peter Clark, The DEC Professional, Volume 1, Number 1 Its emergence a ...

has on occasion been used when two applicants have an equal number of points, mainly with LPFM stations. In FCC auction 1000 for the 600 MHz band, TV stations were paid to leave the air in crowded markets (to facilitate repacking of stations on

TV channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

s 38 to 51 into those already using 2 to 36), but are allowed to move the license to another existing station, keeping their

virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...

numbers and

must-carry In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system. North America Canada Under current CRTC regulations, the lowest tier of service on ...

rights. Each licensee is responsible for the content on their own channels, while both are jointly responsible for the technical operation of the transmitter, antenna, and tower. In the

city of New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, 89.1 MHz is reserved for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

; however, it is used instead by

WNYU-FM WNYU-FM (89.1 FM) is a college radio station owned and operated by New York University. Its offices and studios are located at NYU's campus in lower Manhattan. WNYU's main transmitter is located at University Heights in the Bronx, the former loc ...

and

WNYU-FM1 WNYU-FM (89.1 FM) is a college radio station owned and operated by New York University. Its offices and studios are located at NYU's campus in lower Manhattan. WNYU's main transmitter is located at University Heights in the Bronx, the former lo ...

, unless the U.N. should ever apply to use it.

Renewal

Licensing requirements differ for

public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and for

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

and

compared to commercial applicants. Licensees must be aware of deadlines, from original application to renewal, which vary by state and include license expiration and dates for renewals. The form for renewal of a broadcast license in the United States is FCC Form 303-S. While the Form 303-S License Application consists of yes-or-no questions and certifications, the process of renewing the license is complex; the FCC requires that licensees certify that they were in compliance with all rules and regulations during the prior license term. If a license has been acquired in the middle of a term, the licensee will be evaluated from that point to the end of the license term. Misrepresentation to the FCC may lead to the loss of a license.

References

External links

Australian Communications and Media AuthorityIndustry CanadaRadio Spectrum Management New ZealandOfcom (United Kingdom)Federal Communications Commission (United States)
{{Broadcasting

License A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Broadcasting Communications authorities