How to Fill Out FCC Form 396 (w/Examples) + FAQs

You fill out FCC Form 396 by logging into the FCC’s Licensing and Management System (LMS), selecting your station’s pending license renewal application, and completing the Broadcast EEO Program Report with your station identification, employment unit data, exemption status, and required EEO outreach exhibits. The form attaches to your license renewal and certifies that your station follows the Equal Employment Opportunity rules in 47 C.F.R. § 73.2080.

Broadcasters who skip a step, miscount employees, or upload weak recruitment records face fines, short-term renewals, and public audits. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has issued consent decrees worth millions in recent years tied to EEO failures, including a $1 million Cumulus settlement for recruitment recordkeeping lapses.

📋 A line-by-line walkthrough of every Form 396 field in LMS
🧮 How to count full-time employees and claim the under-five exemption correctly
🏢 Three named station examples covering small AM, mid-size FM cluster, and large TV group
⚖️ The exact 47 C.F.R. § 73.2080 obligations the form enforces and the penalties for missing them
🛠️ Mistakes, dos and don’ts, and 12 FAQs covering audits, mid-term reports, and public file uploads

What FCC Form 396 Is and Why It Exists

FCC Form 396 is the Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report that every full-power radio and television licensee must file with its license renewal application. The Federal Communications Commission uses Form 396 to confirm that broadcasters recruit widely, document their hiring sources, and avoid discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The form is the centerpiece of the FCC’s effort to police the rules in 47 C.F.R. § 73.2080, which apply to all broadcast station employment units.

The rule requires stations to take three steps for each full-time vacancy. First, the station must widely disseminate notice of the opening. Second, the station must send notice to any organization that asks to be told about openings. Third, the station must keep records that prove both steps happened. The consequence of skipping any step is real, because the FCC can issue a Notice of Apparent Liability and fine the station up to the statutory maximum per violation.

A common misconception is that Form 396 only matters at renewal time. The truth is that the FCC reviews EEO compliance on a rolling basis through random audits, mid-term reviews for larger employment units, and public file inspections. A station that waits until renewal to build its EEO file will not pass a real audit, and the FCC’s EEO audit letters routinely demand two full years of recruitment data.

The Federal Foundation in 47 C.F.R. § 73.2080

Section 73.2080 is the federal rule that creates the EEO duty for every broadcaster. The rule defines a “station employment unit” as a station or commonly owned cluster of stations in the same market that share at least one employee. The rule then sets a tiered structure based on the number of full-time employees in that unit, where “full-time” means a regular schedule of 30 or more hours per week.

A station employment unit with fewer than five full-time employees is exempt from the outreach and recordkeeping rules but still must file Form 396 and check the exemption box. A unit with five to ten full-time employees must complete two menu options of supplemental EEO outreach during each two-year reporting period. A unit with eleven or more full-time employees must complete four menu options during each two-year period.

The consequence of misreading the tier is severe. If a station claims a five-to-ten tier when it really has eleven employees, the FCC will treat the supplemental outreach record as deficient and may issue a forfeiture. A real example is the iHeartMedia consent decree that settled allegations of underreported employment unit data with a substantial compliance plan and reporting obligations.

How Form 396 Differs From Form 396-A and Form 397

Form 396 is the renewal-cycle EEO report. Form 396-A was the older annual employment report and is no longer collected. Form 397 was the broadcast mid-term report, but the FCC eliminated the standalone Form 397 in 2019 and folded the mid-term review into the online public file, which the FCC reviews directly through LMS for units with eleven or more full-time employees.

The plain-English point is that today, broadcasters file Form 396 once per eight-year license term, and they post their annual EEO Public File Reports to the station’s online public inspection file every year. The consequence of confusing the forms is that a licensee may think the annual public file report replaces Form 396, which it does not. A real-world example is a small AM owner who posts annual reports faithfully but forgets Form 396 at renewal and receives a deficiency letter that delays the renewal grant.

A common misconception is that eliminating Form 397 reduced the EEO burden. In reality, the FCC still conducts mid-term reviews by pulling the station’s public file directly, and a thin file produces the same fine that a missing Form 397 once did.

Who Must File Form 396

Every full-power AM, FM, and television broadcast licensee must file Form 396 with each license renewal. Low-power FM stations and Class A television stations must also file. Translators and boosters that have no full-time employees of their own do not file a separate Form 396 because they share the parent station’s employment unit, but the parent station’s filing must list them.

The where matters too. Filings happen inside the LMS portal and not on paper. The when matters because the filing deadline is tied to the state-by-state license renewal schedule found at the FCC’s broadcast renewal cycle page. For the 2025 to 2030 cycle, radio renewals run state by state on a rolling basis, with television renewals following the same staggered pattern.

The why is straightforward. Congress directed the FCC to police nondiscrimination in broadcast hiring, and Form 396 is the FCC’s primary tool. The consequence of a late filing is a base forfeiture of $3,000 for late-filed renewal materials under the FCC’s published forfeiture guidelines, which can climb higher when paired with EEO defects.

Station Employment Unit Definition

A station employment unit is the common-ownership cluster that shares at least one full-time employee in the same market. The definition matters because the tier and the outreach duty attach to the unit, not to the individual call sign. A four-station FM cluster in one city with twelve shared full-time employees is one unit at the eleven-plus tier.

The consequence of mis-grouping stations is a defective filing. A common mistake is filing four separate Form 396s for four co-owned stations, each claiming under-five exemption, when the cluster as a whole has fifteen employees. The FCC will reject the exemption and impose the eleven-plus duty retroactively, which can produce a multi-year recruitment shortfall.

The Under-Five Exemption Trap

A unit with fewer than five full-time employees is exempt from the outreach menu and recordkeeping. The trap is that “full-time” means 30 or more hours per week on a regular schedule, and a station that uses two 25-hour part-timers cannot avoid the threshold by relabeling a 35-hour producer as part-time. The FCC tests the actual schedule, not the title.

The consequence of an improper exemption claim is severe. The FCC’s EEO enforcement page lists multiple cases where stations were fined after auditors counted the real schedules and found the unit above five employees.

Step-by-Step: How to Fill Out FCC Form 396 in LMS

The LMS workflow places Form 396 inside the license renewal application, and the system pre-fills station identification fields from the FCC’s database. The licensee then completes the EEO-specific sections and uploads the required exhibits before certifying and submitting.

Step 1: Log Into LMS and Open the Renewal Application

Sign in at the LMS login page using the FCC Username Account associated with the licensee. Navigate to the “My Applications” tab and locate the pending Form 2100, Schedule 303-S license renewal application for the station. Inside the renewal, the system auto-creates a linked Form 396 entry that must be completed before the renewal can be submitted.

The consequence of using the wrong username is that the filing posts under the wrong entity, which produces a defective certification. A real example is a station consultant who files under a personal username instead of the licensee account, and the renewal sits in pending status for weeks until corrected.

Step 2: Complete Section I — Station and Licensee Information

Section I asks for the legal name of the licensee, the FCC Registration Number (FRN), the call signs covered by the employment unit, the community of license, and the contact person. Most fields pre-fill from LMS, but the contact person and email need a fresh entry. The contact person should be the licensee’s EEO officer or an attorney with day-to-day knowledge of the recruitment file.

The consequence of an out-of-date contact is missed audit letters. The FCC’s EEO audit notices arrive by email and require a 30-day response, and a stale contact line can blow that deadline.

Step 3: Identify the Station Employment Unit and Tier

In Section II, the form asks the licensee to list every station in the employment unit and to state the number of full-time employees during the renewal term. The licensee then selects the tier: under five, five to ten, or eleven or more. The system uses this answer to open or close the supplemental outreach exhibit fields.

A misclassification here cascades through the rest of the form. A common mistake is listing twelve full-time employees but selecting the five-to-ten tier because a manager confused full-time with budgeted positions. The consequence is that the FCC will read the certification as inconsistent and may demand corrective filings.

Step 4: Answer the EEO Program Certification Questions

The form contains a series of yes-or-no certifications. The licensee must certify that it has a written EEO program, that it widely disseminated each vacancy, that it notified requesting organizations, that it analyzed its outreach efforts annually, and that it kept the required records. Each “yes” must be backed by a document in the file.

A “no” answer is not automatically fatal but triggers a written explanation requirement. The consequence of a careless “yes” without backup is a false certification, which the FCC can pursue under 47 U.S.C. § 503 for forfeiture and under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for criminal false statements in extreme cases.

Step 5: Upload the Annual EEO Public File Reports

For units at the five-to-ten or eleven-plus tier, Form 396 requires the licensee to attach a copy of each annual EEO Public File Report covering the eight-year license term. Each report must list every full-time vacancy, every recruitment source used for that vacancy, the source that referred the hire, the total number of interviewees, and the total referrals from each source.

The consequence of an incomplete report is a deficiency letter. A common mistake is leaving the “source that referred the hire” column blank because the hiring manager did not ask. The FCC reads the blank as proof that the station did not track its recruitment effectiveness, which is itself a rule violation.

Step 6: Upload the Supplemental Outreach Menu Documentation

Stations at the five-to-ten tier must show two menu activities per two-year period, and stations at the eleven-plus tier must show four. The menu options come from the 16-item list in 47 C.F.R. § 73.2080(c)(2), which includes job fairs, internships, scholarship programs, mentoring, and participation in industry events.

Each menu activity needs a date, a description, the names of personnel involved, and a brief assessment of value. The consequence of vague entries is a finding of non-credit, which can drop a station below the required count and trigger a forfeiture.

Step 7: Certify and Submit

The final screen presents the licensee certification language. The signer must be an officer of the licensee or an authorized counsel. After clicking submit, LMS generates a confirmation number and attaches Form 396 to the renewal application file.

The consequence of a missing certification is a non-acceptance notice, which restarts the renewal clock. A real example is a station whose general manager left the certification screen open overnight, and the session expired before submission, forcing a refile the next morning.

Three Worked Examples

Worked examples turn the rule into something a non-lawyer can copy. Each example below uses a named licensee and walks through the tier choice, the exhibits, and the common pitfalls.

Example 1: Maria’s Small AM Station (Under-Five Tier)

Maria Alvarez owns KXYZ-AM in a rural Nebraska town. She has one full-time announcer, one full-time engineer, and three part-time board operators who each work 18 hours per week. Her station employment unit has two full-time employees, which places her in the under-five exemption.

On Form 396, Maria selects the under-five tier, certifies that she does not have outreach obligations, and uploads no public file reports. She still completes Section I, lists her call sign, and signs the certification. The consequence of skipping the form entirely would be a defective renewal, even though her substantive duty is light.

A common mistake Maria avoids is reclassifying her engineer as part-time to stay safely below the threshold. The FCC’s auditors look at actual hours worked, and an engineer who works 35 hours but is paid as part-time still counts as full-time.

Example 2: David’s Mid-Size FM Cluster (Five-to-Ten Tier)

David Kim runs a three-station FM cluster in Oklahoma City with seven full-time employees across sales, programming, and engineering. His unit sits in the five-to-ten tier, so he must complete two menu options during each two-year period across the eight-year license term.

David uploads four annual EEO Public File Reports covering his license term, each listing the four full-time vacancies he filled, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission referral details, and the local community college job board postings. He documents eight menu activities total, two per two-year segment, including a job shadow program with a local high school and an internship with the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters.

The consequence David sidesteps by careful documentation is the base forfeiture for EEO recordkeeping violations, which the FCC has imposed at $8,000 to $20,000 per case in recent years.

Example 3: Jasmine’s Large TV Group (Eleven-Plus Tier)

Jasmine Patel is the general counsel of a CBS-affiliated television group with 42 full-time employees in a single market. Her unit is in the eleven-plus tier, which means four menu activities per two-year period and a heavier audit profile.

Jasmine’s Form 396 attaches eight annual EEO Public File Reports and 16 menu activities total. Her menu list includes a paid summer internship program with Howard University’s School of Communications, an annual broadcast career fair, mentoring partnerships with NABJ, and scholarship support for a local journalism program. She also documents her self-assessment, which the rule requires for larger units.

The consequence she avoids by careful drafting is the kind of million-dollar consent decree the FCC has used to settle systemic EEO recordkeeping failures at large groups.

Common Scenarios

The three scenarios below are the most common on-the-ground situations broadcasters face when filing Form 396.

Scenario A: Renewal Filed Without Form 396

Filing Action	FCC Outcome
Licensee submits renewal but skips linked Form 396 in LMS	LMS flags renewal as incomplete and refuses to accept
Licensee files renewal on the last allowed day with no Form 396	Renewal treated as late, $3,000 base forfeiture under forfeiture guidelines
Licensee certifies Form 396 with no exhibits at the eleven-plus tier	Deficiency letter, possible NAL, and short-term renewal of two years

Scenario B: Exemption Claimed Improperly

Licensee Position	FCC Response
Claims under-five exemption with two full-time and four 35-hour part-timers	Auditor reclassifies part-timers as full-time, denies exemption
Claims five-to-ten tier with twelve full-time employees	Tier corrected to eleven-plus, retroactive shortfall in menu activities
Claims exemption for shared cluster while sister station has 15 full-timers	Cluster treated as single unit, exemption denied, forfeiture issued

Scenario C: Mid-Term Audit During License Term

Audit Trigger	Required Response
Random audit letter pulled from FCC EEO audit list	30-day response with two years of recruitment records
Mid-term review for unit with 11+ employees	FCC pulls public file directly through LMS
Complaint filed by a community organization	Targeted document request and possible enforcement action

Mistakes to Avoid

Every mistake below has produced a real fine, a deficiency letter, or a short-term renewal in the past decade.

Counting employees by job title instead of hours. A “part-time” worker who actually works 32 hours a week counts as full-time, and miscounting the unit produces a wrong tier selection.
Treating Form 396 as a one-time fill-in. The form audits the entire eight-year term, so a station that builds its file the week before renewal cannot reconstruct two years of recruitment outreach.
Skipping the “source that referred the hire” column in the annual EEO Public File Report, which the FCC reads as proof of inadequate self-assessment.
Listing the same menu activity twice across two-year segments. The rule requires distinct activities per period, and double-counting drops the station below its required count.
Forgetting translators and boosters in Section I station identification, which produces a mismatch with the FCC’s own database and a deficiency letter.
Using a stale contact email that bounces audit letters, since the 30-day response clock keeps running after a bounce.
Filing under the wrong FRN when the licensee has multiple FCC registration numbers, which makes the certification invalid.
Letting the LMS session expire before clicking submit on the certification screen, which can require a refile and a new signature.
Posting public file reports with redacted hire information in a way that hides the recruitment source data the rule requires.
Ignoring the self-assessment requirement for larger units, which the FCC treats as an independent rule violation under 47 C.F.R. § 73.2080(c)(3).

Dos and Don’ts

These rules apply to every Form 396 filing, regardless of station size.

Do

Do build your EEO file the day a vacancy opens because reconstruction after the fact never matches contemporaneous records.
Do count full-time by hours actually worked because the FCC tests the schedule, not the title.
Do attach every annual public file report for the entire license term because partial uploads draw deficiency letters.
Do document menu activities with names, dates, and descriptions because vague entries fail the credit test.
Do use a current email for the contact person because audit letters arrive without warning.

Don’t

Don’t claim an exemption you cannot prove because the FCC will recount your employees against payroll records.
Don’t paste boilerplate menu descriptions because identical text across years signals copy-paste rather than real outreach.
Don’t skip the self-assessment because larger units must show they actually analyzed their outreach.
Don’t file at midnight on the deadline because LMS slowdowns near deadlines have left licensees with incomplete submissions.
Don’t sign the certification without reading the exhibits because the certifying officer carries personal responsibility for accuracy.

Pros and Cons of the Form 396 Framework

The form is widely criticized but also widely defended, and a fair article presents both sides.

Pros

Pro: It produces a real recruitment record that helps stations diversify their applicant pool over time.
Pro: It standardizes documentation so every licensee uses the same template and the FCC can audit at scale.
Pro: It links to the public file, which lets community groups review hiring practices.
Pro: It scales by tier, so the smallest stations carry only a light burden.
Pro: It is fully electronic through LMS, which reduces paperwork.

Cons

Con: It imposes paperwork costs on small stations that already struggle with revenue.
Con: The 16-item menu can feel artificial when a station’s real outreach does not match a listed category.
Con: The full-time definition of 30 hours catches stations that staff with many short shifts.
Con: The penalty structure for paperwork lapses can dwarf the underlying conduct.
Con: The audit process can demand two years of records on 30 days’ notice, which strains small back offices.

Key Entities and Their Roles

Form 396 sits inside a web of regulators, rules, and industry players, and understanding each role helps the licensee navigate the process.

The Federal Communications Commission is the agency that adopts and enforces the EEO rules. The Media Bureau reviews license renewals and Form 396 filings. The Enforcement Bureau handles audits, NALs, and consent decrees. The Office of Communications Business Opportunities supports outreach to diverse communities.

Industry groups also matter. The National Association of Broadcasters publishes EEO compliance guides, and state broadcaster associations like the Texas Association of Broadcasters offer template forms and menu activity ideas. Community organizations registered to receive vacancy notices act as both a recruitment source and a watchdog.

The consequence of ignoring these entities is missed support. A station that joins its state broadcaster association gets template forms and audit-prep webinars that small operators cannot easily build alone.

Recapping Key FCC Rulings and Consent Decrees

The FCC’s EEO enforcement docket is small but consequential. The Cumulus Media consent decree settled allegations of systemic recruitment recordkeeping failures with a multi-million-dollar compliance plan. The iHeartMedia consent decree imposed similar terms on the largest U.S. radio operator and required ongoing reporting.

The FCC has also issued short-term renewals to stations whose Form 396 records were thin, which forces the station back into the renewal process in two or three years instead of the normal eight. The consequence of a short-term renewal is reputational because it signals to advertisers and lenders that the station is on FCC probation.

A common misconception is that consent decrees only target large groups. In fact, the FCC’s audit list regularly pulls small and mid-size stations, and small operators have paid five-figure forfeitures for missing menu activities.

State-Level Nuances

The EEO rules are federal, but state law adds layers. State employment commissions like the California Employment Development Department function as recruitment sources for menu credit. State human rights agencies enforce parallel anti-discrimination rules that overlap with the FCC’s framework but are not preempted.

In states with strong public records laws, like Texas and Florida, community groups can pull public file reports directly and file FCC complaints. The consequence is that a station in a transparent-records state faces a higher complaint risk than one in a state with weaker access laws.

A real-world example is a Florida AM station whose annual EEO Public File Report drew a community-group complaint after a local advocacy group reviewed the public file and found gaps in recruitment source documentation.

FAQs

Do I have to file Form 396 if my station has only two full-time employees?

Yes. Every full-power broadcast licensee must file Form 396 at renewal, but a unit with fewer than five full-time employees claims the exemption and skips the outreach exhibits.

Is Form 397 still required?

No. The FCC eliminated standalone Form 397 in 2019, and mid-term reviews now happen directly through the online public file inside LMS for units with eleven or more employees.

Does Form 396 replace the annual EEO Public File Report?

No. The annual report posts every year to the station’s online public file, while Form 396 attaches once per eight-year license term to the renewal application and incorporates those annual reports.

Can I file Form 396 outside of LMS?

No. All Form 396 filings happen electronically through the FCC’s Licensing and Management System, and paper filings are not accepted.

Does a 28-hour-per-week employee count as full-time for Form 396?

No. The FCC defines full-time as a regular schedule of 30 or more hours per week, so a 28-hour worker counts as part-time for tier purposes.

Can two co-owned stations file separate Form 396s?

Yes, but only if they are not part of the same employment unit. Stations in the same market that share employees must file as one unit at the cluster’s combined headcount.

Will the FCC fine me for a late Form 396?

Yes. The base forfeiture for late renewal materials starts at $3,000 and climbs higher when paired with EEO recordkeeping defects or false certifications.

Do LPFM stations need to file Form 396?

Yes. Low-power FM licensees file Form 396 at renewal, but most LPFMs sit in the under-five exemption tier because they have few or no paid employees.

Can I use the same menu activity for multiple two-year periods?

No. Each two-year segment requires distinct menu activities, and reusing the same activity across periods does not earn separate credit.

Will the FCC audit my station even if I am not at renewal?

Yes. The FCC randomly selects roughly five percent of stations each year for EEO audits, with 30-day deadlines to produce two years of recruitment records.

Does a non-commercial educational station file Form 396?

Yes. NCE licensees follow the same EEO rules and file Form 396 at renewal, with tier and menu requirements based on the unit’s full-time headcount.

Can I correct a Form 396 after submission?

Yes. The licensee can file an amendment in LMS to correct errors, but the FCC may treat the original certification as the operative filing if the amendment comes after a deficiency letter.

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