Annual employment reports will soon be gone from the FCC’s rulebook.
The Media Bureau ordered the removal of the requirement that stations report workforce race, ethnicity, and gender data, bringing federal regulations in line with a Fifth Circuit decision.
The Media Bureau adopted and released the order on Thursday. The changes take effect upon publication in the Federal Register.
Taken under FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s ongoing “Delete, Delete, Delete” proceeding, the Bureau said the action’s removal does not affect the scope and nature of currently enforceable requirements. Section 73.3612 required broadcasters to annually submit information on their employees’ race, ethnicity, and gender within specified job categories. The FCC originally adopted the requirement in 1969 and has suspended it since 2001, before reinstating it in 2024 by a party-line 3-2 vote.
The NRB, the American Family Association, and the Texas Association of Broadcasters appealed the 2024 reinstatement to the Fifth Circuit, and the reporting obligation remained deferred while the case was pending. The court vacated the order in May 2025, after finding the FCC lacks statutory authority to require broadcasters to submit such employment data.
It is important that broadcasters not confuse Form 395-B with the FCC’s EEO audits, which are a separate process and continue. The Enforcement Bureau sent the 2026 audit letters to randomly selected radio and television stations on August 21, and responses are due October 20. The letters again include DEI-related questions added to the 2025 audits, covering internal bias complaints, employee sanctions for failing to follow diversity policies, and race-based hiring databases.
In 2025, NAB asked the FCC to eliminate EEO audits, describing them as ineffective and unnecessarily burdensome for broadcasters.
