Following publication in the Federal Register, a final rule eliminating the FCC’s requirement that broadcasters annually submit workforce race, ethnicity, and gender data took effect on November 3. The FCC’s Media Bureau removed the reporting requirement and related references from the Commission’s rules to conform to a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in National Religious Broadcasters v. FCC, which held that the FCC lacks statutory authority to require broadcasters to submit the employment data.
The FCC reinstated the reporting requirement in 2024 after it had been suspended since 2001. Following the Fifth Circuit’s decision vacating the 2024 order, the Media Bureau concluded that the rule and related references had no legal effect and were obsolete.
