§ 73.1943   Political file.

   (a) Every licensee shall keep and permit public inspection of a
   complete and orderly record (political file) of all requests for
   broadcast time made by or on behalf of a candidate for public office,
   together with an appropriate notation showing the disposition made by
   the licensee of such requests, and the charges made, if any, if the
   request is granted. The “disposition” includes the schedule of time
   purchased, when spots actually aired, the rates charged, and the
   classes of time purchased.

   (b) When free time is provided for use by or on behalf of candidates, a
   record of the free time provided shall be placed in the political file.

   (c) All records required by this paragraph shall be placed in the
   political file as soon as possible and shall be retained for a period
   of two years. As soon as possible means immediately absent unusual
   circumstances.

   (d) Location of the file. A licensee or applicant must post all of the
   contents added to its political file after the effective date of this
   paragraph in the political file component of its online public file
   hosted by the Commission. A station must retain in its political file
   maintained at the station, at the location specified in § 73.3526(b) or
   § 73.3527(b), all material required to be included in the political file
   and added to the file prior to the effective date of this paragraph,
   unless the station elects voluntarily to place these materials in the
   Commission's online public file. The online political file must be
   updated in the same manner as paragraph (c) of this section.

   [ 57 FR 210 , Jan. 3, 1992, as amended at  77 FR 27655 , May 11, 2012;  81 FR 10123 , Feb. 29, 2016]

   return arrow Back to Top