FCC Releases Proposed 2026 Annual Regulatory Fees

The Federal Communications Commission has released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the 2026 Annual Regulatory Fees, starting a several month process that culminates with stations' required fee payment in September.

While both radio and TV 2026 regulatory fees will increase over 2025 fees, broadcasters will be paying a slightly lower percentage of the FCC's overall operating budget in 2026 than in 2025.

"For Television, where fees are set by multiplying station population coverage by a per-person fee, the proposed fee for 2026 for each full-power broadcast television station is $.006957 per person served, as compared to 2025's $.006674, a 4.2 percent increase," said TAB's FCC legal counsel Scott Flick, a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. "The currently proposed fees for most radio station categories would be around a 5-6 percent increase over 2025 fees."

The proposed radio station fees are listed in an Appendix B table of the FCC's NPRM on page 30 of the pdf link above. Proposed television station fees are listed by callsign in Appendix F of the NPRM, starting on page 43 and running through page 80.

Comments and reply comments are scheduled for May 28 and June 12 respectively, with the final table of fees usually adopted in late August.

The September annual regulatory fee due date is usually announced in late August or early September. As a practical matter, the commission must have collected the fees by Sept. 30, as the new federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.