WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial full-power and qualifying Class A television stations have until Thursday, October 1, to make their must-carry or retransmission-consent elections for the 2027–2029 carriage cycle.
The election determines whether a station claims mandatory carriage or negotiates carriage under retransmission consent with a multichannel video programming distributor, such as a cable or direct-broadcast satellite provider. The choice takes effect January 1, 2027, and remains in place through December 31, 2029.
The Federal Communications Commission rule requires each covered station to place its election statement — and any election-change notices for the coming cycle — in its Online Public Inspection File by the deadline. A commercial station that fails to make an election on time is deemed to have selected must-carry status for the three-year period.
If a station changes its election from the previous cycle, it must send notice by email to the affected cable operator and copy ElectionNotices@fcc.gov. The notice must identify the station, community of license, designated market area, election change and current carriage contacts. Copies also belong in the station’s public file.
Communications law firm Lerman Senter says the deadline applies to full-power and qualifying Class A stations, and advises stations to confirm that the “Carriage Election Contact Information” section of their public files is current. Federal rules require the election records to remain in the public file for the entire cycle.
Noncommercial educational stations follow different procedures: they generally have cable must-carry rights but must affirmatively request satellite carriage. Some qualified low-power television stations may also have carriage rights in limited circumstances.
RNN practical check: Station management and counsel should verify the election itself, the correct public-file upload, the accuracy of carriage-contact information and proof of delivery for any required change notices. This report provides general information, not legal advice.