“This site provides summary information about licensed television broadcast stations and access to each station’s “public inspection file” (or “public file”).  The Commission first adopted rules requiring broadcast stations to keep a public file more than 40 years ago and certain political programming files have been public for nearly 75 years. The public file contains a variety of information about each station’s operations and service to its community of license, including information about political time sold or given away by each station, quarterly lists of the most significant programs each station aired concerning issues of importance to its community, data on ownership of each station and active applications each station has filed with the Commission.  The Commission adopted the public inspection file requirement to “make information to which the public already has a right more readily available, so that the public will be encouraged to play a more active part in dialogue with broadcast licensees.” A complete list of the items that must be placed in the file can be found here.”