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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                )
                                )
Review of the Commission's      )  MM Docket No. 98-204
Broadcast and Cable             )
Equal Employment Opportunity    )
Rules and Policies              )
and                             )
Termination of the              )  MM Docket No. 96-16
EEO Streamlining Proceeding     )
                                )
                                )
                                )


                             ORDER


   Adopted:  February 11, 1999;         Released:   February 12, 1999 

Comment Date:  March 1, 1999
Reply Comment Date:  March 31, 1999  

By the Chief, Mass Media Bureau:

     1.   On November 20, 1998, the Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, MM
Docket No. 98-204 (NPRM), requesting comment on various proposals concerning the Commission's broadcast
and cable EEO rules and policies.  Comment and Reply Comment deadlines were established for January 19,
1999, and February 18, 1999, respectively.

     2.   On December 17, 1998, the National Association of Broadcasters ("NAB") filed a "Motion
for Extension of Time of Comment and Reply Comment Deadlines" ("Motion").  Therein, the NAB requested
that we extend the due dates for the submission of comments and reply comments in response to the NPRM
to February 18, 1999, and March 23, 1999, respectively.      On January 4, 1999,  the Minority Media and
Telecommunications Council ("MMTC") sent a letter to the Commission expressing support for the NAB's
Motion.

     3.   Because we believed that the public interest would be served by an extension of the comment
period in this proceeding, we granted the NAB's Motion and extended the date for filing comments to February
18, 1999, and extended the date for filing reply comments to March 23, 1999, in an Order released January
5, 1999, DA 99-105.

     4.   On February 10, 1999, the MMTC filed a "Motion for Extension of Time."  Therein, the
MMTC requested that we extend the due date for the submission of comments in response to the NPRM for
three weeks, until March 11, 1999.  The MMTC does not seek an extension of the reply comment deadline. 
In support of its request, the MMTC contends that the workload of preparing comments in this proceeding has
been overwhelming, in that it has encountered difficulties in securing witness testimony and because of the
illness of the MMTC's Executive Director, who has the responsibility of managing the project and drafting
most of the comments.  The MMTC argues that, because the MMTC comments will address virtually every
issue raised in the NPRM and a "majority of the national organizations likely to participate in this proceeding
are expected to sign on to the MMTC's Comments, ...  a brief extension will assist the FCC in developing a
full record," expediting rather than delaying the resolution of this proceeding.  

     5.   It is Commission policy that extensions of time not be routinely granted.  See Section 1.46(a)
of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. Section 1.46(a).  However, we believe that, in light of the importance
of the issues presented in this proceeding, the public interest would be served by affording MMTC additional
time in which to prepare its comments.  At the same time, we also believe that a three-week extension is too
long and inconsistent with the timely dispatch of the Commission's business.  As previously stated, we have
heretofore extended the comment deadline for 30 days at the request of the NAB, with the support of MMTC. 
While we appreciate the difficulties faced by the MMTC in drafting comments to this proceeding, we do not
wish to delay unnecessarily the expeditious resolution of the important issues raised in this proceeding. 
Therefore, we believe that the public interest favors a partial grant of this extension of time request.  Thus, we
will extend the date for filing comments to March 1, 1999.  In addition, we believe that the public interest
favors a corresponding extension of time for filing reply comments and we will extend that date to March 31,
1999.  

     6.   ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Extension of Time filed by the
MMTC IS GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

     7.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commission, on its own motion, EXTENDS the time
for filing reply comments.

     8.   IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the dates for filing comments and reply comments in
this proceeding ARE EXTENDED to March 1, 1999, and March 31, 1999, respectively.

     9.   This action is taken pursuant to authority found in Sections 4(i) and 303(r) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. Sections 154(i) and 303(r), and Sections 0.204(b), 0.283
and 1.46 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. Sections 0.204(b), 0.283 and 1.46. 

                                           FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

                       




                                           Roy J. Stewart  
                                           Chief, Mass Media Bureau