FCC’s New Mantra: Relax
As the industry wakes up today in a world without CBS Radio, thanks to the Entercom merger, the FCC yesterday voted to “modernize” its broadcast ownership rules and to help promote ownership diversity in the broadcast industry by rolling back a series of longstanding media ownership regulations, like the Newspaper/Broadcast Cross-Ownership Rule that dates back to 1975. Broadcasters will now be allowed to combine ownership a newspaper in the same market, and could be allowed to own two of the top four stations in a city. The Commission also eliminated the Radio/Television Cross-Ownership Rule and Television Joint Sales Agreement Attribution Rule. And yes, a court battle is looming. These changes are happening just as the FCC is considering whether to allow Sinclair Broadcast Group to merge with Tribune Media, creating a massive station group powerhouse with control over 233 stations reaching 72% of the country. To the shock of pretty much no one, the vote adhered to a 3-2 party-line vote.
“The media ownership regulations of 2017 should match the media marketplace of 2017,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. He said the agency was “dragging the broadcast rules into the digital age.” As Variety reports, “These changes may yet be challenged in court, but if they survive, they will mark the most significant changes to media ownership regulations in a generation. They could lead to further consolidation and mergers among broadcasters, who have long argued that they need greater scale to compete with cable and Internet companies for local ad dollars.”
In a dissenting opinion, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said, “Instead of engaging in thoughtful reform, which we should do, the agency sets its most basic values on fire. They are gone. As a result of this decision, wherever you live, the FCC is giving the green light for a single company to own the newspaper and multiple television and radio stations in your community.”
• In response to the FCC’s actions, NAB President & CEO Gordon Smith, a former Republican Senator from Oregon, said, “NAB thanks the FCC for voting today to reform outdated broadcast media ownership rules. These rules are not only irrational in today’s media environment, but they have also weakened the newspaper industry, cost journalism jobs and forced local broadcast stations onto unequal footing with our national pay TV and radio competitors. We are grateful the Commission has adopted a common-sense approach to media regulations that will foster innovation, reinvestment in investigative reporting and better service to our tens of millions of listeners and viewers.”
