NAB Challenges FCC Ownership Restrictions
• The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) this week filed its initial brief in its challenge to the FCC’s local radio and television ownership restrictions.
The intro of the brief states: “These consolidated petitions challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s broadcast ownership restrictions, including its decision to increase the regulatory burden on industry in what Congress intended to be a deregulatory exercise: the Commission’s periodic review of its broadcast ownership rules. The Local Television and Radio Rules retain and even tighten decades-old restrictions on which — and how many — television and radio stations broadcasters may own in a particular geographic market. The rules are premised on the notion that broadcasters could exert disproportionate influence by shaping news and entertainment options. But that idea is a relic from a bygone era — before the emergence of the Internet, smart phones, social media, and streaming. In reality, broadcasters today struggle to keep pace with rapidly proliferating audio and video platforms that are steadily taking audience share and advertising dollars. Instead of making it harder for broadcasters to compete, the Commission should have modernized its outdated rules because they are no longer justified.”
NAB President & CEO Curtis LeGeyt issued the following statement that reads: “It is long past time for the FCC to modernize its broadcast ownership rules; these are relics from a bygone era, created before the internet, smartphones, social media and streaming. NAB’s brief succinctly demonstrates to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that the FCC has failed to justify that these rules remain necessary to serve the public in light of the immense competition broadcasters face in today’s media marketplace.”
The filing is posted in its entirety HERE
