Broadcasters have wanted the media ownership rules relaxed even more since they were first eased in 1996 as part of the Telecommunications Act. Thursday, that wish was granted when the FCC voted to eliminate the Newspaper/Broadcast Cross-Ownership Rule, Radio/Television Cross-Ownership Rule, and Television Joint Sales Agreement Attribution Rule. The FCC also voted to adopt an incubator program to expand ownership diversity and will seek public input on how it should be designed.
The Local Television Ownership Rule was modified to eliminate the requirement that at least eight independently owned television stations remain in a market before a company may own two TV stations there. The Order does not address the television national ownership cap and the associated UHF discount which are not part of the Quadrennial Review, and which will be considered later this year.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said of the changes: “It’s about time. After too many years of cold shoulders and hot air” his agency “finally” made the changes. The FCC itself has noted for 15 years, the cross-ownership limits made no sense in the digital age when media “silos” were crumbling.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn “vociferously disagreed” with the changes, arguing they will allow one owner to dominate a market and hurt minority entrants. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also voted no, saying with this action: “The FCC sets its most basic values on fire.” Other detractors called the change a gift to large media conglomerates, as the agency reviews the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger.
NAB thanked the FCC for the action. NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith called the rules “irrational in today’s media environment.” He said the restrictions that barred one owner from owning both newspaper and broadcast stations in the same market have “weakened the newspaper industry, cost journalism jobs and forced local broadcast stations onto unequal footing with our national pay-TV and radio competitors” like cable TV and satellite radio. “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.”
November 20, 2017
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