The National Association of Broadcasters has launched a media campaign hoping to convince the FCC to overhaul its radio and TV ownership restrictions. The campaign takes a poke at competitors in “Big Tech” at the same time.
Separately, NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt and NAB Chief Legal Officer Rick Kaplan met last Friday with Chairman Brendan Carr to put forward their arguments.
A print ad from the new campaign is shown at right. The association also launched a website (see it here) and created a video spot (watch it here).
Many commercial U.S. broadcasters have argued for years that the current rules — “written before the advent of mobile phones and the internet” — are badly outdated and handcuff radio and TV broadcasters competitively.
With a Republican FCC chairman now in place and a Republican majority on the FCC expected shortly, NAB is hoping to find a more welcoming reception to the idea.
LeGeyt made that case when he met with Carr last week. According to an NAB filing summarizing the discussion, “We explained that multiple years – if not decades – of indifference and inaction has plagued the FCC’s ability to keep pace with the hyper-competitive audio and video marketplaces.”
“On the television side, this means revisiting the FCC’s long-pending proceeding to modernize its National Television Ownership Rule, and eliminating the 39 percent cap to enable local television broadcast stations to achieve economies of scale and scope that will support robust local news operations and other locally-focused programming,” NAB wrote.
“Similarly, eliminating the local television ownership rule (a relic of the last century) will allow stations to develop more efficient combinations within local markets, thereby empowering them to compete for local ad dollars against dominant advertising players like Google and Facebook.”
And in radio, NAB wrote, “modernizing the local radio ownership rules (unchanged for nearly 30 years), including eliminating the separate AM and FM subcaps, will give radio stations a fighting chance to continue to deliver content in a wide range of formats to local audiences, free to the public.”
In a release about the ad campaign, LeGeyt said, “In today’s media environment, local broadcasters must have the ability to grow and compete with Big Tech platforms that operate without similar restrictions,” saidLeGeyt in a release about the ad campaign.
“As trusted sources of news and information, particularly during emergencies, local stations provide a vital service to their communities. Policymakers must act now to ensure broadcasters can continue serving the public effectively, before it’s too late.”
NAB said the campaign includes national advertising directed at Washington policymakers, and resources for consumers to send comments to the FCC and White House.
It noted that some 500 broadcasters will be in the capital next week for NAB’s State Leadership Conference.
