The National Association of Broadcasters is asking for real proof that radio broadcasters consolidated their operations to cut costs after the FCC eliminated the FM duplication rule.
That rule change was made in 2020 by a Republican-led commission. This year the FCC, now led by Democrats, voted 3–2 along party lines to reinstate the radio duplication rule for commercial FM stations and resume limits on FM simulcasts. The new rules (MB Docket No. 19-310) became effective Aug. 2.
The NAB is pressing the FCC on that decision. It has submitted a petition for reconsideration arguing that the commission failed to justify reinstating the rule and didn’t collect new evidence that dire claims made by critics of FM service duplication have come to pass since then.
The rule prohibits commonly owned or operated commercial FM stations with overlapping service contours from duplicating more than 25% of their programming. AM stations are not subject to the reinstated rule.
The NAB says unique economic pressures facing radio stations, including the Covid pandemic, justified rescinding the rule for FMs in 2020.
Subsequently, REC Networks, MusicFirst Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition asked the FCC to reconsider the decision. They argued that rolling back the simulcast rule invited a reduction in programming diversity and encouraged owners to gobble up spectrum. The groups threatened legal action.
In reinstating the rule, the FCC said it was acting “to further the goals of competition, programming diversity, localism and spectrum efficiency.”
In the NAB’s view, the commission’s most egregious error was failing even to question if any changes in the marketplace had come to pass in the extended period during which the petition was under consideration. “Neither the commission nor the Media Bureau through a public notice ever bothered to either seek comment or do its own research on the effect, if any, of the FM Duplication Rule being rescinded.”
NAB said, “It defies logic that the commission would not bother to inquire into the current state of affairs and attempt to base any reconsideration on real-world data. … Refreshing the record after such a long time would have been consistent with commission actions in other proceedings.”
NAB said there’s no evidence that broadcasters cut costs by duplicating any amount of programming, even under the 25% threshold, on a commonly-owned station in the same market.
It argues that “duplicative programming would only split listeners between two stations in the same market, making them both less valuable and in turn forcing them to charge less for advertising spots.”
Meanwhile, FM broadcasters that simulcast are faced with revisiting their programming decisions, according to observers. FM stations that duplicate programming have until Feb. 3, 2025, to comply or request a waiver. FCC observers say waivers likely will be granted only in rare cases.
The commission has asked stations to file waivers by the end of October 2024, though it’s not a hard deadline. Unless and until a waiver request is denied, a station may continue duplicating programming beyond the 25% allowance. Additionally, in the event that a waiver request is denied, the commission says it may grant additional time, not to exceed six months, for the licensee to come into compliance.
