NAB Calls for Modest Ownership Reform in FCC Rules

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, July 12, 2010 | 11:43pm CT

In comments filed with the FCC on Monday, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) expressed its support for modest reform of media ownership rules, including elimination of the cross-ownership ban. Broadcasters "must have the flexibility to form competitively viable ownership structures," the filing read.

NAB is opposing current ownership rules that limit the ways broadcasters can compete in a digital, multichannel environment, saying that local broadcasters' more prominent competitors "enjoy dual revenue streams of both subscriber fees and advertising revenues" and are not subject to local or national ownership restrictions.

"Existing ownership restrictions are not needed to ensure programming, viewpoint, source or outlet diversity in the 21st century media marketplace," the filing said. "Simply put, it is untenable to maintain broadcast-only restrictions on the assumption that common ownership of stations could somehow reduce the ability of consumers to access diverse information or harm competition in the information marketplace."

Specifically, NAB urged the Commission to eliminate the newspaper-broadcast and radio-television cross-ownership rules. The group also called for "substantial reform" of the television duopoly rule, urging the Commission to allow combinations in markets of all sizes. "Same-market combinations improve programming generally and promote the provision of news programming specifically," NAB said.

NAB also expressed its support for the continuing relaxation of local radio restrictions "in light of the increasingly fragmented audio marketplace and the financial challenges facing local stations."