NAB Calls for Modest Ownership Reform

[TheBigA]

The FCC asked for comments about its ownership regulations. The NAB put out a press release yesterday, posted at their website: www.nab.org

NAB Calls for Modest Ownership Reform

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In comments filed today with the Federal Communications Commission, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) expressed its support for modest reform of media ownership rules, including elimination of cross-ownership rules and reform of the television duopoly rule.

Broadcasters "must have the flexibility to form competitively viable ownership structures," today's filing read. "Ownership rules that limit the ways broadcasters can compete in a digital, multichannel environment adversely affect stations' abilities to serve their diverse audiences and local communities."

NAB noted 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."

With regard to ownership diversity, NAB reiterated its support for "incentives to promote new entry and access to capital."

 

[TheBigA]

Lots of thought in reading the NAB's press release. The first one is that it's interesting that broadcasters can't buy a newspaper, but they can buy the newspaper's website. No law preventing that. Not that any newspaper would sell their web site. But I'm just sayin.'

In other words, if the concern is about concentration of media, and controlling opinion, it seems out of date to only restrict traditional media, while have no restrictions at all on new media. Unless the view is that new media doesn't have as much influence.

The other interesting line was about revenue streams. Broadcasters mainly draw revenue from advertising, while other competitors (cable, internet, satellite) can charge subscription fees plus advertising. This will play a part of the RIAA's performance royalty ever gets to the floor of Congress. There is no provision in the law to pay for the royalty. So it just means 30% more commercials. That alone would kill it in Congress.