The FCC, ahead of the Juneteenth national holiday on Thursday, has initiated an effort that could eliminate the 39% national TV owner reach limitation established by the Commission more than two decades ago.
Specifically, the FCC plans to “refresh the record” on the national cap for broadcast TV ownership, a move that the Carr Commission is now able to do thanks to the imminent arrival of Olivia Trusty as the second and all-important Republican giving the agency a quorum.
With “Re: Delete, Delete, Delete” an initiative already establishing Carr as a reform agent, the Commission is now poised to do away with its national ownership cap, which dates to 2004. Officially, the national TV multiple ownership rule proceeding is MB Docket No. 17-318. Comments are due 25 days after a Public Notice shared early Wednesday evening (6/18) appears in the Federal Register; reply comments are due 45 days after such publication.
In the commentary, the FCC notes, “The prior comment and reply comment period in this proceeding closed over seven years ago. Given the passage of time, we now seek further comment to refresh the record in this proceeding.”
MB Docket No. 17-318 was met with pleasure by NAB Chairman/CEO Curtis LeGeyt, who thanked Carr “for taking this important step towards modernizing a decades old rule that limits television broadcasters’ ability to compete in today’s media marketplace.”
LeGeyt added that the NAB appreciates Carr’s “willingness to tackle this critical issue, which will allow us to better serve our communities with trusted news and information. We look forward to working together to bring outdated ownership rules into the 21st century and give local stations a fair chance to compete with Big Tech.”
For the NAB, the 39% cap runs counter to “unregulated Big Tech platforms that reach 100% of Americans without restriction.” Thus, it says, “These outdated rules ignore the vast and growing competition local broadcasters face for audience, programming, talent and advertising revenue.”
Clarification: A statement attributed to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in regard to MB Docket No. 17-318 that appeared in the first version of this story, on June 18, is from December 17 and reflects the launch of the proceeding eight years ago that Carr is revisiting today.
In the December 2017 statement, Carr commented, “I am glad that we are launching this proceeding, which will examine whether we can and should modify our rule that limits broadcasters—but not others in the video marketplace—from reaching more than 39% of television households in the country. Answering these questions will help ensure that our media ownership rules are neither outdated nor counterproductive.”
RBR+TVBR thanks the NAB for this clarification.
How is the FCC’s discretion in the ownership cap affected by:
Pub. L. 104–104, title II, §202, Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 110, as amended by Pub. L. 108–199, div. B, title VI, §629, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 99, provided that:
(c) Television Ownership Limitations.—
“(1) National ownership limitations.—The Commission shall modify its rules for multiple ownership set forth in section 73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555)—
“(A) by eliminating the restrictions on the number of television stations that a person or entity may directly or indirectly own, operate, or control, or have a cognizable interest in, nationwide; and
“(B) by increasing the national audience reach limitation for television stations to 39 percent.
Does the Commission have the authority to change the 39% reach limit?
Thank you for this insightful article! It’s encouraging to see the FCC taking steps to reevaluate long-standing rules in light of today’s rapidly evolving media landscape. The move to refresh the record on the national ownership cap reflects a timely effort to balance fair competition and local broadcasters’ ability to serve their communities effectively. Looking forward to seeing how this develops—appreciate the update
Regard Unissula
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