WASHINGTON—The FCC has officially eliminated the World War II-era rules that prohibited TV and radio licenses to be granted to or renewed to a person or organization that controlled an antenna site. This rules were scheduled to be on the docket for the commission’s August open meeting on Aug. 6, but will now be removed.

“We conclude that these rules no longer serve any practical purpose in light of significant broadcast infrastructure development that has taken place since they were first adopted 75 years ago,” the FCC wrote in its Report & Order. The commission described the action as a part of its continued process to modernize media regulations.

The original rules, which the FCC notes were adopted when TV and FM broadcasting were emerging industries and when materials were scarce because of WWII, precluded anyone who owned, leased or controlled an antenna site from being granted a license, or a renewal of one, if the site was not available for use by other such licensees.

“Since that time, the broadcast market has grown significantly with a corresponding increase in the number of antenna sites available,” the FCC wrote.

The commission said that it received no comment from any broadcast licensees that would be affected by the removal of these rules. In fact, only two comments were received, both from consumers, with one agreeing that the rules are “outdated.” The other comment did express concern on the importance of preserving the widespread availability of FM and TV broadcasting, to which the FCC agreed and said it does not believe the elimination will result in any such negative impact.

The FCC presented four reasons as to why it’s eliminating these rules. First, the rules no longer apply to today’s marketplace, as TV and FM broadcasting are firmly established and there is no evidence of a shortage of materials. Second, the communications tower market is dominated by entities that do not hold broadcast licenses and there is no indication that they intend to restrict access to tower users’ competitors. Third, the current rules apply only to “extremely limited circumstances.” And lastly, maintaining these rules would be a waste of FCC time and resources, per the commission.

“Simply put, based on our expert judgement and lack of record received, we find that these 75-year-old rules have outlived their utility,” the FCC concluded. “Therefore, we determine that it is in the public interest to eliminate these outdated rules.”

The full FCC Report & Order is available online. 

WASHINGTON—Times have changed since 1945, and the FCC wants to make sure that it is keeping up with those changes, seeking to update many of its media rules that may no longer be relevant. The latest such attempt comes with rules dealing with who has access to antenna sites.

The commission announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (MB Docket No. 19-282) on Friday, Oct. 25, seeking comment on whether current rules originally crafted in 1945 should be eliminated or revised. Specifically, the rules prohibit the grant, or renewal, of a license for a TV or FM station if the applicant or licensee controls an antenna site that is suitable for broadcasting in the area and does not make the site available for use by other similar licensees.

The FCC says that since the rules were introduced, there has been an increase in antenna sites suitable for broadcasting, a majority of which it says are owned by non-broadcast entities. Calling them “rarely invoked,” the FCC seeks comment on whether the rules are necessary in today’s environment to promote competition and a variety of broadcast sources.

All five commissioners approved of the NPRM.

“These rules date back to 1945,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “At the time, there was a freeze on broadcast station construction in order to conserve equipment and material needed for World War II. The commission was also concerned about developing the still-nascent FM radio and TV services at a time when broadcasters were still the predominant antenna site owners. But that was a long, long time ago; today there are abundant FM and TV stations, the tower site market is flourishing and commission staff has been unable to find a single instance where these rules were successfully invoked. What they have found are parties citing these rules without a factual basis for doing so, resulting in unnecessary delay of commission proceedings.”

“We must keep up the effort to free traditional, regulated industries from regulatory burdens where appropriate; otherwise, they will continue to fight with one, or both, of their proverbial hands tied behind their backs,” wrote commissioner Michael O’Rielly in his statement.

No deadline for comments has been given at this time.

WASHINGTON—FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has laid out the plan for the commission’s open meeting set to take place on Oct. 23 in D.C. Two of the main issues set for discussion related to the television industry revolve around cable competition and antenna site regulation.

The first issue deals with the Cable Act and the regulation of basic cable rates. Chairman Pai says under the current law, cable regulation is only permitted in areas where there isn’t effective competition in the video marketplace, which as of today only applies to certain parts of Hawaii and Massachusetts. Charter has recently requested that the FCC find it is subject to effective competition in the Hawaii and Massachusetts markets it serves, primarily because of the presence of AT&T’s OTT service that Charter says is comparable to programming from cable operators.

“Just as the commission’s rules should reflect how IP-based services have changed the marketplace for voice services, they should also acknowledge the ways they are revolutionizing the video marketplace,” Pai said. As a result, the FCC will vote on a new order that would acknowledge Charter now has effective competition via AT&T’s streaming service. “Adopting this order would be a major step toward the commission recognizing the realities of the modern video marketplace, and the increasingly important role that streaming services are playing in it,” Pai added.

In addition, Pai says that the meeting plans to address regulations related to the use of common antenna sites that date back to World War II. Saying that these regulations originated in a time that there were shortages of equipment and materials, which is not the case anymore, and that there are substantially more radio and TV stations and broadcast antenna locations, Pai argues that “there is now a serious question as to whether the commission’s common antenna site regulations remain necessary.” To address this, a vote on a proposal to seek comment on whether these rules should be revised or eliminated will be held.

More of what will be on tap at the October open meeting is available here.