WASHINGTON—Twenty-two U.S. Senators have sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr urging him to “modernize” ownership caps that are limiting broadcasters' ability to compete in a media landscape increasingly dominated by large tech companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon.
The letter came during a week when FCC chair Carr provided his clearest signal yet that he wanted to deregulate ownership rules and broadcast executives talked openly during their Q1 earnings calls with Wall Street analysts about the lucrative merger and acquisition opportunities that deregulation might offer the industry.
The NAB applauded the letter, which was from 22 Republican Senators.
“The fast-evolving media marketplace has made broadcast ownership regulations in urgent need of modernization,” the letter said. “The fast-evolving media marketplace has made broadcast ownership regulations in urgent need of modernization. Such regulations originated in the 1940s, and while the FCC has made modest adjustments since then, broadcast ownership rules today remain nearly the same as they were in the 1990s. Despite modest tweaks, these rules fail to account for the rise of digital platforms, streaming services, smartphones, and social media. Local broadcasters now vie for audience, content, and advertising not just with each other, but with the world's largest tech companies.”
“By modernizing broadcast ownership restrictions, the FCC can empower broadcasters to fulfill their essential role in American democracy, foster local journalism, and benefit local communities and the public interest,” it concluded.
In response to the letter, NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said: “We are grateful to Sen. Jerry Moran and his colleagues for their leadership in urging the FCC to modernize decades-old broadcast ownership rules that impede local stations’ ability to invest in our newsrooms, innovate and serve our communities. Local broadcasters compete every day with trillion-dollar tech companies, yet we remain shackled by ownership restrictions that are premised on the outdated notion that broadcasters compete only with one another for audience and advertising. We urge Chairman Carr and the full Commission to act expeditiously to empower local stations to deliver the most-trusted news, emergency information and vital content Americans rely on.”
