WASHINGTON—As part of an ongoing push to get the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules that would strengthen local broadcasters and speed the transition to ATSC 3.0, Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley met this week with the agency’s Chair Brandan Carr, his chief of staff Greg Watson, and his senior counsel, Erin Boone, to discuss “the national television multiple ownership rule, as well as the National Association of Broadcasters’ petition for rulemaking asking the Commission to set a sunset date for ATSC 1.0 transmissions,” according to letter sent by Sinclair to the FCC.
In August 20 letter describing the August 19 meeting, Patrick McFadden, senior vice president, global public policy and communications at Sinclair, who also attended the meeting, noted they had reiterated their arguments for eliminating ownership caps in ways that “was consistent with our comments submitted in that proceeding.”
“With respect to the sunset of ATSC 1.0 transmissions, we discussed the emerging device market for ATSC 3.0 compatible receivers and consumers’ ability to purchase devices that allow them to continue to receive over-the-air signals after an ATSC 1.0 sunset,” McFadden wrote. “We emphasized the importance of the Commission continuing to move expeditiously in consideration of NAB’s petition for the benefit of consumers as well as broadcasters themselves.”
During the meeting, Sinclair executives also stressed that “the best way to spur the availability of more consumer devices is to provide certainty regarding a sunset. Further, as Sinclair noted in its comments in this proceeding, broadcasters are facing rapidly increasing competition from new platforms. ATSC 3.0 is a game-changing opportunity for broadcasters to diversify their revenue streams and ensure that they can continue to serve their viewers – but time is of the essence. We urge the Commission to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this proceeding promptly, which will then allow the Commission to develop a fulsome record that will support the sunset of ATSC 1.0 signals in the top 55 markets in February 2028, and the remaining markets in February 2030.”
The full letter is available here.
