Local Radio? File Your Comments With The FCC In The Quadrennial Review April 29th Deadline

By Gregg P. Skall, Rebecca Goldman & John Garziglia
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

As many readers know, the FCC has teed up a striking review of the FCC radio ownership rules in the 2018 Quadrennial Review in which it will consider a variety of changes to its radio ownership rules and welcomes comments from all interested parties. Initial comments are due on April 29th, 2019.

If you believe that your business circumstances and the radio industry would be enhanced by a significant relaxation or elimination of the radio ownership rules, you should file comments. Conversely, if you believe that radio ownership rule relaxations would negatively impact your station(s) and the industry, you should likewise file comments.

This FCC proceeding concerning the radio ownership rules is part of the FCC's Quadrennial Review Notice of Proposed Rulemakingin MB Docket No. 18-349. The Quadrennial Review is required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which directs the FCC to periodically determine if its broadcast ownership rules remain "necessary in the public interest as the result of competition."

There appears to be a lack of consensus within our radio broadcasting community as to whether the relaxation or elimination of the radio ownership rules would be beneficial. Those in favor of dramatic changes argue that there is a new competitive landscape with radio now competing with not only satellite radio but also Internet streaming, Facebook and Google. Those opposed to ownership rule relaxation or elimination believe that allowing for increased concentrations of radio ownership would harm radio broadcasting as a whole, and particularly AM radio and local broadcasting.

Last year, Radio Ink published a Deregulation Series which stated a number of reasons why a relaxation of the radio ownership rules may be beneficial. Among the stated reasons were that larger radio groups will be able to better compete with infinitely bigger social media platforms; radio will better attract capital; there will be no undercutting of rates when local competition is eliminated; rules unchanged since 1996 are not relevant today; formats would not be duplicated, and media brokers would be enriched. Several in this series argued for no numerical radio ownership limits whatsoever.

The attached Quadrennial Review NPRM discusses the FCC's proposed changes to the radio ownership rules at paragraphs 9-39. Of note, the NPRM asks for comment on a June 15th, 2018 proposal by the National Association of Broadcastersto eliminate radio ownership restrictions in all markets except for the top 75, allow for the ownership of up to eight FM radio stations in each of the top 75 radio markets (with two additional stations allowed if there is participation in the Commission's incubator program), and allow the unlimited ownership of AM stations in any market.

Since 1996, there are no national radio station ownership caps and the FCC has restricted radio ownership in the largest markets to a maximum of eight stations, of which no more than five can be in the same service (i.e. the AM/FM subcaps), with descending maximums for smaller markets. The result of this Quadrennial Review proceeding could be anything from a preservation of the status quo, to an elimination of just the AM/FM subcaps, to a complete elimination of the radio ownership rules.

Here are some general topics that might be addressed in your comments:

Will an across-the-board further relaxation of the FCC's radio ownership rules, either in terms of number of stations to a market, or removal of the AM/FM subcaps, benefit you?

Is there still an argument in favor of radio ownership caps when so much of radio's competition including cable companies and social media have no such restrictions?

Would the radio industry be enhanced by eliminating multiple competitors in local markets?

For those stations that today remain successful community-based beacons of information, would relaxed ownership rules diminish that service to the public?

Should the throwing off of the ownership shackles as proposed by the NAB only apply to radio groups under a certain national size?

If you have vies on these topics, you should file comments in this proceeding. Whatever your view on FCC radio ownership regulations, now is the time to express them to the FCC. The FCC will be taking broadcasters' opinions into consideration in any changes it makes to its radio ownership rules.

You can submit your comments here: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings

Under proceeding, fill in 18-349. Fill in the rest of the fields and then drag and drop your comments, in PDF, to the space maked "Upload Documents".

You can write them as a letter, memo or anyway that you like. Then save in PDF, drag and drop.

Or better yet, Ask your FCC counsel for assistance.

This column is provided for general information purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice pertaining to any specific factual situation. Legal decisions should be made only after proper consultation with a legal professional of your choosing.