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FCC Launches 2014 Media Ownership Quadrennial Review, Changes TV JSA Rule
March 31, 2014 at 4:02 PM (PT)
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As expected. the FCC kicked off its 2014 Media Ownership Quadrennial Review at its open meeting TODAY (3/31) by voting to change attribution rules for television Joint Sales Agreements, adopting the radio standard that a JSA partnership is attributable to the non-owning entity if it controls the sale of 15% or more of a station's inventory. The change, fought by television station owners and Commissioners AJIT PAI and MIKE O'RIELLY, will require stations presently not in compliance with the new standard to comply within two years.
The Commission also officially launched the ownership rules review with a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that incorporates the incomplete 2010 Quadrennial Review record and asks for more comment on the JSA changes. The actions were approved by a party-line 3-2 vote, with Democrats Chairman TOM WHEELER and Commissioners JESSICA ROSENWORCEL and MIGNON CLYBURN in favor and Republicans PAI and O'RIELLY against.
In another television move, the Commission changed its retransmission consent rules to prohibit competing stations affiliated with one of the Big 4 networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox) from jointly negotiating retransmission consent agreements. The panel also is seeking comment on whether it should eliminate or modify network non-duplication and syndicated exclusivity rules, leaving the decision on carriage of distant or duplicative broadcast signals to private contracts. PAI's concurrence on the retransmission consent issue included his citing ROB BASE and DJ E-Z ROCK ("It takes two to make a thing go right").

