FCC Proposes To Eliminate 74-Year-Old Antenna Site Availability Rule

Rule Elimination Proposed

Continuing its efforts to modernize the agency's rules, the FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes eliminating the rule that requires licensees to make their antenna sites available to other broadcasters if the sites are "peculiarly suitable for broadcasting in the area." The rule dates back to 1945, and the Commission unanimously voted to issue the notice on FRIDAY (10/25).

Chairman AJIT PAI noted that "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.  All this raises the question:  Are these rules still necessary?  With this Notice, we aim to find out."

And Commissioner MIKE O'RIELLY added, "Suffice it to say that we are truly cleaning out the underbrush here, proposing elimination of rules that have almost never been invoked.  The item does, however, demonstrate the arcane regime that undergirds the broadcast industry, with rules still on the books from the time when the Greatest Generation came home from EUROPE to launch the American Century.  At that time, the nascent infrastructure needed to build out television and radio networks was vastly underdeveloped, but 75 years later the industry has matured and now faces new, powerful competitors who are not bound by such ancient regulations.  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."

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