NAB Comments Support Cross-Ownership Rule Changes

The NAB has filed comments on the FCC's cross-ownership rule revision proposal, saying that it "supports amendment of the outdated prohibition on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership, which has not been revised since its adoption in 1975. Elimination of the total ban on cross-ownership is clearly supported by the record in this proceeding, and modifying the rule is consistent with judicial affirmation of the Commission’s 2003 determination that the ban was no longer in the public interest. Indeed, the voluminous record in this proceeding would support a more extensive revision of the newspaper cross-ownership restrictions, given the public interest benefits derived from such cross-ownership." 

The comments assert, "There is... no credible evidence in the record that cross-ownership harms the public interest," but criticize the proposal for not changing the existing TV duopoly rule, which the NAB terms "arbotrary and capricious." The NAB also "urges the Commission to consider the continued relaxation of the local radio limitations set by Congress over a decade a ago in a less competitive and diverse media marketplace."

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