Several radio groups have asked the FCC to regulate ownership limits, with the hopes of the new rules making the medium more competitive in the advertising market against tech giants.
In a joint statement from Connoisseur Media and Mid-West Family Broadcasting, the companies believe the FCC needs to “relax the current local radio ownership rules particularly for companies like theirs, that already provide significant local service, and would increase such service if allowed to own more stations in their markets,” according to PolicyBand.com.
The request from radio ownership groups coincides with similar questions from TV ownership groups, with the FCC being required to issue a decision by Wednesday, December 27th. Additionally, the NAB and its President and CEO, Curtis LeGeyt, have championed an update to the regulations, saying, “For broadcasters to continue our unique service to your constituents, television and radio stations must remain economically viable in a highly competitive marketplace.”
Currently, the FCC mandates that in a radio market with 14 or fewer radio stations, single groups can own up to five radio stations, as long as that group does not owner more than 50% of the stations in the market.
The radio owners argue that the current ownership caps are outdated since it was last updated in 1996. The proliferation of digital media — with the statement directly pointing to Google, Facebook, and Amazon — is the biggest driver of wanting the change.
“No radio station in any market has more than 1% of the local advertising market share – while Google, Facebook, and Amazon divide more than half of that local revenue and provide no local service,” the radio broadcasters said. “There are radio owners in many markets today who want to exit the market and cannot find a buyer for their stations. There is not a shortage of stations to buy, but a shortage of buyers willing to invest in stations that cannot achieve scale in their markets.”
