The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has filed a brief challenging the local radio and television ownership restrictions from the FCC.
In a statement, the NAB argued that the current Federal Communications Commission’s rules are outdated and need to be updated to better reflect the current media and business climates.
“It is long past time for the FCC to modernize its broadcast ownership rules; these are relics from a bygone era, created before the internet, smartphones, social media and streaming,” the organization said. “NAB’s brief succinctly demonstrates to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that the FCC has failed to justify that these rules remain necessary to serve the public in light of the immense competition broadcasters face in today’s media marketplace.”
The crux of the organization’s filing is that due to the shifting landscape of the media industry, the radio and television broadcast stations have diminished importance in the overall marketplace.
In its filing, the NAB argued that “The Local Television and Radio Rules retain and even tighten decades-old restrictions on which—and how many—television and radio stations broadcasters may own in a particular geographic market. The rules are premised on the notion that broadcasters could exert disproportionate influence by shaping news and entertainment options.”
