The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is continuing their campaign urging Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to modernize their very old broadcast ownership rules. This not only affects television, but radio as well.
According to the NAB, the outdated restrictions are making it difficult for local stations to compete against Big Tech companies. These rules were implemented MANY years ago. Radio and television properties have changed significantly, and so should the rules.
NAB has been campaigning since April to Congress and the FCC, trying to be heard. Since then, they’ve aired almost 250,000 television and radio ads to inform the masses on how keeping these rules is killing local media; and just as important, how it will effect consumers.
Since the campaign, people have sent more than 174,000 emails and 34,000 tweets to members of Congress and FCC commissioners in support of the NAB campaign. This right here shows the listeners and consumers care where their information and entertainment is coming from.
The overall goal is to modernize the outdated rules, which would help local broadcasting compete with Big Tech.
Now that football has started…the thought of losing live sports on free broadcast channels should be a concern for the public. A new ad showcases what it would be like to lose that luxury. 83% of a national survey said they would like to have games on local TV, vs 17% who said they preferred paid streaming.
This doesn’t just affect television. The NAB is calling for removing restrictions on the number of AM radio stations a single entity can own. As for FM, NAB wants to see less stringent FM radio ownership rules. According to their plan, revisions should be based on market size. It doesn’t stop there…as it goes with television, NAB wants the FCC to remove the separate subcaps that limit the number of AM and FM stations a company can own within a market.
This campaign is also tackling the “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act” that’s been talked about on this site in a separate blog.
Ownership rules are frozen in time and do not correspond to the modern media platforms. As previously stated; the media has changed and so should the rules. Outdated rules are preventing the growth of local TV and radio. This makes it extremely difficult to compete with Big Tech who’s sky is the limit.