WASHINGTON -- In response to the FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to modernize broadcast media ownership rules, the following statement can be attributed to NAB Executive Vice Presidentof Communications Dennis Wharton:
"NAB strongly supports Chairman's Pai plan for modernizing broadcast media ownership rules. For 40 years, policymakers and the courts have blessed countless mega-mergers among national telco, cable and satellite program giants, while at the same time blocking broadcast/newspaper or radio/TV combinations in single markets.
"This nonsensical regulatory approach has harmed the economic underpinning of newspapers, reduced local journalism jobs, and punished free and local broadcasters at the expense of our pay TV and radio competitors. We look forward to rational media ownership rules that foster a bright future for broadcasters and our tens of millions of listeners and viewers."
About NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association
for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests
in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education
and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities,
strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital
age. Learn more at www.nab.org.