Local TV and radio stations provide the most trusted news and emergency information, live sports and free entertainment (with no subscription necessary) to millions of Americans. Advertising dollars from local and national businesses fund newsrooms, trusted local journalism and cover the cost of entertainment and live sports.
When these rules were put in place, local radio and TV stations competed mostly with each other for advertising business. But times have changed. Now their biggest competitors are global digital and streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix and Spotify that face none of local stations' ownership restrictions.
With advertising flowing to billion-dollar companies and out of local communities, your stations’ ability to fund trusted local journalism, air live sporting events and provide free entertainment programming is at risk.
News and entertainment options have changed a lot in the last fifty years, but local radio and TV ownership limits were established decades ago, but local ownership rules haven’t. Without changes to outdated bureaucratic rules, stations aren’t able to compete with Big Tech giants. It hurts their ability to innovate, grow or offer more choices to consumers.
The government dictates the number of channels a radio company can offer in each local area, but Spotify, Sirius, Audible and Apple can – and do – reach 100% of national audiences with unlimited channels.
Local TV stations remain subject to ownership restrictions rooted in an era when viewers had far fewer sources of news and entertainment, limiting broadcasters from owning more than two stations in any TV market.
While Big Tech companies are able to grow without any regulations, decades-old rules hurt your local radio and TV stations’ ability to offer trusted local news, providing a critical voice for their communities.
When the power goes out, when storms threaten, when a child is missing – local stations are there. Because of their resilient engineering and the robust Emergency Alert System, radio stations are a key part of our nation’s emergency infrastructure. If we want local radio stations to continue providing this vital service, the rules governing them must reflect the realities of today’s media marketplace.
Congress requires the Federal Communications Commission (the arm of the government that oversees broadcast stations) to review local radio and TV rules and make changes to adapt to the times. But the FCC has failed to change broadcast rules since before the internet, social media or streaming existed.
The FCC is now considering its delayed 2022 quadrennail review, including rules that restrict how many radio and televisoin stations a broadcaster can own in a local market. This is the Commission's opportunity to recognize how dramatically the media marketplace has changed and modernize rules that have remained frozen for decades.
For local stations, reform is long overdue.
