Rules for Television

Eliminate Outdated and Bureaucratic Rules That Hurt Local TV Stations

Issue Summary:

America’s local television stations are critical to providing local news, emergency information, entertainment and sports to communities across the country. However, they are forced to comply with outdated local ownership rules that place severe limits on their ability to grow and compete.

• These rules, first enacted decades ago, have remained substantially unchanged despite a revolutionized media landscape.
• To ensure the long-term viability of local broadcast TV, The FCC must modernize local ownership rules that restrict how stations can operate and grow within communities.

Go Deeper:

America’s local television stations are unfairly constrained by outdated, bureaucratic rules designed for a world that no longer exists.

• FCC rules generally prevent a local television company from owning more than two full-power TV stations in the same local market, limiting broadcasters' ability to achieve the sacle needed to compete and invest in local service.
• In contrast, Big Tech platforms, cable TV and streaming services, such as Amazon, Netflix and YouTube, face no comparable local ownership limits and can compete for audiences and advertisers across every market.
• These obsolete rules put local stations at a significant disadvantage, limiting their ability to attract investment, innovate and compete.

Without changes to these outdated regulations that tip the scales in favor of Big Tech and cable TV, many of the essential services and content that Americans rely on from free local TV stations could disappear – and Big Tech’s control over what Americans see and hear will only grow.

• An increasing number of Americans report regularly getting their news from social media sites such as Facebook (30%) and TikTok (17%, including nearly 40% of adults under 30), and these numbers are only projected to grow.
• Because of their massive size, Big Tech companies like Amazon and Netflix are also able to pay huge amounts to sports leagues to air games, taking games off of local TV stations that show the games for free to the masses. The end result is that sports fans may soon need numerous streaming subscriptions to watch their favorite teams. Fair competition can keep sports open to everyone, not just a privileged few.
• Meanwhile, local TV stations remain restricted in how they can build scale within their own markets, even as they compete against far larger national and global companies.

Washington needs to act now to get rid of outdated regulations that prevent fair competition.

• After years of inaction, policymakers finally lifted restrictions on local stations owning local newspapers in 2017. But this came too late for the thousands of local newspapers that had already shuttered their doors. The result is more than half of U.S. counties now having either no local newspaper or only one remaining print outlet.
• A similar dynamic of inaction is playing out with rules governing local TV stations. The FCC's local television rules continue to impose limits rooted in a media marketplace that bears little resemblance to today's competitive media landscape.
• The realities of the new digital age demand updated rules that give local TV stations greater flexibility to invest, innovate and compete in their own markets against Big Tech, streaming services and cable networks.

The Bottom Line:

Policymakers must act now to modernize local TV ownership rules and give stations greater flexibility to compete and invest in the communities they serve. Let’s champion fair competition and ensure that Americans continue to have a choice when it comes to where they get their news and sports.