Jerianne Timmerman

Yesterday, the FCC at long last announced its intention to reform its woefully outdated broadcast ownership rules. To say that these changes are past due is an understatement. Clearly, not every long-standing FCC rule should be eliminated or modified just because of its age. But the broadcast ownership rules fail to reflect today’s digital media marketplace.

Jerianne Timmerman, NAB senior deputy general counsel: During the past year, a number of industry trade associations have changed their long-standing names to reflect changes in their members and industries. Notably, however, the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules reflect none of these fundamental changes.

NAB and its members have for decades fought the FCC’s disparate restrictions on the multiple and cross-ownership of television and radio stations — restrictions that do not apply to competing video and audio providers, including cable, satellite and online. The FCC must stop this unfair treatment if it truly cares about competition, diversity and localism.