In ex parte remarks, it suggests any changes should be made in concert with a broader consideration of broadcast ownership rules.
NAB Urges FCC To Not Dismantle JSAs Now
In light of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s campaign to crack down on joint sales agreements and other sharing arrangements, NAB has told the FCC that joint sales agreements are a necessary response to increased competition in the local ad market and any FCC action on the issue should not be made without a broader consideration of broadcast ownership rules.
If Wheeler gets his way, the FCC will adopt a new agency regulation as soon as March that would bar broadcasters from forming new JSAs — deals under which one station sells ad time for another station in the same market.
The NAB’s remarks, made ex parte, also highlight examples of public interest benefits from joint sales arrangements, including the preservation of jobs, upgrades in facilities and increased production of community affairs programming.
Read the NAB’s remarks here.
Comments (2)
Brian Bussey says:
February 19, 2014 at 3:50 pm
oh my goodness the broadcasters would be forced to hire back the folks who should have been laid off in the first place…
Ellen Samrock says:
February 19, 2014 at 4:20 pm
Jane Mago is right. “Changing this rule without consideration of the larger context of the local television ownership rules, which have not been adapted to current market conditions, is arbitrary and capricious,” and is likely illegal. Should Tom the Cable Guy proceed ahead with his plan to rule against such agreements in March it would not surprise me if the FCC was slapped with a lawsuit from the broadcasting industry as well as censure from legislators on Capitol Hill (as is now occurring with Wheeler’s plan to reintroduce net neutrality). We already know the two Republican commissioners will vote against it but the Dems have the majority here.