During the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Sept. 30 quadrennial ownership review, Commissioner Anna M. Gomez voiced concerns about the potential impact of proposed regulatory changes on the industry's NextGen TV push. She cautioned that relaxed ownership limits might unfairly benefit large station groups, potentially at the expense of consumers.
In her statement accompanying the notice of proposed rulemaking on broadcast ownership rules, Gomez described NextGen TV — formally known as ATSC 3.0 — as a key element in a broader set of proceedings that could “drastically alter the media ecosystem and the number of voices that are a part of it.”
“These are all complex proceedings with more issues to resolve than I am covering today,” Gomez wrote. “The financial pressures on local broadcasters are very real as are the significant values of the local broadcasting services they provide to their communities of license.”
NextGen TV, built on internet protocol-based broadcasting, promises more efficient spectrum use, precise advertising, and datacasting. Broadcasters are urging the FCC to set a firm transition deadline, raising questions about who will cover the implementation costs. "Costs will be borne by manufacturers that will need to add technology to televisions to receive this broadcast, MVPDs that will need to change their equipment to receive the NextGen TV signals, and consumers that will need to purchase antennas for their existing TVs to receive the new signal over the air or potentially pay higher prices for new televisions,” Gomez stated.
Gomez connected the economic viability of NextGen TV to the national ownership cap debate, arguing that the technology's advantages for broadcasters become more significant if ownership restrictions are eased or removed. Current rules prevent entities from owning broadcast stations reaching more than 39% of U.S. households, a limit set by Congress in 2004. “A station group with a nationwide footprint and data about their audiences will be able to compete for national targeted advertising campaigns,” Gomez wrote. “They also plan to sell datacasting services using the broadcast spectrum made available by the more efficient standard to, for example, broadly and efficiently transmit technical updates to devices such as phones and cars outside traditional broadband connections.”
Gomez suggested that Congress, not the FCC, should decide on raising the national ownership cap, given the 2004 legislative action. She also questioned if larger station groups would change the balance between national networks and local broadcasters. “A significant question to be addressed is how would ownership of a group of local broadcasters that together reach the majority or all of the nation change the incentives of that station group?” Gomez wrote. “In the past two weeks the public has raised serious concerns that large station groups made programming decisions to serve their national corporate interests, not their communities of license.”
While acknowledging the potential benefits of NextGen TV, the commissioner stressed the importance of careful policy analysis before widespread adoption. “This may well be a great use of spectrum but we should certainly consider the policy implications of allowing this before it happens,” she wrote.
Gomez emphasized that the ownership review, national cap debate, and NextGen TV transition are interrelated issues requiring a coordinated approach. She also noted that broadcasters have different motivations based on their assets, making uniform policy difficult. The quadrennial review seeks comment on the Local Radio Ownership Rule, Local Television Ownership Rule and Dual Network Rule.
Gomez supported the review while emphasizing that “financial gains for corporate giants is not a basis to abandon our, and broadcasters’, obligations to serve the public interest.” She called for stakeholder engagement to find rule changes that address broadcast economics while preserving public interest principles. “The broadcast ecosystem is a longstanding public private partnership and I call on all stakeholders to approach this pivotal moment with an open mind to identifying modifications to current rules that would both shore up the economics of broadcast television and preserve the public interest,” Gomez wrote.
The commissioner outlined three principles for evaluating proposed changes: localism, viewpoint diversity, and competition, distinguishing them from purely financial considerations. Regulatory decisions should prioritize incentivizing broadcasters to serve their communities. “Nobody can tell me what the broadcasting industry is going to look like five or ten years down the road,” Gomez wrote.
The FCC will accept comments on the ownership review for 30 days following Federal Register publication, with reply comments due 60 days after publication.