The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as part of the agency's “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative. The NAB makes a strong case for significant regulatory reform, primarily focusing on eliminating outdated broadcast ownership restrictions. In their April 11th filing, the NAB argues that these decades-old caps are the industry's most significant regulatory burden, stating they are “devastating to the viability and future vitality of TV and radio broadcasters.”
“Far and away the most important step the Commission can take in this entire docket – not just with respect to broadcasting – is to eliminate the TV national audience reach cap and the local TV rule, and, at least, significantly reform and relax the local radio rule,” the NAB wrote. The association stresses the competitive disadvantage broadcasters face against less-regulated digital competitors. “No longer can broadcasting remain the Mount Everest of communications services that the Commission – akin to mountaineers – regulates because it is there,” the NAB stated.
The NAB contends that reforming ownership rules is crucial for effective competition in the modern media landscape. They describe these restrictions as the industry's “existential challenge,” hindering broadcasters from achieving the scale needed to compete with technology platforms and streaming services. The filing specifically calls for the elimination of the national audience reach cap and local TV rules, and significant reform of the local radio rule.
NAB Chairman Brendan Carr previously described the situation as a “break glass moment” for broadcasters, noting that legacy regulations prevent capital from flowing to broadcasters, forcing them to “compete against unregulated Big Tech companies with one hand tied behind their backs.”
Beyond ownership rules, the NAB identified several other regulatory requirements for elimination or modification: the “substantially similar” rule for the ATSC 3.0 transition; online public file obligations; recently expanded rules requiring disclosures for foreign content; EEO requirements; and children’s programming mandates. The filing also proposed changes to emergency alerting regulations and the deletion of outdated technical rules.
“If NAB’s comments demonstrate anything, it is that behind the scenes of providing the local news, playing hit music on the radio, or airing live sports, engaging hit shows, or other major events, broadcast stations face an unrelenting struggle of uploading thousands of documents, complying with hundreds of pages of rules, or taking on a myriad of obligations.”