Broadcasters Divided Over Geotargeted Radio Proposal

Radio broadcasters are at odds with one another and with NAB over whether the FCC should change FM booster rules to allow geotargeted radio broadcasts, in comments posted through Wednesday in docket 20-401. The NPRM “could open new doors for the marketing practices of small businesses,” said Emmis Communications. Dozens of smaller broadcasters submitted nearly identical comments supporting the proposal (see 2101270069), but NAB asked the FCC to hold off.

“Amending the booster rule could very well produce a race to the bottom of ad rates and revenues,” NAB said. “If it can be shown that a rule change is helpful to consumers and industry and in the public interest, then the Commission should embrace that rule change,” said GeoBroadcast Solutions. GBS owns booster synchronization technology that allows for geotargeted radio broadcasts and is a vocal supporter of the rulemaking. "Some parties oppose new technologies and innovation, and that is a familiar story for those who have watched broadcast media evolve over the decades," emailed a GBS spokesperson. "However, a broad range of large and small stations and broadcast groups, the advertising community, and minority coalitions, have indicated their desire to embrace innovation."

Radio is the only mass communications technology that can’t geotarget, said the company. “The inability of radio to deliver targeted content puts the medium at a significant disadvantage in serving communities and promoting localism.” Allowing geotargeted broadcasts will increase localism and be attractive to advertisers, GBS said. “A majority of both national and local advertisers would spend more money on radio advertising if geo-targeting were on offer,” said asset manager-lender Monroe Capital.

GBS disagreed that the booster tech would increase the FM noise floor or cause interference. The technology would be voluntary, and “a broadcaster would not adopt a technology that would have a negative impact on its listeners,” GBS said. “Broadcasters have every incentive and ability to manage self-interference.” The ban on independent transmissions by FM booster stations is “a relic of the past” based on outdated engineering considerations rather than policy, said GatesAir. Broadcasters said interference is a concern. “The more boosters a station deploys for geo-targeting, the more common disruptions" are, said Cromwell Group. “If geotargeting grows, radio listeners may begin to perceive radio as a service that is garbled and unreliable.”

“Rather than bolster the industry’s economic outlook, GBS’s proposal would instead undermine the industry’s fundamental business model,” said NAB. Allowing geotargeted ads would cause advertisers to push to purchase targeted commercials “that cherry-pick what they view to be their most desirable customers and at a lower cost,” causing ad rates to plummet, NAB said. Advertisers could “choose to ignore particular sub-markets or even neighborhoods within the larger market, thereby disadvantaging smaller stations serving those areas and the listeners,” said the Small Broadcasters Coalition.

Smaller broadcasters back GBS. Geotargeting would let broadcasters tailor information to specific regions and require a small change to FCC rules, said Shamrock Communications. “ZoneCasting technology is vitally important for radio to compete with the ever increasing internet competition,” said Wennes Communications. “Dozens of broadcasters, representing hundreds of stations located in virtually every state in the country, filed in support of the proposed rule change,” said GBS. NAB said many broadcasters oppose the plan.

There were “approximately 58 comments in the record from mostly smaller broadcasters in support of amending the booster rule, of which 54 are essentially identical and submitted by one attorney” who previously represented GBS, said a footnote in NAB’s comments. Broadcast attorney Aaron Shainis, who represents many of the broadcasters in the proceeding, didn’t comment.

Geotargeted broadcasts would be a boon to smaller stations and minority broadcasters, said Emmis, echoing the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who endorses the proposal (see 2010280062). Low-power FM backer REC Networks disagreed. “It does nothing to encourage new entrants into the industry, said REC. “It just makes existing diversely owned stations more attractive to be acquired by non-diverse corporate owners.” REC said the booster rule changes should be allowed only for areas where a showing of “community need” has been made. The tech could let advertisers target certain demographics while ignoring others, said NAB.

Several said the FCC shouldn’t allow the technology until further testing. Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, who previously supported GBS, sees benefits in the tech and advised more testing of its integration with the emergency alert system. “Decline to adopt the rule changes proposed by GBS while there is further testing and a showing of real community benefit across a spectrum of differing conditions,” said Cromwell. GBS announced this week grant of an experimental license for further testing (see 2102090057).