NAB Wants Full FCC Action on Merger Reviews, VMPVDs, Ownership

With the FCC now at five commissioners (see 2309070081), the agency should act on “ambitious and necessary reforms” to preserve local broadcasting, said NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt in a blog post Friday. The FCC “must actively consider whether their policies, which value a strong system of local broadcasting, are keeping pace” with modern competition, LeGeyt said. The five-person commission should ensure the agency’s merger review process “will conclude with an up or down vote in a timely fashion,” said LeGeyt, likely referencing the failed Standard General/Tegna merger (see 2306010077). “Opaque and shifting guidelines about broadcaster transactions can deter potential buyers from investing in new and established entrants,” he wrote. The agency should also refresh the record in docket 14-261 on reclassifying streaming services -- sometimes called virtual MVPDs -- as MVPDs bound by retransmission consent requirements, LeGeyt said. “The system of regulations applied to legacy pay-TV providers recognizes the importance local broadcasters play in their communities.” LeGeyt also urged the agency to relax broadcast ownership rules so broadcasters can scale up to compete with larger digital media companies. “As broadcasters fight for audiences and advertisers with much larger competitors, having the scale to compete will allow us to continue to improve the quality and local focus of programming,” LeGeyt said.