Broadcasters Blast Geotargeted Radio, GBS Want 'Open Mind' From FCC

NAB, NPR and other opponents of the FCC’s authorization of geotargeted radio used Thursday’s comments deadline to take additional shots at the technology, while proponent GeoBroadcast Solutions said the agency should “keep an open mind.” Two broadcast entities, Press Communications and REC Networks, have called for reconsideration of the agency’s order allowing content origination on FM booster stations. Geotargeted radio will “erode public confidence in FM radio broadcasting” and harm stations “baited into employing the technology,” NAB said in docket 20-401.

The FCC’s April order created a temporary authorization process for geotargeted radio using the experimental license rules and included a further NPRM seeking comment on a more permanent regime. The interim period before the formal rules are created “should not be a one way ratchet,” said GeoBroadcast Solutions (GBS), developer of geotargeting tech ZoneCasting. “If evidence shows that certain concerns remain unfounded, the Commission should be willing to consider changes to its adopted and proposed safeguards that would provide FM broadcasters with even greater flexibility,” GBS said. That could include raising the number of commonly owned booster stations allowed to originate content, or decreasing the three minute-per-hour limit on booster content, GBS said. “Minimizing additional technical and procedural requirements will enable broadcasters to tap into the full potential of program originating boosters.”

A joint filing from the U.S. Black Chambers, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, National Newspaper Publishers Association and Roberts Broadcasting was the only non-GBS comment filing that supported geotargeting tech. “This rule change allows a new avenue for local businesses to better engage with listeners via hyper-local advertising and helps broadcasters reach their target audiences more effectively,” the joint filing said. The four groups previously lobbied the FCC in support of radio geotargeting. Their filing endorsed a proposal that licensees of program originating boosters certify that they are being responsive to the needs and issues of their service areas, especially minority communities. In its comments, GBS also said it supported a public interest certification.

Nearly every other commenter in the docket called for the FCC to closely monitor use of the tech and create additional procedures around interference protection and notification requirements. The FCC must “proceed cautiously with the proposal to allow FM stations to adopt geo-targeting,” NPR said. NAB reiterated criticisms of GBS testing of its Zonecasting tech and blasted the FCC for not verifying the company’s claims. “GBS’s testing was not observed by any independent broadcasters, engineers, FCC staff, or representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),” NAB said. “These are data points that should give an expert agency pause.”

NPR said the FCC should closely monitor stations that adopt the tech and require an affirmative grant from the FCC before stations can originate programming on their boosters. “Given all the uncertainties that still surround GBS’s testing and technical claims, a public notification obligation is essential,” NAB said. GBS said the FCC’s proposal requiring notifying other broadcasters 15 days before originating programming “strikes a perfect balance.”

NPR and REC Networks called for additional notifications and precautions around the tech’s intersection with the emergency alert system. NPR echoed a FEMA request that stations using geotargeting must notify all EAS participants that monitor the booster’s primary station, while REC said the FCC should impose a three-year moratorium on primary entry point stations using the technology. “The alerting functionality of geotargeting technology needs more testing and real-world use at the more local level” before “it puts the lives of millions of radio listeners, TV viewers and MVPD subscribers at risk,” said REC Networks.

REC Networks and Press Communications called on the FCC to reconsider the geotargeting order. The Press filing said geotargeting will create additional interference and unfair competition. The agency “cannot overlook the obvious inequities that will ensue from allowing larger high-powered stations to create a multitude of highly targeted zones in rural markets” while Class A broadcasters and lower powered radio stations can’t, Press said. The REC Networks petition said the FCC misunderstood the organization’s arguments on interference concerns and never addressed them in the geotargeted radio order. REC wants partial reconsideration of the order and a restriction on booster stations to prevent them from exceeding the signal strength of other nearby radio broadcasters.

GBS said the FCC shouldn’t impose a requirement that boosters be synchronized but instead should “allow broadcasters to respond to the specific needs of their own communities.” NAB and NPR said the agency should require booster synchronization, while REC Networks said such a requirement isn’t necessary. GBS also said the FCC should treat FM boosters as separate facilities for the purposes of the agency’s political broadcasting rules. That means ads on the boosters would be affected by lowest unit charge and other requirements. “By allowing candidates to advertise to smaller areas, a form of political outreach that historically may have been impractical and cost prohibitive for certain state and local candidates may become an effective and affordable,” GBS said.