Groups Ask Court to Reject Part of FCC Incubator Program

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The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) are challenging the Federal Communications Commission's proposed incubator program, petitioning the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review one element of the program—its comparability standards of ownership rule waivers—which they said was arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of discretion, and thus illegal. MMTC and NABOB support the underlying goal of helping diversify media ownership and the incubator program specifically. But they have problems with the FCC's definition of "comparable" radio market. A "small" market with 45-plus full power radio stations qualifies for incubation, while a "comparable" market could be New York because it also has 45-plus stations, a point MMTC and NABOB also made in their filing.


MMTC, NABOB Ask Court to Reject Part of FCC Incubator Program