NAB: FCC Shouldn't Review Media Rules on 'Unsupported Opinion'

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The National Association of Broadcasters plans to tell Congress that the Federal Communications Commission has failed to determine whether its media ownership rules service the public, and needs to base its review of those rules on evidence, not "unsupported opinion."

That is according to the prepared testimony of NAB exec Jane Mago for the June 11 "Media Ownership in the 21st Century" hearing in the House Communications Subcommittee. Mago will argue that broadcasters are subject to old rules that distort competition, while less-regulated competitors like cable and satellite grab audience share and ad revenues.

Mago also points out that the FCC itself has previously found the newspaper-broadcast crossownership ban to be unnecessary -- a bipartisan trio for former chairs has also admitted it was still on the books for fear of upsetting Congress -- but yet the ban remains in place. The NAB is also unhappy that the FCC failed to complete its 2010 quadrennial rule review as required by Congress.


NAB: FCC Shouldn't Review Media Rules on 'Unsupported Opinion'