NAB Says DOJ JSA Comments Are Based on False and Dated Assumptions

The National Association of Broadcasters has taken aim at the Department of Justice comments supporting a Federal Communications Commission proposal to make some TV joint sales agreements attributable as ownership interests, as the FCC does in radio.

DOJ told the FCC that the commission should treat TV joint sales agreements (JSAs) as attributable ownership interests, and that shared sales agreements should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. The FCC has only proposed making JSAs of more than 15% of another station's ad sales attributable -- as do TV programming agreements for more than 15% of airtime. But DOJ said any JSA should be attributable.

In a submission to the FCC's various ownership dockets, NAB said DOJ's policy recommendation is based on both false and dated assumptions that broadcasting is the relevant antitrust market, rather than acknowledging competition from non-broadcast competitors like cable and other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). The association argues that DOJ is trying to further its own antitrust interests at the expense of the public interest standard.