NAB: FCC Isn't 'DOJ's Younger Sibling ... Following It Blindly Over The Cliff'
There are many reasons why even in markets with three or more full-power TV stations, top-four network programming might need to be broadcast on a low-power TV station or multicast channel, NAB said in an ex parte filing in FCC…
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docket 18-349 Tuesday, responding to a filing last week from the American Television Alliance (see 2312070061). Many such markets “have independent, Spanish language or religious stations that are not interested in affiliating with any of the four largest broadcast networks,” NAB said. “Stations that have elected mandatory carriage cannot simply ‘pick up’ a ‘Big Four’ network affiliation,” and stations “cannot simply unravel their existing agreements with program suppliers,” it added. NAB also pushed back on ATVA submissions concerning DOJ's past stances against broadcast transactions involving top-four combinations. The FCC “is not simply DOJ’s younger sibling, destined to follow DOJ blindly over the cliff,” NAB said. “The FCC’s public interest analysis is broader than and distinct from DOJ’s statutory role.” The commission should “reject the self-interested, anti-competitive, and ultimately anti-consumer arguments being made by the pay-TV industry in these proceedings,” said NAB.