Broadcasters Aim at All Local Broadcast Ownership Limits in 2018 QR Challenge
The FCC treats its quadrennial review process “like a basketball center blocking shots,” broadcasters say as they challenge the FCC’s 2018 quadrennial review order in an opening brief in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The broadcasters argue that…
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the 8th Circuit should vacate not only the 2018 QR order, but also local TV and radio ownership limits, because the FCC has failed to justify retaining them. The agency “never seriously examines whether its rules are in the public interest as a result of clear competition; instead it simply swats at certain alternative proposals,” says the filing from NAB, Zimmer Radio, Tri-State Communications, Nexstar and Beasley Media. Though the brief was filed Monday, as of Tuesday afternoon, it was still inaccessible on the 8th Circuit’s website because the clerk of the court must approve filings before they go public. “Congress directed the Commission to determine whether its broadcast ownership rules remain necessary in light of competitive changes; that undertaking requires a fresh look each time, and an affirmative, reasoned justification if the Commission determines the limits are still necessary,” the brief says. “The Commission failed that task.” The petitioner brief and an intervenor brief from the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliate station groups argue that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Chevron deference means the 8th Circuit should rule that the agency has violated Section 202h of the 1996 Communications Act. A collection of radio broadcasters also filed as intervenors. The QR order “disregards the deregulatory nature of section 202(h) and ignores competition from non-broadcast sources,” the joint brief says. The broadcasters also argue that the QR order’s inclusion of channels hosted on multicast stations or low-power stations under the Top Four prohibition violated the First Amendment. “The Commission may not regulate broadcasters’ programming choices -- the Communications Act does not authorize it, and the First Amendment forbids it,” the joint filing says. “It is long past time for the FCC to modernize its broadcast ownership rules; these are relics from a bygone era, created before the internet, smartphones, social media and streaming,” NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt says in a release. “NAB's brief succinctly demonstrates to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that the FCC has failed to justify that these rules remain necessary to serve the public in light of the immense competition broadcasters face in today's media marketplace."