The NAB has filed comments with the FCC that may not sit well with some radio owners who believe deregulation has resulted in less localism. The comments filed by the NAB call for more relaxed rules than those currently on the books at the FCC. "The existing local radio ownership rules are not necessary to promote the commission's goals of competition, diversity or localism. Recent developments in the audio marketplace have made it competitive by any metric, but certainly in comparison to the less competitive and less diverse marketplace that existed when Congress enacted the restrictions in 1996." The NAB goes on to say that the competition in the audio marketplace has rendered the current ownership restrictions obsolete.
In addition, the NAB comments filed yesterday say that the local radio ownership restrictions are likely inhibiting localism. "As shown by a 2010 government accountability study, radio programming decisions are locally-made, based on the interests and preferences of local listeners, and are not determined by ownership structures. In other words, the current local radio ownership restrictions are unnecessary because, even in their absence, local radio stations will do what they have always done - respond to local listeners. Studies in fact have shown that local restrictions are more likely to inhibit localism than foster it."
You can read the entire NAB document HERE.
The Radio comments begin on page 41 of the document
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