Federal Communications Commission Moves To Eliminate Studio Rule

Story by Radio Ink

As expected, the FCC is moving forward with a plan to eliminate the Main Studio Rule. At its regularly scheduled meeting, Thursday, the Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, proposing to eliminate the main studio rule, which requires each AM, FM, and television broadcast station to have a main studio located in or near its local community. The Notice also proposes to eliminate the requirement that the main studio have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours, and the requirement that it be able to originate programming.

Chairman Ajit Pai said things have changed since the FCC first conceived the main studio rule almost 80 years ago. “Back then, perhaps, this made sense. But today, the rule appears outdated, unnecessary, and unduly burdensome. Community access and engagement remain important in the digital era, but technology has rendered physical studios unnecessary for those purposes. That’s because such activities are much more likely to occur via social media, email, or phone rather than through an in-person visit to a broadcast studio. Furthermore, broadcasters have shown that the main studio rule is a continuous cost that keeps them from serving their local communities in meaningful ways, like broadcasting additional local programming.”
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STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN
Re: Elimination of Main Studio Rule, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MB Docket No. 17-106

For years, you have heard me speak about the unique role broadcasters play in local communities.
NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith reinforced this view in his 2014 Congressional testimony by
stating that “Localism underpins each of our FCC licenses . . . Our stations demonstrate their commitment
to this promise in times of every emergency, reminding us of broadcasters’ important role as first
informers.”

So I find it perplexing that those very same broadcasters are advocating to absolve themselves
from maintaining local roots in their community of license. A broadcaster’s main studio is often the only
physical tie to a community. Broadcasters are often among the first to report an emergency, and when it
comes to radio, that physical presence means they actually know and are experiencing first hand, what
their local listeners want and need to hear. By tentatively proposing to eliminate the Commission’s main
studio rule however, it seems to me that we are embracing a world in which automated national
programming is the new normal. When the community wants to know what is going on in their backyard,
my question is, will simulcasting fill the gap?

Now I understand the economic challenges facing many stations, particularly in small and midsized
markets. And if elimination of the main studio rule is what gives that small market station with just
five employees, the chance to keep the lights on and continue producing local programming, then I am
empathetic. But we need to think long and hard about the practical implications of eliminating this rule
altogether.

While it is true, that with the public file now accessible online, members of the public have one
less reason to visit a station’s main studio. And yes, a local or toll-free telephone number is a good thing,
but if nobody is there to answer that call, and the only option is to leave a voicemail, how often will it be
checked, when will that call be returned, and who is going to report if, heaven forbid, there is, say, a train
derailment and hazardous chemicals are spilled, jeopardizing the safety of the surrounding community?
This was indeed the case in 2002, during the Minot train derailment, when it took several hours to locate
station managers.

I thank Chairman Pai for hearing my concerns, and including a series of questions focused on
whether eliminating the main studio rule will impact a station’s ability to communicate time-sensitive or
emergency information to the public. The NPRM also asks at my request, whether a station’s phone
number should be staffed during the hours in which that station is on the air. This would provide a means
for the public and local officials to communicate life-saving information during an emergency. I am also
grateful for the inclusion of questions on what impact elimination of this rule would have on LPFM and
non-commercial stations.

So while I admit that I remain skeptical about moving forward with an outright elimination of this
rule, I believe that the NPRM tees up the appropriate questions needed to build a fulsome record. For
these reasons, I will vote to approve today’s NPRM.

My thanks once again go to the staff of the Media Bureau for working with me to ensure that
broadcasters remain a core part, of every local community in this country.