FCC Already Working To Make Radio Ownership More Diverse, Pai Says

Story by Inside Radio

From protests on the streets to members of Congress taking a knee in the U.S. Capitol, racial justice issues have exploded into the headlines and have become front of mind in company boardrooms and state houses nationwide. At the Federal Communications Commission, the nexus between diversity and media ownership was drawn by Commissioner Geoffrey Stark who in recent days has advocated for policymakers to “do more” to include black people and other communities of color.

Ajit Pai said making his agency’s policies more inclusive has been a focus since he became the chairman of the FCC three years ago. “Having traveled everywhere from poor communities of the Delta of Mississippi all the way to Alaska villages above the Arctic Circle, it was important to me that our policies here reflect and are informed by the concerns of diverse communities that make up the American fabric,” he said Tuesday. Pai told Inside Radio it’s a prime reason why he pushed for a radio incubator program in the most recently completed quadrennial media ownership review. “It had been talked about for over two decades prior to my chairman. We actually got it done,” he said.

But the incubator program is now in limbo in clear frustration to Pai, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit last September blocked media rule changes from taking effect. The ruling blocked the incubator program too after Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) sued to block the rules dictating how established broadcasters could use the waivers they receive as a reward for participating. “A very unfortunate aspect of that decision was essentially vitiating the incubator program which would have helped many minorities get into the broadcast business,” Pai said.

In April the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court asking it overturn the appeals court decision. A decision on whether to hear the case isn’t expected until later this year. “Could we do more? Yes, I think we could,” said Pai. But until what he called the “roadblock” that the Third Circuit has put up is dealt with, Pai said there are only so many options open to the FCC.

Commissioner Michael O’Rielly had lobbied for the radio incubator program to be expanded to television as well as radio, a suggestion that ultimately failed to secure enough support as other commissioners wanted to wait and see how well a radio incubator would work before creating a TV-focused program. “At some point we’ll have to see if a standalone effort might be able to survive court review,” said O’Rielly, although he isn’t optimistic that tact will be successful. “Every single item that we even remotely talked about that touched on media ownership has had the Third Circuit vacuum it in,” he said.

As the court battle moves forward, diversity advocates still have a direct line into the FCC. When he assumed the chairmanship in 2017, Pai reconstituted the Advisory Committee for Diversity and Digital Empowerment which had been allowed to disband under former Chair Tom Wheeler. Last year Pai chartered the group for another two-year term. Unlike some Washington groups, the Diversity Advisory Committee has had several results inside the FCC, including playing a pivotal role during the recent formation of the radio incubator program.

“My goal is to make sure every American has an opportunity to participate in the broadcast business, which historically has been a great springboard for minorities who want to enter the communications industry,” said Pai.

O’Rielly said like a lot of Americans he is listening and learning while absorbing the changes that are happening in society, often times through the prism of what world his own two young children will live in. But as he prepares for a Senate confirmation hearing – possibly as soon as next week – O’Rielly said he believes the FCC has a lot to be proud of. “If you compare this Commission to past ones, we’ve been much more aggressive to try to bring more opportunities to new entrants, which includes small businesses and minority and women-owned organizations,” he said.

One answer is helping new technology to get off the ground, which O’Rielly noted often times have lower barriers to entry than traditional formats like radio or TV as well as profit margins that are bigger. “We live in a world where broadcast ownership is not as important as it once was,” he said.

FCC Building Closed Through June

In a first, the Commission’s monthly meeting was held using video conferencing on Tuesday as the agency remains mostly in work-from-home mode for a third month. “We anticipate that we will continue to telework at least through the end of June,” Pai told reporters. He has had phone calls with all the bureaus and offices inside the agency about ways to potentially reopen in preparation of the date when staff will be able to return to the Portals building. “Their safety and health is always going to be my top priority,” said Pai. “That is the prism by which we are evaluating how we are going to take the next steps in terms of opening the building.” He credited the FCC staff for keeping the agency humming along during the closure and high speed broadband connectivity for allowing teleworking to happen.