Supreme Court Sides With FCC And NAB, Justices To Hear Media Ownership Appeal.

• Oct 2, 2020 
 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Email
• Print
• Save

Story by Inside Radio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday (Oct. 2) agreed to hear appeals brought by the Federal Communications Commission and the National Association of Broadcasters. They are seeking to overturn an appeals court decision that blocked several media ownership rule changes from taking effect. The FCC in November 2018 voted to abolish the newspaper-broadcast and radio-TV cross-ownership rules, rework the radio AM-FM subcap regulations, and relax several television ownership restrictions, including allowing the same company to own two of the big network affiliates in a single market. An appeals court in Philadelphia also blocked a related radio incubator program from launching. The justices said the FCC and NAB appeals would be consolidated into a single one-hour argument. No date was immediately announced.

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is a victory for FCC Chair Ajit Pai, who took the issue to the high court last April – unlike his predecessors. For three times in 17 years, the Third Circuit has prevented the FCC’s media ownership revisions from taking effect.

Pai called it “great news” in a Twitter post. “Hope the Supreme Court affirms authority Congress gave us to amend ownership rules in light of a media marketplace that’s changed dramatically since 1975 – especially with local news outlets struggling more than ever,” he said.

The two other Republican commissioners who voted in favor of the revisions also welcomed the Court’s move.

Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said the Third Circuit “bungled this matter long enough” and failure to update media rules “penalizes U.S. broadcasters.” Commissioner Brendan Carr agreed, saying the internet has “fundamentally changed the way Americans obtain news and information.”

NAB President Gordon Smith also welcomed the news. “NAB looks forward to presenting our case before the Supreme Court this term,” he said. “For almost two decades, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked common-sense changes to outdated broadcast ownership regulations to the detriment of local journalism. The time has come to allow the FCC to modernize its rules.”

How We Got Here

The case is pinned on a 3-2 vote in November 2018 when the FCC decided to abolish the newspaper-broadcast and radio-TV cross-ownership rules, rework the radio AM-FM subcap regulations, and relax several television ownership restrictions, including allowing the same company to own two of the big network affiliates in a single market.

Several public interest groups challenged the moves and, in a 2-1 decision, the Third Circuit concluded the agency had not adequately analyzed the potential effect of the regulatory changes on female and minority ownership of broadcast stations. In their appeals to the Supreme Court, the FCC and NAB have said the court’s decisions have frozen in place decades-old ownership restrictions that have long outlived their competitive usefulness in light of dramatic upheavals in the media landscape.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Email
• Print
• Save