D.C. Memo: NAB CEO Calls for FCC Action on 39% Cap on TV Station Reach

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FCC: The National Association of Broadcasters’ top executive yesterday called on the FCC to update broadcast regulations or risk seeing radio and TV stations decline like the print newspaper industry. In a speech, NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt called on the FCC to establish a level playing field that would give TV and radio stations a better chance of competing with Big Tech. “Big Tech is interested in clicks…not public service, and it is past time for our stations to have a fair chance to compete to enable them to keep doing what they do best – being there when it matters most,” LeGeyt told the Media Institute in Washington, D.C. Specifically, he called on the FCC to eliminate the cap that prevents a TV station owner like Nexstar Media Group from reaching more than 39% of TV households nationally. He also called for allowing the common ownership of two Top Four rated stations (usually the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates but not always) in the same local market. NAB and individual broadcasters, including Nexstar, are challenging the FCC’s latest TV station rules adoped under former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Oral arguments are set for March 19 in an Eighth Circuit federal courtroom in St. Paul, Minn. The 39% cap is statutory, though NAB maintains the FCC has authority to relax or abolish the cap. Last November, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook indicated he would urge Congress to support FCC action on the 39% cap. Sook is chair of NAB’s Executive Committee.