New Jersey Broadcasters Association President Paul Rotella believes so and has filed a letter on behalf of NJBA members with the FCC requesting the Commission hold off on raising regulatory fees at its next meeting May 13th.
Rotella says a fee increase is not warranted and it’s certainly not the appropriate time to put any further financial burdens on broadcasters. “Broadcasters have been particularly hard hit by COVID-19, with severe reductions in advertisement revenues. Most broadcasters have sustained declines of 60-70% in ad revenues and some have lost even more over the past two months. Indeed, some have had a vaporization of revenue altogether in the last 30 days. Even if the economy were restored tomorrow, it would take months to generate and invoice sponsor revenue, let alone receive it.”
Rotella highlighted the ongoing mission of local broadcasters saying: “Broadcasters support their communities in numerous ways that other industries cannot and often will not consider. Look at the local charities, ball clubs, community food drives, clothing drivers, blood drives promoted and sponsored by local broadcasters. Look how local broadcast helps small businesses attract customers and clients, boosting their sales, and creating jobs, as well as contributing to the overall fabric of their communities.”
Reach out to Paul Rotella by e-mail at [email protected]
The FCC Should waive all fees for 2020!
Freezing fees is a no-brainer (which of course … uhh, never mind); reducing fees to a much more appropriate, pop-count/market-size, graduated basis is an absolute MUST if many, many stations are to survive and later thrive.
Regulatory fees have always been an inherently unfair burden on the smaller stations. Take a fee on a Class A FM in a small market–say under 150,000–and look at the cost per person reached.
Then apply the same standard to the fee for a Class A station in a major or medium market (500,000 +) You will discover those larger market stations are only paying a fraction per person of what the small market operator pays.
Now consider that for many stations we have lost anywhere from 30 to 60% of our revenues during the lockdown. The Commission already waives fees for the smallest stations, supposedly because of the cost to the treasury to collect. They could waive–or substantially reduce fees this year–and still comply with the Congressional mandate to collect this tax.
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