In a pointed new filing with the FCC, the National Association of Broadcasters accused the musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition of engaging in “copy-paste advocacy” and “rent-seeking” to block deregulation for local radio operators.
Instead of answering the FCC’s call for fresh ideas under Chairman Brendan Carr’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative, NAB says the music groups recycled old arguments and clung to regulations that don’t fit today’s competitive media world.
“The recorded music industry will do whatever it can to preserve dominance over broadcast radio stations that face overwhelming and still growing competitive pressure from online audio and satellite radio providers,” the filing reads. “How else can one interpret an industry dominated by three massive players arguing with a straight face that broadcasters should be kept artificially small?”
“The three major music companies, for example, jointly generated about $2.9 million per hour in 2023. In remarkable contrast, in 2023 the vast majority of radio stations garnered less than $2.9 million per year in advertising revenues.”
The NAB argued that with Big Tech platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music already dominating audience time and ad dollars, keeping strict ownership limits on radio stations only further kneecaps broadcasters trying to survive. NAB also hit back hard at musicFIRST’s claims that ownership deregulation would hurt diversity or localism. Instead, they argued that consolidation increased format diversity and quality after the 1996 Telecommunications Act, citing numerous independent studies.
“The Coalitions apparently have not ‘observed’ such reinvestment in broadcast services by station groups (for whatever that is worth),” NAB countered, suggesting the groups are entirely disconnected from the economic reality faced by small-town stations serving diverse communities.
“So why are they re-raising their tired old arguments that are wholly inapt to this Notice?” NAB says, “The answer is simple: rent-seeking.” The organization writes musicFIRST and its fellow Coalitions aren’t truly interested in the public interest — they seek to punish the industry for Congress’s refusal to impose a terrestrial radio performance royalty sought by musicFIRST.
The NAB filing goes on to warn that without major reform, many AM and FM stations, especially in small and mid-sized markets, will suffer under the continued weight of outdated rules and declining ad revenues.
Citing a BIA Advisory Services study, NAB noted that “only 4.5 percent of all commercial AM stations were ranked among the top-five stations in their local markets in 2018,” with AM’s audience share having “declined by half” since 1996. Meanwhile, smaller FM stations are fighting a losing battle for dollars: “Stations in markets 151-246 garnered on average less than half a million dollars in ad revenue” annually.
The association closed by urging the Commission to stop letting the grievances of multi-billion-dollar industries cloud its judgment: “NAB yet again urges the Commission to ignore the Coalitions’ repetitive, evidence-free advocacy reflecting their grievances over the music industry’s failure to persuade Congress to impose additional royalty payments on local radio stations’ OTA broadcasts of music.”
NAB also addressed a separate proposal by GeoBroadcast Solutions, which suggested allowing FM stations to abandon the use of a single main transmitter and instead operate entirely through multiple boosters. NAB warned that doing so would enable broadcasters to cherry-pick prosperous urban areas while abandoning rural listeners, seriously jeopardizing local emergency communication capabilities.
The full 47-page filing can be viewed here.
