As Chairman Brendan Carr prepares to open the FCC’s delayed 2022 Quadrennial Regulatory Review in earnest, the Commission is giving an expanded glance into the proceedings that may bring long-debated changes to the Local Radio Ownership Rule.
The Commission released a Fact Sheet regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, formally inviting public comment on whether its existing broadcast ownership rules remain necessary in the public interest as a result of unregulated digital competition in the media marketplace. As outlined within, this review applies to three specific policies: the Local Radio Ownership Rule, the Local Television Ownership Rule, and the Dual Network Rule.
Chairman Carr initially announced those intentions, in line with his “Delete, Delete, Delete” doctrine, in a blog post on September 8.
The Local Radio Ownership Rule restricts the number of commercial AM and FM stations a single entity can own in a given local market, based on market size. For example, in a market with 45 or more stations, an entity can own up to eight, no more than five of which may be FM or AM.
A protracted 2018 review under then-Chairwoman Jessica Resenworcel that was not finalized until December 2023 kept the local radio component as it was, despite pushes from broadcast groups and advocates like the NAB. That review has since faced legal setbacks over television-related rules.
In the 2022 fact sheet, the Commission highlights three specific questions it intends to explore: Is the rule still necessary in light of marketplace competition, should the operation of the rule be modified – particularly its market size tiers and subcaps on AM/FM ownership, and should the FCC eliminate the rule entirely?
The FCC is also soliciting input on whether to redefine the “relevant product market” to include non-broadcast audio services such as satellite radio, audio streaming, and podcasting. This would serve as a massive change from the prior framework, which treated local radio as a distinct and standalone market.
A key area of exploration involves whether the subcaps limiting the number of AM or FM stations a licensee can own within a market should be retained, revised, or repealed. The Commission is weighing the potential public interest implications of these service-specific limits, particularly in light of ongoing efforts to revitalize AM radio. The fact sheet explicitly flags this as an area for stakeholder comment.
The NPRM raises the possibility of crafting targeted relief for smaller markets and economically struggling stations. The FCC is asking whether it should consider new rules or exemptions for smaller entities, or adopt a case-by-case review framework for acquisitions that fall outside the current numerical limits. It also asks whether market strength, rather than simply the number of stations, should factor into ownership determinations.
While the FCC is not proposing specific rule changes at this stage, the NPRM makes clear that it is open to a range of deregulatory outcomes. The next Open Meeting is scheduled for September 30.
