Blunt files amendment to protect midsize TV markets from FCC

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — This week, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt introduced an amendment to protect local television broadcasters with Joint Sales Agreements (JSAs) that had already been approved before the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) new rule in March. Blunt called the new rule, called a “blatant overreach of the Obama Administration,” which would restrict JSAs substantially.

JSAs are agreements between two television stations broadcasting in the same market. A JSA allows a one station to sell advertising time on another. The FCC’s new rule would establish a minimum requirement that at least 15% of a station’s ad time be bought by a competing station under the JSA. The FCC’s new rule originally gave all existing stations two years to comply.

Blunt’s amendment to grandfather in those JSA agreements was introduced to the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act (STAVRA). The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) voiced support for STAVRA days before Blunt proposed his amendment.

“We applaud the bipartisan leadership of Chairman [Jay] Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Ranking Member [John] Thune (R-S.D.) for introducing S. 2799… As introduced, we believe that this bill provides clear benefits to consumers by extending expiring provisions and making targeted video reforms that are appropriate given the realities of today’s competitive marketplace,” a NCTA statement read. “We are especially pleased that the legislation sunsets the FCC’s Integration Ban rule — an unnecessary technology mandate that violates principles of competitive neutrality and forces cable customers leasing set-top boxes to bear added costs and higher energy use for no additional benefit. Further, the legislation rightly addresses concerns of anticompetitive harm in retransmission consent negotiations, by barring such coordination among local broadcast stations that are not commonly owned.”

Blunt supports JSAs due to the help they provide midsize markets in Missouri.

“In recent years, Joint Sales Agreements have saved stations from going dark, added diverse programing, and enabled local news programming for many TV broadcasters in Missouri and across the country,” Blunt said. “In Joplin, Missouri, a JSA between two local stations enabled them to upgrade their Doppler radar systems, which helped save lives during the devastating tornado of 2011.”

The FCC supports the rule to help clarify TV ownership. The rule was created on March 31.

“The Federal Communications Commission today took steps to close a loophole in its TV ownership rules, making sure that a party’s interests in a market are properly counted,” read a statement from the FCC. “Removal of the loophole helps ensure competition, localism, and diversity in local broadcast markets by preventing a practice that previously resulted in consolidation in excess of what is permitted under the Commission’s rules.”

However, Blunt and Congressman Lacy Clay wrote a letter to the FCC in March opposing the rule in mid-March. Blunt also signed on to a letter to the FCC with five of his Senate colleagues. In its creation, Blunt’s amendment would allow the JSA’s to continue in markets such as Springfield and Joplin.

“The FCC’s rule is another example of blatant government overreach by the Obama Administration, which unfairly singles out local broadcasters for enhanced regulatory treatment and exacerbates an uneven playing field between local stations and their competitors,” Blunt continued. “My amendment would protect TV broadcasters with pre-existing JSAs from the Obama Administration’s controversial rule that could otherwise prevent citizens in rural areas from getting their news.”

Comment has been requested from MCTA and NCTA regarding the amendment.