#201: Who Owns the Media?

Tech Policy Podcast

TechFreedom

Technology

4.8 • 45 Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2017

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1975, “media” essentially meant television, radio, and newspapers. Obviously, today’s market looks way different thanks to the Internet and other developments. We have cable and satellite TV, online news, podcasts, and social media. We have “cord cutters” and “cord nevers,” and there are more ways to consume more content than ever before. In this competitive environment, however, many of the media regulations passed by the FCC in the 1970s still apply to TV, radio, and newspapers. Are these rules necessary to prevent consolidation, ensure competition, and promote a diversity of viewpoints? Or are they making it harder for traditional media to compete in the Digital Age? Evan is joined by Jerianne Timmerman, Senior VP and Senior Deputy General Counsel at the National Association of Broadcasters. For more, see her blog post.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Tech Policy Podcast. I'm Evan Swartzrower. On today's show, who owns the media? Who's allowed to own the media?
0:11.3	While in 1975, media meant television, radio, newspaper, and little else. Today's media landscape is obviously different.
0:19.1	You have cable and satellite television. You have that whole internet thing with platforms like Hulu and Sling and YouTube Red and all these other over-the-top services and social media. Facebook's doing television, Amazon, etc. So are the rules that the FCC passed in the 1970s to regulate media, still relevant today to ensure diversity
0:40.2	of viewpoints or to prevent big companies from controlling everything? Or are these rules outdated
0:45.3	should the FCC be considering changing them? Joining me to discuss this is Jerry Ann Timmerman.
0:50.8	She is the Senior Vice President and senior deputy council at the National Association of
0:55.0	Broadcasters. This trade group represents television and radio stations both big and small.
0:59.9	Jerry Ann, thanks for joining the show.
1:01.4	Thank you. And we're actually at the NAB building. I brought my podcast on the road. So it's
1:05.7	exciting. You can hear the exciting sounds of this building as you listen to this episode. So, Jery Ann, what exactly
1:14.2	are these restrictions we're talking about here? I think, you know, most people are probably not
1:17.9	even familiar with these regulations. They don't really know that their local radio station or
1:22.5	their local television station is subject to some type of ownership rule or ownership, like,
1:26.9	regulation. What are we talking about here?
1:29.9	Well, there's a number of longstanding rules. First, there are cross-ownership restrictions.
1:36.2	The FCC since 1975 has banned the common ownership of a daily newspaper and even a single radio or TV
1:47.2	station in the same market. That is a complete ban and has been around for over 40 years now.
1:54.0	When you say market, what is that, like a zip code?
1:57.6	Okay, now you're asking me to get into something really complicated. It has to do with whether the TV station or radio station puts a certain contour over a community where a daily newspaper is.
2:08.8	So basically you're more or less the same community.
2:11.7	Okay, community. That works.
2:13.8	And then there are restrictions, not as strict, but there are still some limits on owning TV and radio stations in the same market.
	...

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