Broadcasters, MMTC, Comcast Unite in Support of Easing Foreign Ownership Rules

FCC proposals to further loosen FCC broadcast foreign ownership rules continue (see 1512220056) to receive broad support, in reply comments filed in docket 15-236 last week. Comcast, Media General, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, and NAB supported FCC proposals to make it easier for broadcasters to be foreign-owned, align broadcaster foreign ownership rules with those for common carriers, and update the rules to account for modern corporate ownership structures and SEC rules.

The record “strongly supports the Commission’s view” that updating the foreign ownership rules will “reduce regulatory burdens and costs, provide greater transparency and predictability, and facilitate investment,” NAB said. Easing the foreign broadcast ownership rules was one of the first votes both FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly presided over, MMTC Senior Advisor David Honig said in a Friday interview. That perceived bipartisan backing for easing foreign ownership regulations and the broad industry support for it are likely to lead to actual rules being passed soon, he said.

Though NAB wants looser foreign ownership rules for broadcasters, those regulations should still be clearly defined, it said. The FCC should “replace its current case-by-case analysis of Petitions with a more clearly defined review and approval process to increase regulatory transparency and predictability,” NAB said. The FCC should streamline the process for broadcasters to be approved for waivers of foreign ownership caps, and allow broadcasters to seek retroactive approval if they learn after the fact that “their foreign ownership has crossed an applicable threshold,” NAB said.

That sort of flexibility is necessary because publicly traded companies aren't necessarily aware of who owns all of their shares, Media General said. The use of SEC approved “street names” makes it very burdensome and costly for companies to determine the country of origin for all of their ownership, Media General said. NAB said that “the Commission’s foreign ownership calculation methodologies need to be updated to take into account the modern prevalence of electronic stock exchanges and the adoption of stockholder privacy regulations" by the SEC.

Looser foreign ownership rules will help broadcasters get access to capital, NAB and MMTC said. That capital could help remedy the dearth of minority broadcasters, MMTC said. “There has been a substantial decline in minority broadcast ownership in the last decade, and without prompt Commission action, the situation is likely to worsen.” Relaxing foreign ownership restrictions “will provide regulatory parity” for broadcaster licensees with other FCC regulated industries and “bolster the vitality of the broadcast industry,” MMTC said.

Security concerns about loosening the foreign ownership rules come from an outdated view of the media landscape, Comcast said. “The dramatic transformation of the media landscape since 1934 significantly attenuates any risk from foreign ownership of broadcast licenses,” Comcast said. “The Commission has safeguards in place to protect against inappropriate influence by foreign powers over licensees,” MMTC said, referring to the departments of Homeland Security and Justice and other entities referred to as Team Telecom. “Speculative fears of inappropriate foreign influence over domestic broadcast programming decisions” are “baseless,” MMTC said.