NAB CHALLENGES FCC DISCLOSURE RULES

NAB yesterday took the FCC to court over the commission’s new enhanced disclosure rules. The association filed a petition for review in the court of appeals for the District of Columbia.

The new rules would require TV stations to total up and list every four months on a standardized form all the different kinds of local programming that the FCC feels stations ought to be airing.

Stations must then make the programming information and the rest of their voluminous public files available to the public on the Web.

NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton issued the following statement today regarding the petition.

"America's broadcasters have no quarrel with serving the public interest. Indeed, public service is the lifeblood of our business, and the most successful radio and television stations are laser-like in their commitment to community, whether that be in the form of local news, raising millions for charities, or saving childrens' lives with Amber Alerts.

"Our concern with the new FCC rules are their scale and scope, and the burden involved in complying with this new mandate, particularly for smaller stations. Free, local broadcasting serves a unique role in the fabric of American life, and we would submit that the impact of these regulations would negatively impact the ability of many broadcasters to continue to serve our communities."