Media Institute has asked FCC to put new concept—‘format diver...
Media Institute has asked FCC to put new concept -- “format diversity” -- at top of its criteria in adopting any new radio ownership rules. In reply comments in rulemaking, Institute said agency’s “concept of diversity is in need…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
of substantial readjustment given the nature of today’s media in general, and today’s radio industry in particular.” Under existing competitive situation, format criteria in deciding diversity should take precedent over those currently used -- viewpoint, outlet and source, Institute said. Continued use of “viewpoint diversity runs squarely into 2 problems,” it said, because it’s “extremely difficult to measure directly and it is not particularly relevant to today’s radio content.” Format diversity is better measure because large group that owns several stations in given market takes steps to diversify the content of those outlets “and does not or will not program those stations to compete with one another,” Institute said. No new diversity rules are needed, it told FCC, because format diversity among radio stations “is plentiful at the present time” and is result of marketplace forces, not regulation.