Recording Academy Challenges FCC To Preserve Music Localism At Public Radio Stations
The Recording Academy, sponsor of the Grammy Awards, asked the FCC to allow the sale of non-commercial broadcasting stations only to entities that plan to offer local programming to the original area of license. In an ex parte filing, the organization also requested a review into ownership and control of non-commercial broadcast stations as part of the FCC’s review of media ownership rules. While the issue of local programming is important to public broadcasting and the FCC adopted proposals to ensure that programming serves the needs of local communities, some broadcast policy experts said RA’s request could be seen as asking the commission to interfere with a station’s programming decisions.
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The Academy’s filing stems from a concern for local recording artists. “Non-commercial stations have been especially important outlets for showcasing local music talent,” it said. Even where acquiring entities are qualified educational organizations, “the transfer of such stations results in a deprivation of local programming, including local music programming.” Such transfers are antithetical to the goals of broadcast localism, which is part of the commission’s public interest goals, RA added. The commission’s 2007 report on broadcasting and localism notes that “as temporary trustees of the public’s airwaves, broadcasters are obligated to operate their stations to serve the public interest, including their airing of programming responsive to the needs and issues of their station communities of license,” the FCC said in a press release. The Media Bureau had no comment on the status of the report and accompanying notice of proposed rulemaking. (See separate story in this issue.)
The RA’s concern goes beyond programming, said Daryl Friedman, chief advocacy & industry relations officer. “It’s more about where the programming is coming from.” If the station’s programming is coming from outside the listenership’s community “that impacts localism,” he said. Friedman said there is anecdotal evidence that local music is reduced when the programming doesn’t come from the community and it stifles a station’s commitment to that community.
While the academy does have a point, the question of local content “depends on both local responsiveness and economic resources,” said Peter Tannenwald, an attorney at Fletcher Heald, who represents a number of public radio stations. If a local owner doesn’t have enough resources to run a radio station, “then there won’t be much local content on it.” The issue raised by RA could call for a study of some sort, he said: Tying local ownership “to local content sounds good on the surface; but is it a valid tie in today’s tough economic times? Has anyone done a study to find out?”
The RA’s concerns are really format issues, said David Oxenford, a broadcast attorney at Davis Wright, who has public station clients. “It would seem to me that it’s a programming decision that the FCC wouldn’t get involved in.” As for the study, “it’s not often the FCC will launch an investigation like this unless it’s requested by Congress,” he added.
Historically, the FCC doesn’t get involved in programming decisions, said LaVonda Reed-Huff, communications law professor at Syracuse University. But the issue of localism as it relates to emerging artists is a huge concern for the recording industry, she said. What gets played is more centralized to the community of license, she said. If a station is licensed in a different area, “that does decrease the potential of that artist getting the attention of the public, especially if that artist has a niche."
Tying local artists to the community is essential to a station and the community it serves, but selling to an outside public radio station isn’t detrimental, said Roger LaMay, general manager of WXPN(FM) Philadelphia, a station with an adult album alternative format. “Any good public radio station operator knows that the local involvement is absolutely essential to them gaining any kind of traction in the community.” A station being sold to a public radio operator even if it is outside the community should be embraced, he said: “If it’s not another public radio operator, then it’s probably going be a religious broadcaster and access to those artists is going to be gone.” When a public radio station is up for sale by a state government, usually local programming preservation is part of the plan, said Susan Harmon, managing director of Public Radio Capital. The amount of local programming from the new licensee depends on the capacity of that licensee, she said. “Sometimes they can provide more local programming than the provider in the [original] market.”