FCC Proposal to OK NCE Third-Party Fundraising Faces Opposition from Universities, Public TV Stations
An FCC proposal to relax rules around non-commercial educational stations using airtime to raise funds for non-profit organizations received support from religious broadcasters and opposition from some university organizations, in early comments that were due by midnight Monday in docket 12-106. The proposal includes forgoing the waiver process to raise third-party funds and devoting no more than 1 percent of airtime to raise funds for non-profit entities (CD April 27 p8). The University Station Alliance and some public broadcasting stations opposed the change, claiming that the current system of obtaining a waiver is sufficient. Northwestern College in Minnesota supported earlier comments by National Religious Broadcasters (CD July 17 p16) that entities for which fundraising may be conducted should be limited to organizations that are recognized as non-profit tax exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
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The FCC “has proven to be responsive to requests for relief-fundraising usually as the result of ‘catastrophic’ events,” the station alliance said (http://xrl.us/bnhw4p). Existing venues of public service announcements and news coverage address community needs, the alliance said. The change “would create a competition among not-for-profits to gain access to air-time,” it added. The group cautioned against unintended consequences like “audience tune-out factors due to pledge drive disruption and added audience fatigue, especially if audience members have no affinity for that organization."
NWC urged against placing geographic limitations on non-profit organizations. As an NCE religious broadcaster with stations in seven radio markets, NWC said (http://xrl.us/bnhw4i) its listeners “are interested in supporting international causes and helping needy people around the world.” For a station’s compliance with the 1 percent limit on the allotted air time for fundraising, NWC suggested requiring a station each year on the anniversary date of its renewal application “to put into its public inspection file a list of the non-profit organizations for which it has raised money during the past 12 months and the airtime spent on each such fundraising endeavor."
The current system “accounts for extraordinary circumstances where it serves the broad public interest to allow public broadcasters to raise funds on behalf of third parties,” Nevada Public Radio said (http://xrl.us/bnhw4t). The Nevada filing said the policy change would result in unintended consequences that could impact stations’ ability to raise revenue. “Adding hours or days of fundraising ... will lessen our appeal to audiences with ever-increasing choices,” the station owner said. Due to multiple requests from community non-profit organizations, stations will “play a gatekeeper role that may be contentious or misinterpreted as an unwillingness to engage in community causes,” the state radio network added. The stresses placed upon NCEs by entities wanting equal time for on-air fundraising “will outweigh any benefits that would result,” said Chuck Miller, general manager of Northern Kentucky University-owned WNKU(FM) Highland Heights, Ky. (http://xrl.us/bnhw4z). The proposed change is especially problematic for institutional licensees, he said. Such stations “could be pressured to fundraise for internal licensee needs,” he added. “The music department wants time, the art department wants equal time and of the dozens of entities on campus, which ones get the nod?"
Common Sense Alliance pointed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling this year that struck down the FCC ban on running political ads on public broadcasting stations (CD April 13 p2). The agency should accept the ruling and expand its decision not to enforce the FCC rules in Section 399B of the Communications Act nationwide “based on the finding that those provisions are unconstitutional restrictions on NCEs’ rights of free speech,” the group said (http://xrl.us/bnhw6g). The commission is required to “obtain a fresh record to determine whether today’s media environment continues to justify the ban on NCEs’ and public networks’ First Amendment rights,” it said: If the ban is lifted, “public broadcasting will remain much as it is today.”