Connoisseur Wants FCC to Act Now on Embedded Markets Reconsideration
The FCC shouldn’t push reconsideration of its policy on deals involving radio stations in “embedded markets,” to a later quadrennial review, said Connoisseur Media in a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai Wednesday. An embedded market is a suburban radio market…
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identified by Nielsen as a separate radio market for the purposes of reporting ratings. Radio stations in embedded markets also are considered part of parent markets, which cover an entire metropolitan area. Under the current rules, the FCC measures whether a deal is within ownership rules using both markets, which could cause prospective deals to run afoul of media ownership rules. Connoisseur filed a petition for reconsideration (see 1703100060) of the policy that's still pending, the letter said. The proposal is unopposed and “Connoisseur cannot understand why the Commission would further defer its consideration,” the letter said. The FCC “must act” Connoisseur said. “Any delay will just further entrench the competitive imbalance that exists in these markets.”