The FCC has announced today that the elimination of the Main Studio Rule will take effect on Monday, January 8.
On October 24, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopted an order eliminating its rule requiring each AM, FM, and television broadcast station to maintain a main studio located in or near its community of license.
The order also eliminated existing requirements associated with the main studio rule, including the requirement that the main studio have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours, and that it have program origination capability.
The order provided that the rule amendments would be “effective thirty (30) days after the date of publication in the Federal Register, except for the portions of sections 73.3526(c)(1) and 73.3527(c)(1) that contain new or modified information collection requirements, which shall become effective after the Commission publishes a notice in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the relevant effective date.”
The Federal Register published a summary of the main studio order on December 8, 2017. On
December 18, 2017 the Federal Register published a notice announcing OMB approval of the nonsubstantive change request submitted for the rules containing information collection requirements, which will share the same effective date as the other rule changes.Accordingly, all of the rules adopted in the main studio order will take effect on January 8, 2018.
Original Report 10/24: The FCC has voted 3-2 along party lines to eliminate the Main Studio Rule at today’s Open Meeting of FCC Commissioners.
Stations will still be required to maintain local or toll-free phone numbers and public file materials that isn’t online accessible for the communities they serve, but will no longer be required to have a studio in or near the station’s city-of-license. The Main Studio Rule was adopted in the Communications Act of 1934 which established the FCC requiring stations to have a studio in its city of license and was modified in the 1970s to allow the studio to be within 25 miles.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai had previously stated that the rule was outdated because in the digital age the community has access and can engage with stations via social media or email without having a physical studio nearby and that maintaining a physical address is an expense better put to other uses, like adding more local programming.
The FCC claims that it will reduce regulatory burdens and costs for broadcasters that can be directed toward such things as programming, equipment upgrades, newsgathering, and other services that benefit consumers. In theory a group owner can now consolidate all programming into a handful of studio locations across the country with little to no content originating in the community or markets a radio or television serves. Instead of renting big studio complexes for their clusters, a company can make do with a small office facility to host sales and a few promotions people.
The FCC just voted to eliminate the main studio rule, which will further reduce burdens & costs for broadcasters. #OpenMtgFCC
— The FCC (@FCC) October 24, 2017
FCC still requires stations to have a local or toll-free # to ensure consumers have access to their local stations. #OpenMtgFCC
— The FCC (@FCC) October 24, 2017
By eliminating the #mainstudio rule, @FCC allows big broadcasters to abandon the communities they’re obligated to serve. Not #ConsumersFirst
— Mignon Clyburn (@MignonClyburn) October 24, 2017
Today @FCC continues march to dismantle localism that has long been essential part of how broadcasters serve their communities. I dissent.
— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) October 24, 2017
NAB Executive Vice Presidentof Communications Dennis Wharton stated:
“NAB supports elimination of the main studio rule, which has outlived its usefulness in an era of mobile news gathering and multiple content delivery platforms. We’re confident that cost savings realized from ending the main studio rule will be reinvested by broadcasters in better programming and modernized equipment to better serve our local communities. We applaud the FCC for continuing to remove unnecessary and outdated broadcast regulations.”
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The Federal Communications Commission today eliminated the broadcast main studio rule. The Order retains the requirement that stations maintain a local or toll-free telephone number to ensure consumers have ready access to their local stations.
The main studio rule, adopted nearly 80 years ago, currently requires each AM radio, FM radio, and television broadcast station to have a main studio located in or near its local community. The rule was implemented to facilitate input from community members and the station’s participation in community activities.
The Commission recognizes that today the public can access information via broadcasters’ online public file, and stations and community members can interact directly through alterative means such as e-mail, social media, and the telephone. Given this, the Commission found that requiring broadcasters to maintain a main studio is outdated and unnecessarily burdensome.
Elimination of the main studio rule should produce substantial cost-saving benefits for broadcasters that can be directed toward such things as programming, equipment upgrades, newsgathering, and other services that benefit consumers. It will also make it easier for broadcasters to prevent stations in small towns from going dark and to launch new stations in rural areas.
Action by the Commission October 24, 2017 by a Report and Order (FCC 17-137). Chairman Pai, Commissioners O’Rielly and Carr approving. Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel dissenting. Chairman Pai, Commissioners Clyburn, O’Rielly, Carr and Rosenworcel issuing separate statements.
