Perspectives Range Widely on Main Studio Rule

16/06/2017

One in a series of stories about public comments filed with the FCC about whether U.S. broadcasters should still be required to maintain a local main studio.

Why even require a phone number, when an email address would do?

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That's the kind of discussion that has arisen in debate over the main studio rule. For some, the question of whether to repeal that requirement is not just a yes/no decision.

The Federal Communication Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes to eliminate the longstanding requirement that stations maintain a properly staffed main studio in or near their communities of license. But the commission also invited alternate ideas and variations.

The National Federation of Independent Business supports small and independent businesses, including broadcasters. It agreed that this change would increase opportunity for small and independent businesses to operate stations efficiently. Eliminating the requirement and the associated staffing and program origination capability requirements opens a range of cost-saving options, it believes.

However, the federation thinks stations should have more flexibility with telephone numbers. The current rules say stations must be required to maintain a local telephone number or toll-free number, and the FCC's proposal would keep that rule. The association though suggests that each station could provide some sort of means of reasonably communicating, but it could be an email as well as a local or a toll-free number.

Another commenter is REC Networks, a consultancy that does a lot of work with smaller broadcasters including low-power FMs. Founder Michelle Bradley called for universal local accountability.

Doing away with a local presence requirement will result in a major disconnect between the broadcaster and the community that they are licensed to serve, she wrote. REC said it can understand that maintenance of a brick-and-mortar public location can be a cost burden for stations, including some that REC supports; but the lack of a local person would eliminate a true presence that helps ensure stations connect with listeners. And a toll-free number answered somewhere out of state will not press a station to demonstrate accountability to its community of license, she said.

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