Testimony of Jane Mago at Media Ownership Hearing WASHINGTON, D.C. -- NAB Executive Vice President of Legal Jane Mago testified this morning at a House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on Media Ownership in the 21st Century.
Below is a transcript of her testimony as prepared for delivery.
* * *
Good morning. My name is Jane Mago, and I am Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the National Association of Broadcasters.
Let me begin by putting this debate in context for you. In 1975, I was starting law school, watching a black and white television with no remote control and like everyone else I only had three broadcast networks to choose from. Cable wasnt available to me and satellite was not available to me and the only satellite television was going to huge earth stations owned by cable companies. That was the world when some of these broadcast ownership regulations were created. Since then, we have cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies all offering video services. The Internet and the massive proliferation of news outlets have absolutely revolutionized the way we consume media. Yet time has seemingly stood still at the FCC.
The current broadcast ownership rules are simply out of touch with the reality of todays media marketplace. They distort competition. Cable, satellite and Internet-based media outlets - who operate without these cumbersome regulations - continue to proliferate and take both audience share and advertising revenues.
The local television rule, for example, which generally prohibits the ownership of two television stations in the same market, assumes that television broadcasters operate in a bubble, only competing against other television broadcasters. That is almost laughable in todays marketplace. One only need look at the growing cable practice of selling local advertising across hundreds of cable programs to understand that there is direct and real competition between broadcast and cable.
The FCC has recently decided to effectively prohibit two broadcast TV stations from engaging in the joint sale of advertising. But the large cable operators, along with satellite companies and AT&T and Verizon, have been unimpeded as they joined forces to create a single source that jointly sells local TV advertising. It is increasingly difficult for broadcasters to compete in a marketplace so skewed by disparate regulation.
The 1975 newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule is another rule that relies on assumptions of a media landscape from a bygone era. The FCC itself has previously said that the prohibition against newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership is not necessary to advance its localism and competition goals. And, it has recognized that the rule is overly broad as related to its alleged goal of promoting viewpoint diversity, particularly with regard to radio. Yet, this outdated rule is still on the books.
To maintain the ability to provide quality local service and compete with newer technologies, broadcasters need a more level playing field with our competitors.
That leads to my second point; broadcast ownership rules must keep pace with market changes. Congress wisely required the FCC to take a fresh look at ownership rules on a regular basis in light of competition - and repeal or modify those no longer in the public interest. But, the FCC has failed to follow your direction. The last review was done in 2007 - seven years ago. And rather than complete the most recent quadrennial review as required by statute, the Commission rolled its 2010 review into 2014, and then announced that it would not likely complete this review until at least mid-2016.
NAB is challenging this most recent FCC decision in court, not just because the FCC has failed to live up to its statutory obligation, but also because the Commission is imposing new restrictions on joint sales agreements among local television stations - despite the fact that these arrangements produce tangible public interest benefits. NAB has shown these agreements produce more local news, more foreign language television and other community focused programming. Amazingly, the new rules will force broadcasters to unwind agreements that the Commission had previously approved.
Finally, consideration of the broadcast ownership rules must be based on real evidence, not speculation. To address this, NAB asks Congress to undertake an examination of how the FCCs administration of the broadcast ownership rules has stifled investment and opportunity in broadcasting. In this time of intense consolidation in other parts of the communications industry, these ownership rules are increasingly outdated and have significant, harmful consequences on local media.
Regulatory policies that starve local media of capital investment are a proven failure. They serve no one - not current broadcasters, not interested new entrants, and most importantly, not the American people.
In sum, NAB is asking for you to ensure timely and fair revision of the broadcast ownership rules. Maintaining the status quo, creating new restrictions or even just kicking the can down the road is a disservice to the American people. Thank you and Im happy to answer any questions.
* * *
About NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for Americas broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Testimony of Jane Mago at Media Ownership Hearing WASHINGTON, D.C. -- NAB Executive Vice President of Legal Jane Mago testified this morning at a House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on Media Ownership in the 21st Century. 
