Large, Small, Commercial, Non-Commercial Stations Oppose Mandatory Program Recording, Retention

Commercial and noncommercial stations are uniting against the FCC’s proposed rules for mandatory content recording and retention. The Station Resource Group and National Federation of Community Broadcasters has told the FCC the proposed mandatory recording rule “would not substantially enhance the indecency complaint process, and would, in fact, merely multiply the number of complaints filed against the same small number of programs.” In comments filed with the agency the SRG and NFCB state the proposed rule would impose burdens on noncommercial stations.
Seventeen commercial licensees representing 43 stations told the agency the requirement would have “an unconstitutional chilling effect” on speech. The cost of equipment, and overseeing program recording would be burdensome on small stations, and the duplication and distribution of copies would violate the Copyright Act and require stations to breach program agreements with third party suppliers, the licensees state in their filed comments.
“Stations should be able to avoid the program retention rule by certifying they do not air a format likely to include indecent programming, or by certifying that particular program segments are supplied by third parties.” It makes no sense to have hundreds of stations recording the same programming, the licensees state.
Nearly 500 comments were filed on the issue by Friday’s deadline, according to John Garziglia of Womble Carlyle, representing the Small Market Operators Caucus. Of those, about 257 comments were filed through the caucus Web site (www.smallmarket.org) and about 90 broadcaster comments were filed through NAB’s Web site, he said in a memo to caucus members.