The DOJ's Anti-JSA Arguments Are So 1997

[Commentary]The Department of Justice’s 18-page filing in support of the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to kill joint sales agreements (JSAs) is a bloated document that has a slap-dash quality and is notably short on substance. What’s worse, it references comments it made in a similar FCC proceeding in 1997, saying they continue to make a lot of sense. 1997?! That's 17 years ago. I would say that anything written about media markets in 1997 is totally irrelevant today. In 1997, you could barely pass an audio signal across the Interest, let alone TV. Newspapers were fat with classified ads, satellite TV was just getting off the ground, Google was on the drawing board and Mark Zuckerberg was prepping for his bar mitzvah. If the broadcasters lose at the FCC and they have to unwind their JSA-based duopolies, you can bet that they will mount ferocious legal challenges. The financial damage will be extensive.