Broadcasters want FCC enforcement changes for ad disclosure rules

The Federal Communications Commission should change how it enforces rules requiring broadcasters to post ad buy information online, the National Association of Broadcasters said. A 2012 rule forced television broadcasters to post information to an online FCC database detailing the size of ad buys and the name of the person, campaign or group who sponsored it, among other information. In a filing, the NAB said the commission should consider only allowing local viewers to file complaints when broadcasters fail to fully comply.

The change could make it harder for watchdog organizations to make their own complaints when stations fail to properly disclose the information. The NAB said the commission should reconsider its enforcement priorities to reflect the “concerns of local viewers and listeners, rather than the agendas of national advocacy groups unrelated to local communities.” “It would also reduce spurious allegations against stations, discourage the filing of mass electronic complaints made possible by today’s technology, and conserve the FCC’s limited resources for addressing valid and more locally relevant complaints,” the NAB wrote in the letter.