Doug Halonen

Instead of putting the kibosh on all joint sales agreements, the Federal Communications Commission should propose the conditions the agency would require of legitimate station sharing deals -- and then “prohibit only those operations that do not meet those standards,” according to a compromise being promoted at the agency by the National Association of Broadcasters.

At least according to the NAB, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s current plan to crack down on JSAs and other station sharing agreements, which has been slated for an agency vote March 31, represents overkill.

Under the Chairman Wheeler proposal, the formation of new JSAs would be barred immediately, and broadcasters with existing JSAs would have two years to unwind, unless they can persuade the FCC to give them a waiver to continue a particular station combination. As part of its evolving lobbying counterattack, the NAB is now arguing that the waiver policy that Chairman Wheeler is said to be considering as part of his JSA crackdown would put the burden of proof “on precisely the wrong parties -- the ‘good operators’ that are promoting localism, diversity and competition,” the NAB disclosure filing says.