Localism’s National Consequences

[Commentary] A TV industry trying its best to keep up with nimble new-media competitors may have an expensive new albatross to deal with: the Federal Communications Commission’s series of proposals to promote localism. Among the proposals the commission offered up last December was one requiring TV stations to locate their main studios in their cities of license. But network executives fear that the industry already spent billions of dollars on new facilities that are now in jeopardy if the FCC forces stations to move those facilities back to their home markets. The moves could lead to a hefty tab for those stations. National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton called derailing the studio proposal a “huge priority” for the association. He pointed out that more than 120 House members and 28 senators sent letters to the FCC expressing their concern, which he called “reflective of the broad, bipartisan concern of members of Congress.”
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