NAB Show: FCC Commissioners Talk Industry Competition and Push for More Diverse Ownership

Federal Communications Commissioners Michael O’Rielly, Brendan Carr, and Geoffrey Starks, spoke at a panel at the 2019 National Association of Broadcasters Commissioner show. Commissioner Carr emphasized the importance of getting out and about to see how ownership groups operate. He said ownership rules were scripted when the morning paper and evening newscast represented the extent of local news voices. "The market you all compete in today is vastly different,” he said, singling out Pandora, Spotify, and the “Silicon Valley giants” as prominent competitors to local TV. “We’re mindful of the tremendous competition you are facing.” Without singling out any groups, Commissioner Starks mentioned massive local broadcast corporations writing news scripts to be shared throughout the group, and the country, and lamented the lack of localism in those cases. He said that, with over 1,300 TV stations nationwide, 102 are owned by women, 62 by Latinos, 12 by African-Americans and 10 by Asians. “Diversity in media ownership is something that’s become critically important to me,” he said, calling it “deeply troubling” when station ownership does not reflect our nation.