Broadcasters Try to Drag NCC Media Into FCC Fight Over Joint Sales Deals

Broadcasters have launched a counterstrike against the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to restrict TV joint sales agreements by asking the agency to look into similar sales arrangements used by the largest pay TV providers.

The FCC is scheduled to vote at the end of March 2014 on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal that would effectively eliminate JSAs because they would push station groups over the ownership limits in nearly 100 small markets. In comments filed with the FCC, the National Association of Broadcasters calls the "interconnect" advertising activities by cable, satellite and telephone companies "collusive."

Through NCC Media, multiple TV providers rely on one sales team to sell local and national advertising time across all the pay TV providers in a single market; NCC just recently added Dish to its lineup of pay TV inventory. So, the NAB reasoned, if the FCC is going to crack down on local market joint sales agreements between two small TV stations, shouldn't the agency also take a look at the local sales arrangements between pay TV providers?