CEI Joins CFIF in Coalition Letter Urging FCC to Preserve Free Market in Broadcast Negotiations
Dear Chairman Carr:
We, the undersigned conservative, free-market and pro-innovation organizations, write in support of your efforts to reduce government regulation and involvement in the communications sector. Your work to delete rules that are stifling growth and investment in the sectors overseen by the Federal Communications Commission will help unleash a golden age for America’s economy.
It is for that reason that we respectfully urge you to avoid intervening, either directly or indirectly, in the free-market negotiations between broadcast networks and affiliates. Intervention risks de facto rate regulation and other market distortions that would undermine the streak of deregulatory wins that you have championed as FCC chairman.
We share your goals of removing the regulatory shackles that have, for too long, held back the highly regulated communications sector. As you’ve noted, legacy ownership caps on broadcast television and radio operators have discouraged investment in local news. We support your efforts to review and update or remove these rules as necessary. Modernizing media regulations could ensure that government regulation is not an obstacle to broadcasters’ ability to compete on a level regulatory playing field. Indeed, broadcasters are already availing themselves of this deregulatory environment by exploring new deals and investments.
However, we are concerned about any FCC steps that would open the door to rate regulation or other regulatory interventions in those private sector, business-to-business negotiations. As former Republican Senator Roy Blunt argued in a recent op-ed, “The answer is not to continue burdening more of the modern media environment, but to modernize the regulatory structure itself, relaxing TV ownership limitations so that every player, both digital and traditional, large and small, can compete on fair terms.”
Throughout your career, you have rightfully led the charge against price controls pushed by your Democrat predecessors and Democrats in Congress and the White House. While the FCC under the Obama Administration signaled a desire to intervene in broadcasters’ contract negotiations over programming issues, they stopped short of taking formal regulatory action.
Broadcasters are perfectly capable of deciding whether and when to enter in or end an affiliation agreement with a network. For example, WPLG-TV in Miami ended an affiliation with ABC in 2023, determining that ABC’s terms were not in the broadcaster’s interest. As a result, the station pledged to hire more local talent and expand local news and programming. This follows other examples of stations unaffiliating from networks and continuing to serve local communities, including WJXT in Jacksonville, WHDH in Boston, and KPYX in the San Francisco Bay Area. These and other broadcasters have responded to market forces and consumer demand and have successfully adapted to the outcomes of their market negotiations with networks—all without government involvement.
Conservatives have long understood that free negotiation between private parties more often leads to fair outcomes. Government is best positioned to enforce contracts, not dictate their terms. Under your leadership, the FCC is effectively getting government out of the way across industries— from media and broadband networks to the space economy. We urge you to avoid disrupting that success by avoiding unintended market distortions in the broadcast sector. Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to continuing to support your pro-growth agenda.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom
Phil Kerpen
President
American Commitment
Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform
Justin Owen
President & CEO
Beacon Center of Tennessee
Ryan Ellis
President
Center for a Free Economy
Bartlett D. Cleland
Executive Director
Innovation Economy Institute
Tom Giovanetti
President
Institute for Policy Innovation
Rosemary Becchi
Founder & President Jersey 1st
George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom
Charles Sauer
Founder and President The Market Institute
Tom Schatz
President
Citizens Against Government Waste
Deborah Collier
Executive Director
Innovation and Technology Policy Center Citizens Against Government Waste
Jessica Melugin
Director, Center for Technology and Innovation
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Matthew Kandrach
President
Consumer Action for a Strong Economy
James Czerniawski
Head of Emerging Technology Policy Consumer Choice Center
James Erwin
Executive Director Digital Liberty
Brandon Arnold
Executive Vice President National Taxpayers Union
Daniel J. Erspamer
CEO
Pelican Institute for Public Policy
Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Dr. Edward Longe
Director of the Center for Technology
Innovation The James Madison Institute