Main Studio Rule Taking Effect Monday Won't Lead to Upheaval, Broadcasters Say
As elimination of FCC main studio requirements takes effect Monday, broadcasters, attorneys and a union official told us they don’t expect immediate office shutterings or layoffs. The change won’t matter greatly for many broadcasters and is seen as more likely to shape long-term plans. “It won’t be a bloodbath Monday,” said International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International Representative-Broadcasting and Telecommunications Neil Ambrosio. However, IBEW believes the rule change eventually will shrink staff, he said.
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The order did away with requirements that a broadcaster's main studios be in its community of license, have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours, and program origination capabilities, said a Media Bureau public notice Thursday announcing the start date.
Those rules hurt smaller broadcasters, said WMRO(AM) Gallatin, Texas, owner Scott Bailey. Though the deregulation will help smaller broadcasters, Bailey said his small station is unlikely to make any changes once the rule takes effect. With modern tech, radio stations no longer need local offices, and the public doesn’t look to physical main studios when they have problems, he said. “You’re the only person to call me about something to do with the radio station today.”
Lease agreements and existing business plans are likely to prevent many offices from going dark now, said industry officials. "Nexstar does not plan to make any changes as a result of the FCC’s elimination of the main studio rule," a spokeswoman told us, and an executive at another large TV broadcaster said the change in rules isn’t expected to affect that company’s plans for 2018 either. Since TV groups offer local news, they have market incentives to have facilities in communities where they have viewers, the executive said.
Many radio stations may find it expensive to relocate broadcasting equipment, said Hubbard Radio President Drew Horowitz. He doesn’t see the order causing much upheaval, though he said some stations may be able to find “efficiencies” in the increased flexibility. Like TV, radio outlets have market reasons to stay connected to communities, he said.
Some broadcasters with stations in multiple markets obeyed the letter of the old rule by keeping satellite offices in the required community of license, said Garvey Schubert broadcast attorney Melody Virtue. Though such satellite offices might close, many broadcasters likely will repurpose the staff involved rather than eliminate their jobs, said Wilkinson Barker broadcast lawyer David Oxenford.
Broadcasters have shown an inclination toward “hubbing” their facilities, said Ambrosio. Most larger groups did so with their master control facilities, providing those services to downstream stations from a central facility, and Ambrosio said the same is likely to happen with studio facilities. Hubbing leads to eliminated jobs, Ambrosio said. That move toward consolidation is exacerbated by relaxation of ownership rules, and its effects are likely to take time, Ambrosio said: The process is more of “an evolution rather than a revolution.”