O'Rielly Says Eliminating Payola Rules Should Be Examined, Lays Out Media Modernization Plans
It may be time to examine eliminating anti-payola rules, said FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly in remarks Thursday, released Friday, before the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association, two months after announcing his investigation into the issue (see 1910100036). “It should not be lost…
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on me or anyone else observing the industry that this is another area where the cutting edge high-technology companies operate without similar restrictions,” he said. O’Rielly said he's still seeking information from record companies about the practice. “If it’s true that the big labels have effectively rooted out this practice through implementing their own safeguards, then I’ll look forward to learning how those processes work,” he said. “There are some legitimate questions involving fairness, competitive effects, industry trends, and the like generated by accusations of payola,” O’Rielly said. “It is not necessarily a victimless crime.” O’Rielly also announced proposals he would like to see the FCC consider in its media modernization efforts, including giving stations an opportunity to supplement issues/program lists at license renewal, allowing Class A's to file such lists annually rather than quarterly, and creating overnight processing for “pro forma” broadcast transactions. “If a problem is identified, which is unlikely, opponents can always file a petition for reconsideration,” O’Rielly said. The FCC should also eliminate or relax the broadcast telephone conversation rule and do away with “Zombie Proceedings” that have been long stalled at the agency. Zombies that he said should be eliminated include some rules proposed under former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, such as revamped set-top box rules, classifying over-the-top platforms as MVPDs, and repealing network nonduplication and syndicated exclusivity programming rules. O’Rielly also said he expects the Senate to soon approve bigger punishments and more options for pirate radio enforcement, and he has started to see an increase in broadcast news and sports offerings as a result of the relaxed kidvid rules. “We were able to get to this point because everyone walked away from the bargaining table with a little less than they wanted but enough of what they fundamentally needed to make things work,” he said.