Blunt's JSA Legislation Clears Commerce Committee Despite Democratic Fears
​Several Democrats fought against legislation grandfathering in broadcaster joint sales agreements (JSAs) from before last year's FCC action that limited the agreements. Their opposition nearly prevented the measure from clearing the Commerce Committee during a Thursday markup. Lawmakers ultimately approved it 14-10, but some Democrats insist they want to change the bill as it advances to the Senate floor.
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The bill has many bipartisan backers but none of the Democrats sits on the Commerce Committee. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., introduced the legislation (S-1182) in May with Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Tim Scott, R-S.C. He has quietly added to the list of supporters in recent weeks. It now includes Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Communications Subcommittee.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., threatened to offer amendments to change the bill but neither ultimately offered any for a vote. Democrats, as expected (see 1505070034), worried about the media ownership implications of the measure. “I am going to work with Senator Blunt on potentially improving this bill,” Blumenthal said. Blunt acknowledged meeting with Blumenthal the day before and believes “there’s a solution here” to Blumenthal’s concerns, he said.
“I wish [Booker] had not withdrawn it,” Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said of the possible amendment. “I wish Senator Blumenthal had not withdrawn it.” Nelson mentioned Schumer’s arguments for the bill, with a focus on the advertising revenue that smaller stations can receive. But Nelson said filings at the SEC show that big stations say they have a controlling interest in smaller stations affiliated through a JSA. “We are treading down the line of media consolidation and dominance and I think we ought to consider down the line amendments by Blumenthal and Booker,” Nelson declared.
Booker used the word “anguish” to describe his feelings toward the provisions. JSAs are “clearly being abused in pretty dramatic fashion,” he argued, citing bigger stations that sell in some cases 100 percent of the ad time of smaller ones. “At worst it’s de facto ownership of these stations,” Booker said. He said broadcasters haven't applied for JSA waivers at present and insisted lawmakers should improve the legislation rather than give “more power to the behemoths in the market.”
JSAs “allow one station to effectively control the operations of another station” and are “blatant evasions” of the FCC’s ownership rules, Blumenthal said, saying “investigative reporting is reduced” and citizens are “deprived of information.” But he respects Blunt's goal and would “like to limit the effects of this bill” to make sure broadcasters can’t be exempt in perpetuity. “This bill is much broader than it needs to be. It exempts these contracts in perpetuity,” Blumenthal argued. “This proposal can be limited, made narrower, targeted.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is “anxious” about the idea of an unlimited cap. “For me in the Pacific Northwest diversity is a very critical issue,” she said, saying people are “breaking new artists and breaking new trends as a result.”
“I don’t think it’s unlimited,” Blunt countered. “It’s absolutely limited to the current stations that have been told they can do that. … It’s very limited to what the FCC has previously approved.” Blunt is open to ensuring that’s “properly defined” and would “be glad to have that debate, frankly, at a later time.”
The legislation nearly stalled. During the first vote, which Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., initially had delayed to await resolution of what he termed a “math problem,” lawmakers approved it by a 14-11 vote but of those physically present in the hearing room, the vote was only 8-8. Thune had moved to reconsider the vote at a future date and then held the vote again later to ensure passage. Voting wasn't entirely along party lines.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who opposed the agency’s move to limit JSAs, praised the Commerce approval. “Today’s vote, moreover, comes on the heels of an overwhelming, bipartisan 38-11 vote by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee last week (see 1506170044) to deny the FCC funding to implement its new JSA policy,” Pai said. “These developments demonstrate that the FCC’s misguided assault on JSAs is in serious trouble. Members of both parties in both chambers of Congress recognize that JSAs are pro-competitive agreements that allow broadcasters to cut costs by using the same advertising sales force.”
NAB lauded the passage. The measure “allows local broadcasters, especially in small and midsize markets, to continue operating joint sales agreements that enhance local news, weather and community interest programming,” Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton said.