Letting Stations Disclose Contest Terms Online, Not On-Air, Backed by All Comments

Just as the FCC this year required stations to put online most documents in their public-inspection files at main studios, allowing online posting of contest rules to supplant the requirement to read them during broadcasts would give people “ample opportunity” to read them, an owner of radio and TV stations said. The company, Cox Enterprises’s Cox Media Group, said it “would prefer to avoid on-air ‘clutter’ that these fleeting announcements represent” to all audience members, whether they want to participate in the promotion or not. “Stations often must consult counsel for guidance on whether a particular term is ‘material,'” Cox Enterprises said (http://xrl.us/bn7hf5). The rule requires “material” contest information to be broadcast, Entercom noted in its January petition (http://xrl.us/bn7hfv).

Communication technology has changed drastically in the last 36 years, since Note 2 of a commission order required such disclosure, filings said. “In 1976 there were no FAX machines, no email, no internet, no personal computers, no smart phones and no convenient way to communicate contest terms to broadcast audiences other than on air,” NAB said (http://xrl.us/bn7hgq). “Communication is expected to be crisp, concise and brief.” At least 90 percent of commercial U.S. radio stations have websites, and there’s “no downside” to online posting, the association said. Listeners change stations when terms are read on-air, Clear Channel said (http://xrl.us/bn7hgy), citing a 2010 ratings study of KDND(FM) Sacramento by Media Monitors. The broadcasting company said the study found the station lost twice as many listeners, 26 percent, when terms were read during commercial breaks, versus ad breaks without such announcements.

Entercom General Counsel Jack Donlevie was “encouraged by the response” to his petition for rulemaking, he told us. There are “differing opinions” among filings, with some saying the agency could change the requirement, because it’s a note within an order, without conducting a rulemaking, while others sought a rulemaking, Donlevie said. “I'll let the staff decide what to do,” he said of the Media Bureau. Because the agency included the petition in a public notice, it appears the bureau preferred to proceed to a rulemaking, he said. “I'm just hopeful that however it needs to be done, it be done.” A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment. Under a November public notice, comments had been due Thursday, said lawyers at Pillsbury Winthrop, which represented most state broadcast associations, which backed Entercom (CD Dec 18 p15).

State broadcast associations that would consider whether to post on their own sites contest terms for stations that are members, without committing to do it, include those in North Carolina (http://xrl.us/bn7hhc), Ohio (http://xrl.us/bn7hhe) and Virginia (http://xrl.us/bn7hhi). There’s “no unanimity” among such associations “for agreeing to serve as a third-party Web host for station contest rules,” most of the other state groups said (http://xrl.us/bn6wvv). “A station’s own Web site, absent special circumstances, would be the most logical depository” for rules, which the broadcaster would “be in a position to more reliably correct and update, the filing said. “Such posting would also serve to drive listeners and viewers to the station’s Web site -- a fundamental goal of all station Web sites.” Many of the contests held by more than 20 companies that own 670 radio and 130 TV stations total required participants to enter online, said broadcasters including Belo Corp., Liberman Broadcasting, Morris Communications, New York Public Radio, Nexstar and Una Vez Mas (http://xrl.us/bn7hhz). “Many of these stations also have Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and/or use other social media platforms,” they said jointly. They said contests can be entered by “submitting an entry form via the station’s website, ‘liking’ a station’s Facebook page, or becoming a member of the station’s online club.”