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US: FCC ‘lacks basic data’ to regulate TV stations

By  |  July 29, 2014

The Federal Communications Commission is facing government scrutiny after the General Accounting Office suggested that the Commission lacks the necessary information to effectively and accurately regulate TV stations’ sharing agreements, say reports.

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    The GAO, Congress’s investigative branch, said Monday that the FCC “lacks basic data” to properly regulate agreements made between television stations to launch joint advertisement sales initiatives or to acquiring programming. The remarks follow the Office’s year-long investigation into the impact of such agreements.

    According to reports, the probe lead the Office to conclude that it is “difficult to objectively determine” how those agreements affect the FCC’s goals of promoting competition and diversity in the broadcasting market. The Commission “has not completed a study of and lacks basic data on broadcaster agreements,” the GAO’s report said.

    The FCC voted last March to crack down on such agreements.

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