NAB Wants FCC To Limit Online Complaints

The National Association of Broadcasters is asking the FCC to at least look into limiting its public file complaint process to "actual viewers and listeners" rather than "persons or entities unrelated to local communities of license," report Broadcasting&Cable.

Various groups have been monitoring the files and filing complaints at the FCC, particularly about political filings.

The FCC did not identify any groups whose complaints it thought did not represent viewers and listeners, but said that "declining to consider public file complaints submitted from persons or entities unrelated to local communities of license would be consistent with the long-standing purpose of local public files. It would also reduce spurious allegations against stations, discourage the filing of mass electronic complaints made possible by today's technology, and conserve the FCC's limited resources for addressing valid and more locally relevant complaints."

That came in NAB's comments on the FCC's proposal to expand its requirement that TV stations make their public files — political ads, kids programming, etc. —  cover cable and satellite TV, as well as broadcast and satellite radio.

The FCC voted in December to propose requiring cable and DBS systems and radio stations (and XM-Sirius) to post their public files, including political files, in an FCC-administered online database.

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