Deals
FCC Ends Rule Requiring Broadcasters to Have a Local Studio
- Studio visits said unneeded as people use email, social media
- Critics say step feeds trend toward national, not local, shows
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Regulators eliminated a nearly 80-year-old requirement for TV and radio stations to maintain a main studio in or near the communities they serve, a step that broadcasters welcomed as trimming unneeded rules and critics called a step toward homogenized programming.
The rule is no longer needed to keep stations in touch with their communities, since email and social media have replaced visits to a studio, supporters of the change say. The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday to eliminate the rule adopted in 1939.