NEWS
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See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
May 5, 2015 Nicholas Degani (202) 418-2000
Email: nicholas.degani@fcc.gov
STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION
TO PROTECT JOINT SALES AGREEMENTS BETWEEN TELEVISION STATIONS
I commend Senators Roy Blunt, Barbara Mikulski, Charles Schumer, and Tim Scott for 
sponsoring legislation (S. 1182) to protect joint sales agreements (JSAs) between television stations.  
Under rules passed by the FCC last year on a party-line vote, JSAs that had been previously approved by 
the Commission would have to be unwound by 2016.  This bipartisan bill, by contrast, would permit 
television stations to maintain those JSAs.
JSAs are contractual agreements that allow broadcasters to cut down on costs by using the same 
advertising sales force.  The efficiencies created by JSAs have helped broadcasters to offer services that 
benefit consumers, especially in smaller markets.  From enabling a television station in Wichita, Kansas 
to broadcast the only Spanish-language news in the state to allowing broadcasters in Joplin, Missouri to 
invest in Doppler radar technology that saved lives during a 2011 tornado, JSAs have served communities 
well and have promoted localism and diversity in broadcasting.
Unfortunately, the FCC’s new restrictions on JSAs have already caused some stations to go off 
the air and other stations to carry less local news.  And that disturbing trend will only accelerate if scores 
of existing JSAs are terminated next year.  For the sake of television viewers across the country, I agree 
with Senators Blunt, Mikulski, Schumer, and Scott that we should not let that happen.