Federal Communications Commission FCC 18-34 STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR Re: Streamlined Reauthorization Procedures for Assigned or Transferred Television Satellite Stations, MB Docket No. 18-63; Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, MB Docket No. 17-105 The Commission has long recognized that satellite stations serve the public interest by bringing television service to sparsely populated communities—ones that might otherwise receive no over-the- air signal. Since as far back as 1954, the FCC has authorized these stations, and it has exempted them from the agency’s local ownership limits to help attract investment in parts of the country that provide little economic incentive for full-service broadcasters to operate. But in 1991, the FCC determined that before a station could qualify for this exemption from our media ownership rules, it must make a detailed and particularized showing, including demonstrations that go to signal contours and the underserved nature of the local community. The Commission has been requiring applicants to make this same detailed showing when seeking to reauthorize an existing satellite station in connection with an ownership transfer or assignment, even when the underlying facts and circumstances have not changed in any material way. The record developed in our media modernization proceeding suggests that this redundant regulatory process might be deterring needed investment, particularly in rural and economically depressed areas of the country. Indeed, despite the significant costs both to applicants that must make the showing and to the FCC in reviewing and processing the submissions, the agency has never rejected a reauthorization request. So I support the proposal to streamline these reviews, which includes a check to ensure that interested parties have an opportunity to contest the use of these simplified procedures and preserves the FCC’s ability to assess on a case-by-case basis whether the relief will serve the public interest. A redundant regulatory process should not be what stands in the way of investment in television service for any community. I want to thank the Media Bureau for its work on this item. I look forward to reviewing the record as it develops.