WASHINGTON, DC -- The Consent Decrees governing the licensing of musical works performance rights by ASCAP and BMI provide important protections for licensees from potential anti-competitive behavior by the performance rights organizations (PROs) and their protections should be maintained in full, NAB said in comments filed today with the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

WASHINGTON, DC -- The rationale underlying several decades-old media ownership rules that broadcast television stations only compete against themselves in local markets is simply not true, the National Association of Broadcasters said in comments filed today with the FCC. The Commission should adjust its rules to better reflect today and tomorrow's marketplace that features competition from rival industries as it weighs relaxing ownership restrictions, NAB said.

WASHINGTON, DC -- In response to a proposal by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and Ranking Member John Thune to attach a plan called "Local Choice" to a Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization bill, the following statement can be attributed to NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton: