Broadcasters to FCC: Expand Who Pays Regulatory Fees
NAB says legacy media shoulders too much of FCC’s costs
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2025 – Broadcasters say they’ve been footing the Federal Communications Commission’s bill for too long.
In a filing submitted Monday, the National Association of Broadcasters urged the agency to expand its base of regulatory fee payors, arguing that legacy media companies are unfairly bearing the brunt of the FCC’s operating costs.
NAB argued that other industries – such as streaming services, tech companies, satellite providers, and others – benefit from the FCC’s work but do not contribute much or at all monetarily.
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“The current regulatory fee system places a disproportionate burden on a limited group of legacy industries, while allowing other significant beneficiaries of FCC work to avoid contributing,” read the filing signed by Rick Kaplan, general counsel and executive vice president of legal and regulatory affairs at the NAB.
Under federal law (47 U.S.C. § 159), the FCC must collect annual regulatory fees from the industries it oversees to fund its operations – ranging from licensing and enforcement to spectrum management and rulemaking. These fees are calculated based on how much of the FCC’s time and resources, measured through full-time equivalent employees, or FTEs, are devoted to regulating each sector.
Broadcasters argued that the current formula leaves them paying more than their fair share, while other major beneficiaries of FCC oversight, like broadband providers and tech companies, contribute little or nothing.
Thus, in order to “ensure the fairness and sustainability of the regulatory fee system”, the NAB asked the FCC to expand its fee base to include other industries – namely broadband service providers, equipment authorization holders, and major technology companies – all of whom benefit from FCC oversight, rulemaking, and spectrum management functions.
To execute the expansion, the NAB recommends that the FCC hold roundtable discussions with relevant stakeholders to discuss a “fair, administrable, and sustainable” pay scheme.
“There is no valid legal, policy, or practical justification for exempting them from the cost of supporting these functions, especially when doing so forces other payors to shoulder a disproportionate share of the Commission’s budget,” NAB stated in its comment to the FCC.
Furthermore, according to the NAB expanding the pay base better aligns with the modern communications ecosystem. The media landscape is no longer dominated by traditional players like local TV and radio, so it is unfair for them to shoulder the majority of the fiscal burden.
“This is neither equitable nor sustainable,” NAB argued. “A modern regulatory fee framework must recognize that the FCC’s work benefits a larger array of entities than those currently paying its costs.”
NAB is the trade association that advocates on behalf of free local radio and television stations and broadcast networks, advancing the interests of tens of thousands of broadcasters before Congress, federal agencies, and the courts.
NAB works to improve the quality and profitability of broadcasting; encourages content and technological innovation; and highlights the importance of diverse community needs.
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