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Law360 (April 22, 2020, 9:39 PM EDT) -- A pay-TV lobbying organization wants Congress to attach strings to a proposal that would let news stations qualify for small business pandemic relief, but broadcasters have come out swinging against the insinuation that local news outlets are conglomerates masquerading as small businesses.
The American Television Alliance — a lobbying group that often clashes with broadcasters over big ticket issues and represents heavy hitters like AT&T, Charter and Dish — asked lawmakers Wednesday to consider adding conditions if it opted to dole out small business aid to news stations.
Specifically, the group wants Congress to make broadcasters put a three-year moratorium on blackouts if it decides they will be allowed to apply for the small business loans being made available during the coronavirus pandemic.
"[If] Congress decides to allocate these critical tax dollars to major broadcasting groups, it should require that they not only provide their signals to all consumers, but also refrain from blacking out their signals to customers of any cable, telco or satellite provider for three years," the group said in a statement.
The lobbying group had already made it clear that it isn't a fan of a proposal posed by broadcasters that would make thousands of local news outlets eligible for the small business relief, should Congress opt to greenlight a second round of funding, by considering each station its own business.
Under the National Association of Broadcasters' plan, the government would use individual stations to determine whether it qualified as a small business, rather than the entire employee count of the company that owned the station. The ATVA has criticized the proposal as a workaround that would allow media giants to benefit from small business aid.
It's a criticism that the NAB hasn't taken kindly to, slamming what it called the lobbying group's "cynical effort to deny local media badly needed access to [Small Business Administration] loans during the coronavirus crisis."
It took aim at the ATVA Wednesday for being a "front group" for telecom giants that it says have cut off service to out-of-work customers during the pandemic and for attempting to "exploit this global pandemic for political purposes" in a statement by NAB's executive vice president of communications, Dennis Wharton.
"Americans from coast-to-coast are flocking to local broadcasters in record numbers for credible, lifesaving information during the COVID-19 crisis, while advertising revenues at local stations have plunged," Wharton said. "We make no apologies for seeking access to SBA loans that will keep these companies afloat, support local jobs and commerce, and save American lives."
Journalism has been hit particularly hard by the economic woes ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic, which by Wednesday had resulted in more than 46,000 deaths across the country. Advertising revenue has dipped despite news outlets seeing huge bumps in traffic, and thousands of journalists have been furloughed or subject to pay cuts while working at a frantic clip to cover the crisis.
--Editing by Gemma Horowitz.
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