STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER
Re:  Review of Foreign Ownership Policies for Broadcast, Common Carrier and Aeronautical 
Radio Licensees under Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act of 1934, as Amended 
(GN Docket No. 15-236).
One of my first actions as FCC Chairman was to launch a comprehensive review of the FCC’s 
processes to identify practices that should be updated and streamlined, and one of the first decisions 
approved during my chairmanship focused on the process of compliance with the Commission’s foreign 
ownership rules in the broadcast context. Today, thanks to the leadership of Commissioner O’Rielly, we 
take another step forward to improve the process for reviewing foreign ownership requests for broadcast 
licensees and the Commission.
Broadcasters want — and need — investment to continue to offer local, diverse, and informative 
content. Broadcasters have repeatedly told us that modernizing our foreign ownership filing and review 
process will promote foreign investment in the broadcast industry.
The need for additional updates to our foreign ownership rules became evident after Pandora 
Radio’s recent purchase of KXMZ, an FM station in South Dakota. Our experience in the Pandora
proceeding highlighted two important lessons. First, broadcasters seek greater transparency on the 
Commission’s framework for review of foreign ownership information. Second, we can and should 
modernize our procedures for calculating levels of foreign ownership in line with current securities laws 
and regulations for widely-traded public entities.
Today’s NPRM proposes updating the filing and review process so it is better adapted to the 
current business environment. In particular, the NPRM seeks comment on simplifying the foreign 
ownership approval process for broadcast licensees by extending the rules and procedures that currently 
apply to other classes of licensees to broadcast licensees.
The Commission will continue its substantive public interest review of applications from entities 
with foreign ownership above the statutory benchmarks on a case-by-case basis. As we do now, the 
Commission will also continue to coordinate with - and accord deference to - the relevant expert 
Executive Branch agencies on matters related to national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, and 
trade policy. We have been engaged in an ongoing review with these Executive Branch agencies to 
establish a more efficient and timely process for consideration of these foreign ownership requests, and I 
hope to see that dialogue brought to a successful conclusion in the near future.  
This item is about improving and modernizing process. But reforming processes is not the goal, 
it is the means to better outcomes for the American people. The result of this proceeding should be an 
injection of capital into local broadcasters and an increase in quality content for the public.
Thank you to the Commission staff who worked on this item, in particular members of the Media 
Bureau and the International Bureau. Special thanks to Commissioner O’Rielly for his leadership on the 
issues of foreign ownership and broader process reform.