Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on a letter she sent to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler urging the continuation of the exclusivity rules (technically referred to as “network duplication and syndicated exclusivity rules”) that support a wider variety of programs on local broadcast television stations.

In effect, the exclusivity rules encourage television stations to invest in programs relevant to their communities, rather than simply rebroadcasting syndicated programs that appear on other television stations. The letter to Chairman Wheeler was also signed by Congressman G.K. Butterfield, Congressman Bobby L. Rush, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

“The exclusivity rules are critical to protecting the variety of choices television viewers currently have. Otherwise, multiple local television stations in the same community could broadcast the same syndicated programs, reducing their investments in programs relevant to viewers and, therefore, reducing the number of choices available, particularly in communities of color where local broadcast television stations remain particularly popular for news and entertainment,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who as a member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee has worked to increase diversity in the media, particularly by supporting the ownership of television and radio stations by people of color and women.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the House of Representatives, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as well as the Committee on Ethics and the Committee of Small Business proudly represents the neighborhoods of Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, Park Slope, Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.