How can Amazon Prime ban political ads on Thursday Night Football?
- Streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, aren’t regulated by FCC
- TV networks, cable channels must sell candidates advertising time
- Sports blog founder celebrates opportunity to avoid campaign ads
SANTA CLARA, CA – SEPTEMBER 21: General view of the Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football post game show featuring George Kittle at Levi’s Stadium on September 21, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — As the biannual flood of political ads overtakes every show on broadcast TV and cable between now and Election Day, there is one football game every week that is free of political ads: Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime.
“During an election year, we prohibit media products about a specific political party, issue, or candidate,” Amazon states on its list of prohibited content. But why is Amazon free from FCC regulations that force TV and cable to sell ads to campaigns?
It’s because streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu are not subject to FCC regulation.
“The definitions and language Congress wrote into current statutory provisions do not extend to internet streamers,” former FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly wrote last year.
“Bless you, Amazon,” wrote Ben Koo, founder of the sportscasting blog Awful Announcing.
“The blockade on political ads … elevates the experience above all the other NFL games. It doesn’t matter who is playing, what announcers are calling the game, or the quality of the broadcast or studio show. If you spare me five to 10 minutes of political ads, you win,” Koo added.
Current FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told Congress last year that neither the Communications Act nor the Cable Act allow the FCC to regulate streamers. She told lawmakers that such an expansion of the commission’s jurisdiction would have to come from Congress.
