Commissioners Set to Approve Media Ownership NPRM
After several rounds of minor editing, FCC commissioners were set to approve a notice of proposed rulemaking for its 2010 Quadrennial media ownership review, industry and FCC sources said. No major changes had been made to the notice in recent weeks, as commissioners and their staff worked on its language, they said. Commissioners’ offices were finalizing their statements on proposed rules Wednesday as approval appeared imminent, FCC officials said. An FCC spokesman declined to comment.
The notice is expected to propose relaxing restrictions on owning a newspaper and broadcast assets in the same market, as well as relaxing limits on cross-ownership of radio and TV stations within a market, the sources said. Additionally, it will look at how shared services agreements (SSAs) among broadcasters fit within the FCC’s ownership limits (CD Nov 22 p8), they said.
On that point, lawyers representing a group of smaller market TV station owners met with Media Bureau and commissioners’ aides this week to discuss some of the benefits of SSAs, an ex parte notice shows. SSAs can “breathe new life into struggling stations, at a minimum by enabling the stations to expand the quality and quantity of the news they provide,” lawyers for the Coalition of Smaller Market TV Stations said in the ex parte notice. “The Coalition cited real-world examples where SSAs have saved and expanded local public service and diversity in news operations,” the notice said. “We urge the commission to take these realities into account in connection with the ownership and retransmission consent rulemaking proceedings,” it said.
Commissioners want to vote on the rulemaking before Commissioner Michael Copps leaves office, industry and FCC sources said. Media ownership has been one of Copps’ pet issues; his bio on the FCC’s website says his years at the FCC have been highlighted by “actions to stem the tide of what he regards as excessive consolidation in the nation’s media and telecommunications industries.” “Since he has tendered his resignation as of January, 1, this is sort of his swan song and in many ways this has been his signature issue,” said Free Press Senior Policy Counsel Corie Wright. “People are looking forward to seeing his take on what the commission is proposing to do,” she said.
How the rulemaking addresses media ownership among women and minorities will be another issue to watch, industry and FCC sources said. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has signaled that the FCC should at least assess how its proposed rules would affect ownership opportunities among women and people of color, Wright said. “And if it hasn’t done that it will be in real trouble with the court again,” she said. Language in the notice does address that question, and because it’s still early in the rulemaking process, the commission can continue to work on it, an FCC official said.