Broadcasters and cable operators bickered over the FCC’s media ownership review, in reply comments filed late Tues. Retransmission consent spats (CD Jan 17 p3) show why the FCC shouldn’t let a company own more than one top-4 TV station in a market, said Bend Cable, Suddenlink and the American Cable Assn. (ACA). Broadcasters rejected arguments by Suddenlink
Notable CROSS rulings
XM and Sirius face an FCC rule requiring the existence of 2 satellite radio operators, if they approach the FCC with a merger request, Chmn. Martin confirmed at a news briefing Wed. “I believe there is a prohibition on the two satellite radio operators, on one entity owning both of those licenses,” Martin said. The rule is in the original 1997 satellite radio licensing order, he said.
A rule capping European international mobile roaming rates could apply in June if the European Parliament (EP) and member states reach accord, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding said Thurs. Key aspects of the draft remain unsettled, but Reding urged lawmakers and govts. to move quickly. “This is a test case” that will let citizens judge EU institutions’ capacity to make good on promises or can be “stopped by the big industrial powers,” she told an EP hearing on implications of international roaming for consumers and industry.
EU efforts against cross-border consumer scams got a boost this month as Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) regulation mutual assistance provisions took effect. The 2003 rule addresses e-mail scams and illegal prize draws, misleading advertising and pressure selling, phone scams based in other EU countries and the like, the U.K. Dept. for Trade & Industry (DTI) said. It aims tighten and harmonize efforts via a pan-European network to exchange data and collaborate on enforcement, DTI said. The designated U.K. authority, the Office of Fair Trading, is the nation’s consumer protection agency.
Not all requested materials on media ownership were released by the FCC in a delayed response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the data. The agency cited rules that let it keep information deemed sensitive private. The Commission disclosed a large amount of material to Georgetown U.’s Institute for Public Representation, Dir. Angela Campbell said late Fri. The material, requested in early Aug., covers study results and reports after July 1, 2003, on localism, TV and radio station ownership rules and newspaper/broadcast cross ownership, Media Bureau Communications & Industry Information Chief Michael Perko wrote to Campbell’s group. The agency was slow to answer because so much information was involved, he said. Since “about an inch” of paper, plus many hours of audio recording, are involved, it’s too soon to judge what’s included, said Campbell. Among nuggets in the documents was the $357,755 the FCC contracted to pay Edison Media Research for a radio localism study, she said. The Commission previously declined to give the amount of the contract, though staffers pegged it at $350,000 (CD Sept 14 p1). Not among materials released were 1,400 pages of “internal Commission records… includ[ing] data and data analyses, proposals and deliberations on proposals, and internal communications, including e-mails, memoranda and briefing papers,” wrote Perko. About half of those pages weren’t disclosed because they hold information from “proprietary sources” (including unidentified publications of Communications Daily parent Warren Communications News). The other 700 pages withheld include e-mails, memos and other material on the FCC “deliberative process,” wrote Perko. FOIA rules let agencies exempt such documents from release, he said. The agency’s selectivity is “peculiar,” said Campbell, noting that last month the FCC made public similar material in a related media ownership document release. Separately, FCC Chmn. Martin wrote Sen. Dorgan (D-N.D.) that the agency won’t finish its media ownership review until a previously announced localism inquiry is finished. Responding to a letter from the senator, Martin said he’s committed to holding localism proceedings promised by former Chmn. Michael Powell, including one in Maine. - JM
The FCC extended a deadline for Time Warner to provide it with documents certifying 4 of its L.A.-area systems comply with cable/satellite master antenna TV (SMATV) cross- ownership rules to April 2, from Dec. 31. The company had already gotten an extension for certification of 17 systems related to its purchase of Adelphia assets (CD July 14 p1), an order by Media Bureau Chief Donna Gregg said: “Time Warner explains that it is still in negotiations with property owners of two of the systems with respect to the construction plans for integration. It also states that its interconnection process was delayed for the other two SMATV systems in order to avoid disruption of service during the holidays.”
The Ia. Utilities Board denied a petition by Coon Creek Telecom for reregulation of retail rates in 2 exchanges, on grounds that market competition had broken down. Coon Creek said Ia. Telecom engaged in predatory pricing in the Marengo and Belle Plaine exchanges and that Ia. Telecom pricing and bundling practices imperil competition. Ia. Telecom denied the charges, saying Coon Creek was trying to bring an antitrust case to the IUB, which isn’t an antitrust tribunal. The IUB (Case FCU-06-42) ruled this case wasn’t antitrust but a petition for reregulation. But it said Coon Creek failed to prove Ia. Telecom’s retail prices were below cost or that its bundled offerings in Marengo and Belle Plaine were being cross-subsidized by other exchanges. It also said Coon Creek failed to show Ia. Telecom’s pricing was deterring competitive entry into these exchanges, or that market conditions changed materially since the exchanges were deregulated in 2005. The IUB said the situation in these exchanges “appears to be an example of the type of local exchange competition that is favored by public policy, with consumers benefitting from lower prices and a choice of service providers.”
FCC Gen. Counsel Samuel Feder hasn’t justified a decision that FCC Comr. McDowell can vote on the AT&T- BellSouth merger, key House Democrats said Tues. Commerce Committee Chmn.-designate Dingell and Telecom Subcommittee Chmn.-designate Markey criticized Feder for not heeding advice by Govt. Ethics Dir. Robert Cusick, who recommended not authorizing McDowell.
The FCC should rescind its cross-ownership waiver for Fox because the broadcaster’s parent company, News Corp., had ample time to sell the N.Y. Post to comply with ownership rules, said the United Church of Christ and the Rainbow/Push Coalition. Fox’s response (CD Nov 28 p8) opposing their petition for the FCC to reconsider the waiver was flawed, the groups said: “Fox had already had over five years to avoid a fire sale and had not shown that it needed 2 TV stations to preserve the Post… Nothing in Fox’s opposition reduces the need for the Commission to reconsider its decision.” The stations are WWOR-TV N.Y.-Secaucus, N.J., and WNYW N.Y.
Spectrum 5 and EchoStar late last week won 2 short- spaced “tweener” satellite licenses from the FCC. The authorizations -- for satellites placed 4.5 degrees from existing craft rather than the standard 9 degrees -- are the first of their kind at the FCC. Granted Nov. 29 by the International Bureau, the licenses beat the rulemaking that they're part of out the FCC door. The rulemaking, a contentious one on the feasibility of reduced orbital spacing for DBS satellites serving the U.S., continues in IB Docket 06-160. Released the same day as the license order: Dismissal of the original tweener submission filed in 2002 by SES Americom, without prejudice to refiling.