FCC Chmn. Martin’s proposed franchise order may help Bells get speedy permission to sell video by imposing time limits on negotiations with cities for licenses to sell fiber video and IPTV. Talks would be limited to 90 days in areas where companies including AT&T and Verizon have right of way authority to sell other telecom products like wireline phone service, said an FCC official. The draft order would impose a 180-day limit on franchise talks for companies that don’t have rights of way, such as cable overbuilders. The order began circulating on the 8th floor last week (CD Dec 1 p11). Municipal officials said they doubt the order, if approved in current form, would be upheld on appeal, since the FCC seems to be overstepping its authority.
Notable CROSS rulings
The FCC shouldn’t reverse an Oct. 6 order letting News Corp. escape cross-ownership rules on N.Y. properties for 2 years, said sister company Fox. The United Church of Christ and the Rainbow/Push Coalition asked the FCC to reconsider an order letting News Corp. own WWOR-TV N.Y.-Secaucus, N.J., WNYW N.Y. and the N.Y. Post (CD Nov 8 p10). That petition was flawed because the groups didn’t try to block the waiver until it was granted, Fox said: “Although they claim not to have had adequate notice of the filing of Fox’s application, that assertion is belied by the facts.” The FCC issued a public notice that it accepted Fox’s application for the waiver, the company said.
The FCC’s unveiling of 10 media ownership studies drew fire for being vague on methodology, cost and choice of researchers in what Comr. Adelstein said he fears will be hurried research. A Wed. public notice listed studies the Commission will underwrite on independently produced TV, minority roles in industry, local news, station-newspaper cross ownership, radio programming and other topics. The announcement raises “more questions… than it answers,” said Adelstein and Comr. Copps in separate comments. Two professors hired to run some of the studies refused to say what the FCC is paying them.
Mich. PSC Comr. Laura Chappelle doesn’t see the FCC addressing electric distribution pole attachment issues, but the Commission could be asked to speak to “broader” pole attachment issues perhaps bearing on BPL, she said. At the Nov. 3 FCC meeting, Comr. Copps said Commission BPL rules don’t provide certainty on “difficult questions” relating to pole attachment and cross-subsidization (CD Nov 6 p2).
A judge should vacate an FCC order giving Rupert Murdoch a permanent waiver to operate WNYW (Fox) N.Y. and News Corp.’s N.Y. Post outside of the cross-ownership rules, Free Press said in a notice of appeal filed Mon. in the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C. The court should similarly vacate the order granting a 2-year waiver to WWOR-TV (Fox) Secaucus, N.J., it said. The Commission ignored Free Press’s objections when it issued the Oct. 6 order saying Fox’s request was unopposed, Free Press said.
The FCC’s decision to classify BPL-enabled broadband services as information services will spur investments and rollouts, industry officials and analysts said. With Comr. McDowell abstaining, the FCC Fri. unanimously adopted an order to that effect, as expected (CD Nov 2 p1).
Rep. Waters (D-Cal.) and activists asked the FCC to deny KTLA L.A.’s request to renew its license, claiming the company violates Commission rules by owning the station and the L.A. Times, both in the same designated market area (DMA.) Having bought the paper in 2000, Tribune can own both until Dec. 1, when the station license comes up for renewal, Waters said. After Dec. 1, Tribune needs a cross-ownership waiver to keep both assets. “Granting the applicant’s waiver would further the unfair polarization of the Los Angeles DMA,” Waters wrote: “Tribune’s violation of the cross- ownership rule and its dominance of the DMA diminish… diversity for the community.” The Commission should deny the cross-ownership waiver because Tribune didn’t justify getting one, a separate FCC filing by Media Action Project on behalf of activists said: “Rather than complying with the rule by divesting either the television station or the newspaper, Tribune apparently gambled that the [cross ownership] rule would be modified in a fashion legalizing its cross ownership in Los Angeles before the renewal date.” The FCC may modify media ownership rules and might allow for cross-ownership, a possibility to which Waters objected vehemently at an L.A. hearing attended by all commissioners (CD Oct 4 p2). KTLA produces about 32 hours of news weekly, showing it serves the market well, Tribune Vp Shaun Sheehan said. Media activists’ filing is “absolutely full of rhetoric and no facts,” he said: “I'm confident somewhere down the line, fairness will apply to this process.” - JM
E. LANSING, Mich. -- The once-sharp distinctions between telecom and media are blurring as digital telecom devices and services develop into a delivery vehicle for radio, movies, TV channels and games, FCC Comr. Tate told a Michigan State U. audience Tues. She said every day sees some new development in wireless and Internet video, in technology or market concepts, that blurs the line a bit more.
Google’s and YouTube’s success underscores the need for media deregulation, broadcasters told the FCC. Unprecedented competition from video and news online gives consumers a staggering array of programming choices, they said. Commenting on the Commission’s ownership rulemaking, over- the-air networks and TV station owners said there’s little reason to keep limits preventing a company from owning more than one TV station in most markets. Commenters said cross- ownership rules barring a broadcaster from owning a newspaper in the same town are outdated because websites and cable offer consumers choices and are snaring a growing chunk of local ads. The comment deadline was late Mon. (CD Oct 24 p8).
FCC radio ownership limits are exceeded in 104 cities, or 35% of U.S. markets, said a report arguing against media deregulation. Among large broadcasters, Clear Channel most often exceeds caps, said the report, paid for by the Benton Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. Stations whose owners exceed limits detract from programming diversity because they're less likely to air jazz and classical music, it said: “Instead, they focus on a relatively narrow range of format categories.” Radio serves diverse audiences including minorities, NAB said in comments on the FCC media ownership review. Comments began trickling in from industry ahead of a Mon. deadline. “Radio programming diversity has continued to increase since” the Telecom Act of 1996, NAB said, stumping for “continuing relaxation of the radio ownership rules.” The group asked the FCC let a company own more than one TV station in any market and permit cross- ownership of newspapers by broadcasters. Broadcasters joined NAB in asking the FCC to ease ownership rules. The ban on a company’s owning 2 stations in a city is outdated, Gray TV said: “The Commission should eliminate the duopoly rule as a relic of the pre-Internet past, or, at the very least, adopt a waiver policy that recognizes today’s marketplace realities.” The Commission should allow ownership of 2 TV stations when their combined audience share would be 30% or less and satisfy certain FTC merger guidelines, said Hearst- Argyle. It called a cross-ownership ban unnecessary.