Cross-ownership is one of many topics “on the table,” as a senior FCC official said in a briefing for reporters yesterday. But it’s clearly not as close to the top of the list as fixing what Chairman Tom Wheeler believes is an abusive situation with television JSAs (see the next story). He’s rarin’ to charge into the TV ownership situation, while the cross-ownership rules that go back to the 1970s that generally prohibit local radio-TV and radio-newspaper combos are going to be put up for public comment in the 2014 Quadrennial Review – just as they were in the uncompleted 2010 Quad and also back to the Bush 43-era FCC. The Commission’s granted plenty of cross-ownership waivers, most notably to News Corp., with its ownership of TV stations and daily papers in places like New York (two TV stations plus the Post). Murdoch would love it if News Corp. could add the Los Angeles Times to its TV assets there. But maybe Wheeler’s thinking about treating radio and TV differently, and he leans toward permitting radio/newspaper hookups. That could deepen the pool of potential buyers and sellers, and lead to some interesting dealmaking. FCC Chairman takes a pro-consumer attitude toward TV’s Joint Sales Agreements. Consumers shouldn’t have to pay higher cable bills because TV operators improperly banded together in talks about re-transmission fees, say the Tom Wheeler folks. He favors “one-on-one negotiations, rather than many against one.” That’s the point of view conveyed by a senior FCC official on yesterday’s briefing – though the cable industry, whose association Tom Wheeler once ran, loves this policy shift. Right now, it’s only a proposal, to be voted on by the full Commission at its next open meeting. FCC staff says the cable trade group has presented lots of evidence of TV companies cooperating with each other when it comes to negotiations over re-trans. Wheeler’s folks think Joint Sales Agreements in small and medium-size TV markets have gotten out of hand, allowing the JSA operator too much influence over the station it doesn’t own. The test would be a 15% threshold – does the lead station sell more than 15% of the advertising time? Wheeler would give JSA operators two years to either get into compliance or request a waiver. His folks say the Department of Justice has endorsed their vision. This TV JSA stuff would be separate from the 2014 Quadrennial Review of media ownership rules that will be officially launched at the March 31 open meeting. The officials on yesterday’s call say the input form the 2010 cycle will be rolled into these deliberations, and “all questions are on the table.” Wheeler’s TV crackdown leaves the NAB “disappointed but not surprised.” Gordon Smith says “the real losers will be local TV viewers, because this proposal will kill jobs, chill investment in broadcasting, and reduce meaningful minority programming and ownership opportunities.” So the “job-killing” trope is introduced into this debate, with both sides (NAB and FCC Chairman Wheeler) proclaiming they’re on the side of consumers and vibrant local broadcasting operations. (Do JSAs keep wobbly local stations going or do they reduce competition? Those are two very different views.) NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith also pokes at Wheeler’s background, as the past head of the cable industry’s association, and the onetime head of the wireless association. Smith says “Coincidentally, two industries that would benefit from todays proposal are big cable companies who want less competition for advertising in local markets, and wireless companies who support punitive FCC actions that drive more TV stations into spectrum auctions. The stock market is watching, for sure. Shares in Sinclair, the aggressive TV consolidator and JSA-practitioner, fell 4.5% yesterday, down $1.34 to $28.73. Interestingly, CBS wasn’t seen as a potential victim, and its stock rose slightly, up 17 cents to $67.55 – close to its all-time high
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 10:48:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015