ABC TELLS FCC DISPUTE WITH KEZI IS ABOUT ‘MONEY,’ NOT NEWS
ABC affiliate KEZI (Ch. 9) Eugene, Ore., and network have submitted vastly different versions of negotiations between them in network’s refusal to permit station to air ABC’s prime-time programming 7-10 p.m. in order to add 30 min. of local news and syndicated programming. In unsigned ex parte presentation to FCC last week, ABC said KEZI hadn’t sufficiently researched issue and that earlier prime-time start would harm both station and network “in the long run.” Fact that ex parte letter was unsigned is one of things KEZI plans to challenge at FCC.
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KEZI Gen. Mgr. John Prevedello quickly rebutted ABC’s contentions as “simply false [and] inaccurate.” He said “issue before the FCC is whether we [KEZI] can decide to run news and when to run it, not whether a network can make that decision for us and all of the 800 affiliated stations in the country.” KEZI is expected to ask Commission to strike ABC’s response to its charges since. KEZI-ABC dispute is a part of request by Network Affiliate Stations Alliance that Commission conduct inquiry into network practices (CD Aug 24 p3).
ABC sharply disputed KEZI’s version of their negotiations over request to time-shift prime-time shows. In response to KEZI, ABC told FCC: “This dispute is not about news. It is about money. The proposal presented a fundamental change to the affiliation agreement in order to benefit one party.” ABC said it negotiated new 5-year affiliation contract with KEZI “over a period of months” under which it would pay compensation (amount not disclosed) to affiliate and became effective Jan. 1, 2000. ABC said it was clear from KEZI’s filing at FCC that affiliate planned to start 30-min. 10 p.m. local news, followed by syndicated Entertainment Tonight, “with barely any notice to ABC… There is no reason why KEZI’s proposal should not have been raised, discussed and negotiated” as part of negotiations over new affiliation contract.
Research presented by KEZI to FCC designed to show that Eugene viewers wanted 10 p.m. news was “insufficient” to support affiliate’s claim, ABC said, offering only data with “incomplete sourcing” and no “qualitative research, i.e., focus groups, questionnaires or phone surveys.” Citing previous experiments in time-shifting of network prime-time programming in Sacramento and San Francisco and its own research of Eugene market, ABC told FCC it “concluded that KEZI’s proposal would be detrimental both locally and nationally.”
Network said KEZI made “a variety of unrelated and unsubstantiated allegations, all of which are intended, apparently, to leave the misimpression that ABC regularly declines KEZI’s preemption requests.” But, ABC said, in first 6 months of 2001, KEZI preempted network’s programs 32 times -- 18 of which were for local sports -- all approved by ABC.