Sinclair, NAB Oppose Stay of UHF Discount Restoration
Public interest groups are unlikely to prevail in their challenge of FCC restoration of its UHF ownership cap discount rules, and so their request for a stay pending judicial review (see 1705110042) shouldn’t be granted, said Sinclair and NAB opposition…
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filings Wednesday in docket 13-236. Courts tend to defer to expert agencies, and the FCC’s “determination that the UHF Discount is inextricably intertwined with the national audience reach cap is rational and fully consistent with the governing statute,” said Sinclair. NAB was critical of the logic behind the challenge, saying petitioners don’t address the FCC argument that the agency never had the authority to initially get rid of the UHF discount. The groups’ argument is “on such feeble ground that they even resort to claiming the UHF discount -- which is used to define audience reach -- is not ‘intrinsically linked’ to the national TV ownership cap,” NAB said.