Law Firm's White Paper Calls for Elimination of UHF Discount, Return of Top-4 Rule
Approving mergers between the largest broadcasters and rolling back broadcast-ownership rules will increase retransmission consent fees and “further increase concentration and the prospect of anticompetitive conduct at local and national levels,” said antitrust law firm Kressin Powers in a white paper released Thursday. “Today, the formerly 'local' TV industry is dominated by publicly traded, multibillion-dollar conglomerates owning and controlling hundreds of local-in-name-only affiliate stations,” said the paper, titled "From Local Stations to Nationwide Conglomerates: The High Cost of TV Mega-Mergers."
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It called for the top-four prohibition to be restored, the 39% national ownership cap to be preserved, and the UHF discount to be eliminated. “This is not a partisan issue,” the paper said. “All Americans benefit from healthy competition, lower costs, strong local newsrooms, and a diversity of viewpoints; as such, government policymakers and officials of all political stripes should take prompt action to restore competition to the local TV industry.”
The white paper’s arguments “ignore today’s media landscape,” an NAB spokesperson said in an email. “The reality is that ad revenues and retransmission consent fees -- the resources that fund free, local journalism -- are declining, making economies of scale more vital than ever. Claims of broadcaster ‘concentration’ do not match the facts: the three largest station groups represent little more than a third of local stations.”
The paper didn't list who wrote or funded it, and Kressin Powers didn't comment.