A 200-page sheaf of documents proposing to ease ownership restrictions on U.S. broadcasters was sent to each of the FCC’s 5 commissioners late Mon., setting off what promised to be 3 weeks of wrangling over how new ownership rules might shape the country’s media landscape. Several agency and industry insiders said this much was clear: On some big items -- national ownership and newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership, for example -- there already were at least 3 votes in favor of loosening the rules, all of them Republican. A vote is expected June 2.
Notable CROSS rulings
The FCC’s plan to relax its broadcast ownership restrictions “will not be legitimate in the eyes of the public” and most likely won’t “withstand judicial scrutiny” unless the new rules are put out for public comment, 4 House Democrats wrote FCC Chmn. Powell Thurs. They expressed concern about “a backroom deal” with Belo -- allegedly to gain the TV group owner and newspaper publisher’s support for raising the station ownership cap to 45% from 35%. The Commission’s refusal to solicit comments, as advocated by Comr. Copps (CD May 2 p1), “can only be interpreted as masking a fear that the new rules might engender a great deal of opposition,” the Congress members wrote. The letter, from Reps. Dingell (D-Mich.) and Markey (D-Mass.) -- ranking minority member of the House Commerce Committee and its Telecom Subcommittee, respectively -- and Reps. Obey (D-Wis.) and Serrano (D-N.Y.) -- ranking minority member of the Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee that handles FCC appropriations, respectively -- asks Powell a series of questions about the FCC’s rulemaking process. It included public comments in the official record (how many for relaxing rules, how many against), the Commission’s own studies of media concentration and other potential “side deals.” The Congressmen said they were “particularly concerned” by Belo’s offer to support raising the ownership cap to 45% in return for repeal of the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban and relaxation of the duopoly rule (CD April 22 p7). The Democrats also sent copies of their letter to Powell to the chmn. of the House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees and their subcommittees with jurisdiction over the FCC. Members of Congress appear to be about evenly split on Powell’s intention to adopt the new rules at FCC’s June 2 open meeting and he has informed House and Senate leaders that he won’t postpone that action (CD April 16 p3, May 2 pl).
FCC Chmn. Powell told reporters Thurs. that a draft of the agency’s new rules on media ownership could begin circulating among the commissioners early next week. Powell praised Comr. Adelstein for his insightfulness during the discussions, and Comrs. Martin and Abernathy for their hard work on the ownership issues. He pointedly omitted Comr. Copps, who has been almost single-handedly holding a series of public hearings on media ownership around the country. Asked about Copps, Powell said he had “reached out to every Commission office equally… Regrettably, my only hesitation about Commissioner Copps is that it’s been more difficult to accommodate some of those briefings with his schedule.” He said Copps had “been committed to traveling.”
FCC Chmn. Powell gave further indication that he would vote to end the agency’s ban on newspaper-TV cross-ownership, the AP reported. Speaking in a Q&A session at the Newspaper Assn. of America’s convention Mon. in Seattle (CD April 29 p6), Powell said it would be difficult to maintain the rule in its current form. Cross-ownership would allow for more efficient production of news, he said.
BOSTON -- ILECs and IXCs on both sides of the UNE-P debate pitched their respective views to state legislatures Fri. at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Spring Conference here. A panel Fri. summarized the new role of state PUCs in using “impairment” criteria from the FCC at the local level in determining whether to keep UNE-P. The predictable messages from AT&T and MCI to keep the UNE-P liberal and by Verizon “to consider local investment” and eliminate the UNE-P were somewhat misdirected in a room filled with state lawmakers, few of whom were likely to have telecom as their top priority.
The FCC opened an inquiry Wed., asking for comments on whether providing broadband communications services over power lines could cause interference and how to best measure emissions. Commissioners said the technology could offer consumers a 3rd way to obtain broadband service, in addition to DSL and cable modems, although it still was in the experimental stage.
Sinclair Bcst. Group criticized “the absurdity of preserving the status quo” of the FCC’s local TV ownership rule when companies such as News Corp. could have extensive cross-ownership. Sinclair earlier this week submitted supplemental comments to the FCC in the agency’s broadcast ownership review, in light of News Corp.’s recently announced intention of acquiring DirecTV. Sinclair pointed out that News Corp. owned 33 broadcast TV stations, the Fox News Channel, F/X, the Fox Sports cable network, 20 regional cable sports networks and the Fox national broadcast network, and that Fox now proposed to buy a DBS company with 11 million subscribers in markets where it also had broadcast stations. “Yet, there are no Commission rules (nor should there be) that expressly prohibit or limit the cross-ownership of such media interests,” Sinclair said. It said the News Corp. acquisition of DirecTV would give the company, in many markets, a broadcast station and a multichannel video programming distributor that could “not only serve as a gatekeeper of programming… but would also dictate the programming content.” Any rule that bans owning more than one TV station in the same market but allows a company such as News Corp. to own so much in the same markets “cannot be rationally defended,” Sinclair wrote.
In the next 2 months, the FCC will move ahead with a long-awaited rule and further notice designed to facilitate secondary markets for spectrum, Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta told reporters Mon. The Commission proposed rules in 2000 that focused on an array of wireless services, but didn’t include broadcasting and public safety, Deputy Chief Peter Tenhula said at a bureau news briefing. Those other areas, including regulatory relief for transactions involving broadcast and public safety spectrum, have been examined since then by the Commission’s Spectrum Policy Task Force. Commercial wireless issues considered long ripe for review will be part of the order, while new areas will be part of a further notice, officials said.
LAS VEGAS -- What was billed as a regulatory face-off of FCC commissioners at the NAB convention Tues. didn’t disappoint as Comrs. Abernathy and Copps verbally tussled over the agency’s media ownership review. Abernathy was particularly upset by Copps’s insistence that more public comment was necessary for the Commission to reach a credible decision.
State legislatures this year have taken up many bills that will affect state commission operations, administration and jurisdiction, ranging from agency restructuring and public campaign financing to universal service and consumer advocacy, including proposals to turn the Cal. PUC and Utah PSC from appointed to elected bodies, restructure the Ark. PSC and reform the commissioner selection process in S.C.