FCC PLANS ‘OMNIBUS BLOCKBUSTER’ REPORT ON TV-RADIO OWNERSHIP
All 6 pending FCC proceedings dealing with broadcast ownership rules will be combined into “omnibus blockbuster report and order” to be sent to commissioners for action in spring, Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree said Mon. Briefing reporters on Bureau’s plans, he said results of several studies now under way (some from outside Commission) would be available by late summer and soon thereafter Bureau would release its proposed report and order for comments. That’s expected to take until end of year, he said, after which staff will work on recommendations to be sent to commissioners in spring.
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Referring to earlier court remands in 2 ownership cases, Ferree said U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., “now seems to be putting a premium on analytical consistency across [FCC] rules.” To meet that requirement, he said, Commission will combine all its existing ownership restrictions (including newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership and local radio ownership concentration, which are subjects of current rulemakings) into single report and order dealing with “all the media ownership rules and policies related to the broadcast spectrum.” Revised cable horizontal and vertical rules will be handled in separate order, he said, which is expected to be finalized by end of year.
Ferree said “there are a lot of good reasons” for handling all broadcast rules -- including 35% TV station ownership cap, subject of much in-fighting between TV networks and affiliates -- in single order: “You can’t look at the rules in isolation… You can’t think about one without also at least contemplating what’s happening in another [because] the same set of facts come into play.” In cable, he said, there are “entirely different concerns.”
Because of earlier court decisions, he said it would be hard for FCC to defend any new rule covering single ownership issue “while we are pushing ahead with the next rulemaking… and in the meantime the court could give us some new guidance” in possible remand. Subjects of studies now under way and due to be finished by late summer include: “Voices” available in single community and, for first time, that will include DBS, he said; various ways consumers use media and how it varies market-by-market; how advertisers use media; how ownership affects diversity and content.
Congressional leaders were briefed last week on Media Bureau’s omnibus rulemaking plan, Ferree said, and “reaction from the Hill was not negative… The concerns that have been expressed on the Hill [CD June 14 p7] are the same concerns everybody has… The thing now is to do it right.” He said Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.) was “very supportive.”
Ferree conceded omnibus project was “going to take a lot of [FCC] resources to get this done by spring of ‘03… Two dozen people or more.” In interim, he said, Commission will accept waiver requests of ownership rules “but I'm not sure they will be warmly received.” FCC has had media ownership task force, headed by Paul Gallant, at work for several weeks.
Petition by Network Affiliated Stations Alliance (NASA) asking FCC to investigate Big 4 TV network policies and practices -- including their ownership of TV stations -- won’t be a part of omnibus order, Ferree said. He said Media Bureau had submitted its recommendation on NASA petition to commissioners but “I don’t know where it stands now.” Published reports have suggested 2 commissioners favor dismissing NASA petition, while other 2 favor considering affiliates’ charges (CD May 8 p5).
Broadcasters were critical of FCC plan for omnibus report on ownership, contending combining all proceedings into one would delay finalizing any new rules. “We're frustrated by the slowness of the whole process,” broadcaster told us. Public interest groups, on other hand, were happy with process. Jeffery Chester of Center for Digital Democracy said timetable set by Ferree was “a victory for the consumer, public interest and industry groups that have been fighting deregulation. [FCC Chmn.] Michael Powell placed these [ownership] proposals on a fast track, but his plans have been derailed. Now, with this announcement, there will be considerable delay before the Commission can act, much to the chagrin of companies like Viacom and Tribune which have been aching for the end to the ownership safeguards.”