The FCC Media Bureau approved a station transaction...
The FCC Media Bureau approved a station transaction in Alaska over the objections of broadcasters who had argued the deal would create a monopoly and raise concerns comparable to the Comcast/NBCUniversal merger, said an FCC order released Wednesday afternoon. Cable…
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operator General Communications Inc. (GCI) will acquire the licenses to KTVA(TV), Anchorage, and low-powers KATH-LD, Juneau-Douglas, and KSCT-LP, Sitka, from an affiliate of Media News Group. A coalition of Alaskan broadcasters had filed numerous petitions (CD Feb 22 p17) asking the commission to deny the transaction because of GCI’s unique market position and how it might affect retransmission negotiations and local journalism. GCI’s lines pass 90 percent of all Alaska television households and it doesn’t face much competition from direct broadcast satellite providers because of “the unique geographic terrain of Alaska,” the order said. However, the broadcaster objections were “more appropriate for industry-wide proceedings, are unsupported, or are otherwise speculative with regard to future harms,” said the order. “We find that the Applications do not propose a transaction that would violate” FCC rules, the order said. The transaction “would not accord GCI with the leverage necessary to force a top-four television network to drop other affiliates, allow a network bypass, or diminish existing exclusivity rights with other affiliates,” said the order. The Media Bureau said allegations that the consolidation would affect journalistic independence are “speculative and based on hearsay.” The First Amendment and Section 326 of the Communications Act “bar us from withholding approval of a transaction based on a change in editorial perspective,” the bureau said.