Nexstar and Tribune announced specific divestiture plans to unload 19 stations in 15 markets to Tegna and E.W. Scripps in connection with Nexstar's proposed buy of Tribune, said Nexstar Wednesday. The sale would yield $1.32 billion cash. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook earlier estimated the company would divest around $1 billion in TV stations to comply with FCC ownership rules. Opposition comments this week argued the proposed deal wasn’t yet “ripe” for review because specific divestiture plans hadn't been disclosed (see 1903190054).
Rising retransmission consent rates, dependence on the UHF discount, and a lack of complete information are reasons the FCC should turn down Nexstar’s proposed buy of Tribune (see 1901300054), said postings in docket 19-30 this week. Dish Network, NCTA, Frontier Communications, the American Television Alliance and a collection of anti-consolidation groups including Common Cause and Sports Fan Coalition filed concerns. “The transaction raises serious concerns under antitrust analysis that would undermine competition in the broadcast market,” said the anti-consolidation joint filing.
The White House’s renewed proposal to wind down and then cut off CPB federal funding isn’t a surprise and won’t keep public TV groups from seeking a funding increase, said public TV broadcasters and others in interviews. “We are assured by our friends in Congress that we have broad support for this funding increase,” said America’s Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler. APTS is seeking a $50 million increase for CPB after 10 years of level funding at $445 million (see 1902250063).
The FCC unanimously approved a reimbursement order Friday for low-power TV, TV translator and FM stations. It's little changed from the draft, Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey said. It was uncontroversial at the meeting, as expected (see 1903130076). Most commissioners cut their pre-vote statements short.
The FCC’s draft low-power TV, translator and FM radio reimbursement order isn’t expected to be much changed from its circulated version and is considered largely uncontroversial, agency and industry officials told us. NPR, T-Mobile and several Class A broadcasters (see 1903070071) lobbied the agency for changes to the item. Now, FCC officials said few changes are likely. The order is to get a vote at Friday's commissioners' meeting.
The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board lacks transparency, has an inherent conflict of interest and inaccurately rates TV content, said parent advocacy groups and many of the approximately 1,600 individual commenters. Docket 19-41 responses were on the FCC’s congressionally mandated call for filings (see 1903010046)on the TV ratings system and the board that oversees it.
FCC commissioners unanimously approved an order streamlining the reauthorization process for satellite TV stations, an item that was on Friday’s FCC meeting agenda (see 1803220027). “Ultimately, this item will save significant resources for both affected broadcasters and the Commission,” said Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. Satellite TV stations are full-power broadcast TV stations that largely retransmit the content of a parent station, usually another full-power station owned by the same licensee. The order (here and here) allows applicants transferring a satellite TV station to do so without making extensive showings that the station should retain its satellite status, as long as they can certify there has been no other material change to the station’s situation. Under the previous rule, reauthorization was required, even though the requests were always approved, and the process was widely seen as a “rubber stamp,” attorneys told us. The media modernization item wasn't deemed controversial, and the streamlining provisions drew no opposition in the lead-up to the order. When the NPRM on the proposed order was voted, then-Commissioner Mignon Clyburn expressed concern that a satellite station changing parent stations should be considered a material change, but the final order doesn’t restrict the definition of a material change to specific situations. The “circumstances of each case” should guide the determination of whether a material change in the circumstances led to the original grant of satellite status, the order said.
“Digital companies” may have been too successful in avoiding regulation, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told the Brookings Institution Tuesday. The rollback of Wheeler’s net neutrality order by what he called “the Trump FCC” included disavowing jurisdiction over the internet, leaving room for states to step in with their own rules, Wheeler again (see 1903110063) said. Digital companies got what they wanted and maybe a little too much, he said. Wheeler said Facebook isn’t a neutral carrier of information but instead exercises editorial control over what users see. The company should release open application programming interfaces for how it gathers and publishes content, so consumers can see “what’s going in and going out,” Wheeler said. Current antitrust regulations can’t adequately constrain such companies because those rules are based on pricing and Facebook is free, he said. “The rules that have worked for industrial capitalism are no longer sufficient for internet capitalism.” The current wave of technological change isn’t unprecedented, and harkens back to similar shifts such as the development of the printing press, Wheeler said. His new book argues the internet hasn’t yet caused the same degree of upheaval, but it’s on the cusp of such an event, and the fast pace of technological change is short-circuiting democratic processes needed to digest the shift. That gap allows “authoritarians” to step up and offer “slogans instead of solutions,” said Wheeler, offering “The Wall” and Brexit as examples. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., also mentioned state telecom policy in his introduction of Wheeler, saying localities should be allowed to create their own municipal networks to compete with ISPs. Americans across the country unanimously support net neutrality, Doyle said. Facebook didn't comment.
TV station owners fear the FCC is leaning toward a national cap lower than they want, and are seeking to characterize a 78 percent cap as maintaining “the status quo.” That's according to interviews with broadcasters, broadcast attorneys and a letter to all five commissioners filed Monday. “Nothing in the record provides any basis for tightening the national ownership cap,” said Ion, Nexstar, Tribune, Univision and others that in total represent almost 500 stations.
Difficulties minorities and women face accessing funds to buy and keep afloat media companies was a theme of every panel of broadcasters, programmers, investors and attorneys at Thursday's FCC broadcast symposium on media diversity. Broadcast incubation programs, the defunct minority tax certificate and a “raised eyebrow” from the agency encouraging companies to pursue diversity were broached as possible solutions. The agency should hold a diversity symposium for large media companies, because the largely minority attendees now are mostly “talking to ourselves,” said Bayou City Broadcasting CEO DuJuan McCoy. Companies wouldn't turn down an invitation to such an event from Chairman Ajit Pai, said Beasley Media CEO Caroline Beasely.