The Media Access Project, long a voice for regulation, is calling...
The Media Access Project, long a voice for regulation, is calling for elimination of the UHF discount. In a meeting late last week with FCC Chmn. Powell and aide Susan Eid, MAP Pres. Andrew Schwartzman argued that there was…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
no evidence in the record to support retention of the UHF discount. He said Powell and others had said that any rule that lacked an empirical grounding should be repealed. Schwartzman also cited what he called an inconsistency in treating UHF stations as equivalent to VHF stations in the FCC’s duopoly rules, “while giving them half as much significance in calculating the national ownership cap.” Schwartzman said that even if the Commission decided a discount was necessary, it then must justify the size of that discount. “There is nothing on the record to justify any discount, much less a 50% discount,” the filing said. Both Powell and Eid questioned whether new disparities would be created, but Schwartzman said grandfathering might be appropriate in some cases.