Common Cause filed a petition Wed. asking the FCC to deny Paxson’...
Common Cause filed a petition Wed. asking the FCC to deny Paxson’s request to assign its license for WPXJ (Ch. 21, PAX) in Minden, La., to Minden TV Corp. because the sale violates federal network affiliate rules. Common Cause,…
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represented by Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman, said the sale is illegal because 5 hours of programming per day and eventually 10% of the station’s digital spectrum would belong forever to Christian Network Inc. (CNI). CNI, founded by Paxson CEO Lowell (Bud) Paxson and spun off as a separate entity, operates under the name The Worship Network and broadcasts midnight-7 a.m. daily. “Insofar as Paxson is on the block, any potential buyer needs to know they're only getting 90% of station,” Schwartzman said. Obligating a portion of the station’s broadcast day and digital spectrum “dramatically impairs the notion of localism,” he said. Media Access Project objected to a similar July 2002 sale Paxson tried in Porterville, Cal. The network tried to sell KPFF (Ch. 61, PAX) to Univision on similar terms. In both cases, the station agreement would have run for 50 years with automatic renewals for successive 10-year periods. In a letter to Paxson attorney John Feore and Schwartzman dated March 10, 2003, FCC Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree sought information to determine whether CNI is a network entity, in which case any agreement prohibiting a station from preempting network programming would violate federal law. Schwartzman said CNI is a network because it provides 35 hours of programming per week to about 60 Paxson stations and several dozen Paxson affiliate stations. Feore couldn’t be reached for comment by our deadline.