Split FCC Votes Seen on Media, Cable Ownership Orders
Split FCC votes probably will greet two controversial ownership orders set for votes Tuesday, industry and agency sources said. They expect commissioners to vote 3-2, with the Democrats resisting, for a media ownership order that in some cases would let a company own a station and a daily newspaper in the 20 largest markets (CD Dec 14 p1). An FCC official termed the outcome too distant to handicap. The official and other FCC sources also predicted a split vote on an order to cap at 30 percent the proportion of U.S. pay-TV subscribers each cable operator can serve.
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Commissioners may negotiate until the 11th hour on the cross-ownership order, one on minority ownership and a report on the quality of broadcasters’ community service, sources said. That increases the odds that the FCC meeting’s 9:30 a.m. start will be delayed. Media Bureau and other commission officials spent the weekend working on alternate language for many rulemakings, agency sources said. The order on media ownership by minorities pits commissioners against one another over defining which small businesses are eligible for waivers of some FCC rules, commission sources said. The order was pulled from the agenda of the Nov. 27 meeting, which began nearly 12 hours late.
But Tuesday’s meeting might not be a marathon. Members mostly have taken positions on five media rulemakings set for votes, reducing demands on Chairman Kevin Martin’s lobbying time, said an FCC source. A rulemaking notice on sponsorship identification and the cable-cap order are stirring few last- minute exchanges among commissioners’ offices, reducing odds of those items delaying the meeting, agency sources said.
It’s hard to handicapping media ownership, said FCC and other officials. “I'd rather bet against the New England Patriots than have to bet real money on this one, but I'd have to say that the likeliest outcome is a 3-2 vote for something close to Chairman Martin’s proposal,” said Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman, who opposes the order. Communications lawyer Henry Rivera agreed on the likelihood of that vote split.
Commissioners Robert McDowell and Deborah Tate likely will break ranks with Martin and vote not to reinstate cable caps, commission sources said. Some industry sources expect that dissent because the two don’t think cable needs more regulation. The FCC Democrats said in late November that they'd vote for the order (CD Dec 3 p2). Adelstein and Copps continue to express support for it, agency sources said.
McDowell and Tate likely will stand with Martin on cross-ownership, agency and industry sources said. The two seem to see an outright ban on newspaper-broadcast combinations as outdated, but may propose revising the order, sources said. Industry officials believe Tate and McDowell favor even less broadcast regulation. Commission Democrats are likely to dissent, sources said.
Congressional pressure rose Monday on behalf of delaying the media ownership vote. Martin heard from 25 senators of both parties that if he proceeds with a vote they will introduce bills to “revoke and nullify the proposed rule.” “We are notifying you and others of this proposed action to make certain you understand the consequences of ignoring the need and the right” for more public comment, said the letter, copied to all FCC members. Signers included Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, Vice Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and more than a half-dozen other members of the committee. The Media Ownership Act, which would require the FCC to seek more public comment, has 20 backers plus sponsor and committee member Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. Congress has made good previous threats to cut off funding to carry out FCC rules, Rivera said. “If they go forward with it, that’s pretty gutsy given that you've got the Senate Commerce Committee on a bipartisan basis saying ‘please not do that,'” said Rivera, a Democratic commissioner from 1981 to 1985.
According to preliminary results of a GAO study released by House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., deficiencies mar FCC minority media ownership data. If the FCC votes Tuesday, Markey said, “I urge all the commissioners to weigh carefully the impact of any new rules or waiver standards on the historic policy values of diversity and localism.” The study, requested months ago, will be done within months, the GAO said.
FCC data are deficient because the agency doesn’t survey all broadcasters, the GAO said in its letter to Markey. Form 323, on which the agency requests minority broadcaster status, isn’t required of low-power and noncommercial broadcasters and sole proprietors and partnerships with FCC licenses, the GAO said. Form 323 attachments that may address licensee gender and race aren’t entered into the commission database, the preliminary report said. Broadcasters, public-interest groups and others disagree on media ownership rules, the GAO said. “The stakeholders we interviewed seldom agreed on proposed modifications.”