Copps Takes Aim at FCC Backlog; TWC Deal May Get OK

Although Copps wants to hold off on some matters until a permanent chairman arrives he told reporters Thursday evening he wants to deal with the backlog. “That’s going to be kind of my priority along with” DTV, Copps said after the commission’s monthly meeting, which was devoted to the transition (CD Feb 6 p1). “It’s not a question of can, it’s a question of what’s practical to do while we are addressing this issue.”

Copps noted that he asked staffers in a recent speech (CD Jan 27 p1) “to get together what I think are going to be long lists of items that have been sitting around here for far too long that are not all that controversial but that can send good signals, resolve old disputes and maybe even in the troubled economy in which we live” could “jumpstart some economic activity.” Copps wouldn’t say whether the to-do list may include cable and telecom deals awaiting commission approval. An FCC spokesman declined to comment.

Copps also wants the FCC to come up with recommendations for the next chairman on the D block. (See separate report in this issue.) Another priority is to “try to jump-start the reconvening of the technology advisory committee that has been dormant around here for two years,” Copps said. It’s “a wonderful source of information … So we're moving ahead on that.”

Commission and industry officials expect Copps to circulate soon an order approving the transfer of licenses and local franchises as part of Time Warner Cable’s separation from Time Warner Inc. That could happen as soon as this week, but the exact timing is unclear, they said. The deal hasn’t drawn criticism from FCC members or many public interest groups and is expected to be approved by the other two commissioners, FCC officials said. Commissioners may propose imposing conditions on the deal, said a commission official.

Time Warner Cable originally expected to complete the deal last year. But then the company apparently wouldn’t agree to conditions that Chairman Kevin Martin said he probably would try to have imposed, FCC and industry officials said. If the deal isn’t completed before April, the companies may have to change the terms between them. Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said Wednesday the deal probably will close by March 31 (CD Feb 5 p9).

Industry officials expect the FCC to OK the deal this quarter, so it can be completed before terms may need to be rejiggered. TWC has said it will pay a $10.9 billion dividend to shareholders in the deal, and about $9.25 billion will go to Time Warner as the owner of a 84 percent stake in the cable operator. Time Warner Cable executives recently met with commissioners about the deal and “we are cautiously optimistic that it will be approved,” said a spokesman. A Time Warner spokesman declined to comment beyond Bewkes’ remarks.

The transaction had been at the FCC 220 days Friday, 40 more than the commission has said it wants to take on corporate deals. “Certainly as part of overall FCC reform, I would hope that we could stick to the reasonable timetable for the completion of merger application reviews,” Commissioner Robert McDowell said in an interview. Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman said he thinks “the commission has an obligation not to decide things through inaction, and one way or another it’s time to decide this.” He called the deal “relatively noncontroversial,” noting that constituents hadn’t asked his group to weigh in on it and it hasn’t. “To some degree, it results in a desirable deconsolidation.”

Postponement of the analog cutoff to June 12 may give Copps time to concentrate on the Time Warner Cable proceeding, said analysts. “The delay in the DTV transition gives the commission more breathing room to move forward on items that had been frozen,” Paul Gallant of the Stanford Group said. “The Time Warner spin probably was stuck behind DTV items, so the postponement clears away a major hurdle.” - - Jonathan Make