FCC Quiet on Ownership Cap; Action in 2018 Looks Unlikely
There are no signs FCC action on the TV-station national ownership cap is coming soon. The expected busy agency schedule for the remaining months of 2018 means such action is unlikely this year, FCC officials, broadcasters, attorneys and analysts told us. Without any deals actively pending that push against the cap and the UHF discount not under threat, the national cap appears to be “on the backburner,” said S&P Global Senior Research Analyst Justin Nielson.
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The national cap isn’t part of the agency’s October meeting agenda. Upcoming items the FCC is expected to address in 2018 would make for a difficult schedule if adjusting of the national cap were added to the menu in November or December, many noted. Voting on a contentious issue like the national cap outside of a meeting is considered unlikely.
The agency is expected to kick off the 2018 quadrennial review at its December meeting, and that’s expected to be controversial, with likely adjustment to longtime radio ownership rules (see 1807050037). The rules bar the FCC from considering the national cap as part of the QR, but it could technically take both matters up as separate items at the same meeting, said Fletcher Heald's Dan Kirkpatrick. The agency is considered unlikely to take up two large and controversial items that fall under the same bureau at the same meeting. The commission declined to comment.
The Media Bureau is in the midst of the post-incentive auction repacking, and is expected to soon take up the annual video competition report. A contentious proceeding, kidvid, will complete its comment period toward the end of October and is likely to take up bureau resources (see 1809250039). Broadcasters said they also don’t expect a kidvid order until 2019 because of the FCC’s full schedule. The FCC is also occupied for the remainder of the year with 5G, efforts to streamline small satellite authorizations, and upcoming reports on broadband deployment and broadband competition.
Without a pending deal or a threat to the UHF discount, the FCC isn’t facing particular time pressure to act on the national cap, broadcasters and industry analysts agree. Industry officials believe the agency hasn’t settled on a new cap percentage. Though owners of TV station groups endorsed a 50 percent cap, NAB proposed a replacement for the UHF discount, and large companies such as Nexstar and Sinclair pushed for the cap to be entirely eliminated.
Industry analysts and officials said the rise of a deal that's close to or over the cap could motivate the agency to take up the cap. An analyst said lack of certainty about the cap’s future could be a barrier to such deals taking shape.