Fox Wants Permanent NBCO Waiver for WWOR
Give Fox a permanent waiver of the newspaper/broadcast cross ownership (NBCO) rule for WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, the company asked the FCC in an undocketed letter posted Tuesday. The permanent waiver would dispel “a cloud of regulatory uncertainty” hanging over…
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the station since the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Prometheus IV ruling resurrected the NBCO rule, Fox said. The station -- which falls under the rule because of Fox’s ownership of the New York Post -- had received a series of such waivers beginning in 2001. In 2018, the FCC renewed WWOR’s license without the waiver because the NBCO was eliminated in 2017. The 2019 Prometheus IV ruling brought the rule back, though the Supreme Court last week granted certiorari in FCC and NAB appeals (see 2010020059). The FCC “has an opportunity to act now to provide immediate relief from a rule that was appropriately repealed and should never have been reinstated,” Fox said. It has a permanent NBCO waiver for WNYW New York, the broadcaster said: The agency has repeatedly found the NBCO rule isn’t in the public interest, but the 3rd Circuit has reinstated it every time.