Sinclair Bcstg. said it plans to appeal the FCC’s expected denial of its application to take over the licenses of 5 stations currently owned by Cunningham Bcstg. “If it’s rejected, we will appeal on the basis for the denial,” said Sinclair. Gen. Counsel Barry Faber.
The federal govt. won’t join a request that the U.S. Supreme Court overturn a lower court decision rejecting FCC action to ease media ownership limits, officials confirmed. The decision by the U.S. Solicitor Gen. (SG) and the FCC not to appeal is said to make it highly unlikely that the Supreme Court will hear the case.
FCC Comr. Copps called on the Commission to approve a set-aside of 25-35% of prime-time hours for independent producers and creators. Speaking by satellite to the NATPE conference, Copps said: “There’s just so much more creativity and genius out there than our media currently reflect. More independent programs would be a wonderful boon to diversity, localism and competition -- the 3 building blocks of a healthy and dynamic media environment.”
Chmn. Powell announced Fri. he will leave the FCC in March. With key issues pending for all communications sectors, sources agreed the next chmn. is likely to maintain Powell’s policies in the broadest sense, including an emphasis on competition and on promoting new technologies.
The acting Solicitor Gen., on behalf of the FCC, asked for another extension of time to decide whether to file for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on the media ownership rules. The FCC asked for an extension to Jan. 31; otherwise the petition is due Jan. 3. The Supreme Court will likely grant the petition because its docket is already full, said Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman. The court also routinely grants govt. extensions. At issue is a 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, media ownership ruling against the Commission’s liberalized rules. In June, the appeals court remanded the FCC’s major rules for cross- ownership of newspapers and broadcasters and the concentration of broadcast ownership in local markets. Schwartzman told the FCC in an ex parte filing that it was unlikely that the Supreme court would reverse the appeals court. He told the FCC it would be better to proceed with executing the appeals court’s directives because broadcasters’ ability to conduct transactions remain frozen.
The United Church of Christ (UCC) filed a petition to deny the license renewal of 2 Miami TV stations for rejecting the group’s controversial ad (CD Dec 2 p12). The group asked the FCC to deny WFOR-TV (Ch. 4, CBS) and WTVJ (Ch. 6, NBC) renewals for failing to recognize the UCC’s limited right of access to purchase air time in the absence of the fairness doctrine.
The draft TRO remand order circulating among commissioners doesn’t cover a wide area of issues, but rather is limited to concerns raised earlier this year by the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Jeffrey Carlisle said Thurs. at an FCBA-Practising Law Institute conference. Carlisle told the group that the court basically upheld the impairment standard set in the earlier TRO order “so we're using the upheld standard to review 3 elements” questioned by the court -- local switching, high-capacity loops and transport. “We're not starting from zero and building up an unbundling policy,” he said.
Fearing possible FCC indecency fines, several ABC affiliates preempted an uncut version of the award-winning film Saving Private Ryan, scheduled to air Thurs. WOI-TV (Ch. 5) Des Moines, KHGI-TV (Ch. 13) Kearney, Neb., and ABC stations in Boston, Orlando and Atlanta said FCC policies on programming broadcast before 10 p.m., including the Janet Jackson Super Bowl ruling, prompted the stations not to show the movie. WOI-TV ran the film uncut in 2001 and 2002. “The inconsistent manner in which the FCC is choosing to apply these rules puts TV stations like ours in a most difficult position,” WOI-TV Pres. Ray Cole said in a statement. ABC agreed to indemnify any affiliate for any FCC fines issued for broadcasting the film, a network spokeswomen said. But Cole said with the current Commission the station didn’t know if the film’s intense language and violence would pass FCC indecency guidelines in prime time. KHGI-TV said it “reluctantly” made the decision to preempt the program, having been denied the chance to edit the profane language in the film. “That movie was praised almost universally for its ability to categorize the war,” said MPAA Pres. Dan Glickman at an Media Institute lunch Wed. Glickman said if he were an FCC commissioner, he wouldn’t fine the stations. NAB said the stations’ actions are reflective of the “dilemma” that many stations are facing with FCC indecency rules. Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman agreed. “When you come up with whip cream and nipple regulations, you are going to find more managers nervous about what they're allowed to air,” he said, referring to recent FCC rulings. The Parents TV Council (PTC) said it wouldn’t object to the uncut film, just as it didn’t object to another Steven Spielberg work, Schindler’s List. “In both films, the content is not meant to shock, nor is it gratuitous,” PTC Pres. Brent Bozell said in a statement.
Pappas Telecasting is complying with the FCC’s equal- time ruling but hasn’t ruled out appealing the decision to the full Commission, a company spokesman said Mon. The FCC ordered Pappas late Fri. not to provide free air time for Republicans or else provide equal time to Democrats. The order followed a complaint filed last week by a Cal. Democrat saying Pappas violated federal equal-time rules by offering more free air time to GOP candidates (CD Nov 1 p9). “When a candidate is furnished time at no cost, competing candidates are entitled to receive the same amount of free time in comparable time periods,” the FCC said. The FCC disagreed with Pappas’ argument that airtime was a in-kind political contribution that didn’t require the company to offer free time to rivals under Cal. campaign law. Pappas also said the company was exercising free-speech rights and the right to make contributions. The FCC emphasized that its ruling was limited to the specific circumstances of the complainant’s request for equal opportunities. The ruling came as no surprise to Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman, who called Pappas’ action “absurd.” Schwartzman said the Pappas incident was reflective of broadcasters’ election actions. “This is an accumulative affect of broadcasters thinking the FCC no longer cares what they do. I'm glad to say they're wrong,” he said. Last week, a complaint was dropped against Sinclair Bcst. for airing an anti- Kerry documentary after Sinclair modified the program to include opposing views (CD Nov 1 p9).
Despite concerns that Sinclair’s broadcast of an anti-Kerry documentary Oct. 22 wasn’t balanced and violated the broadcaster’s public interest obligations, the film received few complaints Mon. Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman said he would be very surprised if anyone pursued taking issue with the broadcast, but said the controversy has “painted a bull’s eye” on Sinclair. Sinclair stations aired part of a documentary Fri. night that was critical of Presidential candidate Sen. Kerry’s (D-Mass.) Vietnam Service. The material was part of a program that also included criticism of President Bush. “I think that what you saw was that the public was heard,” Schwartzman said. Last week, the Veterans Institute for Security & Democracy filed an initial complaint with the FCC against Sinclair over concerns that Sinclair may not provide equal time for a counter opinion on the issues raised in the film (CD Oct 22 p3). The group’s attorney John Crigler hadn’t seen the program and requested a copy from Sinclair before deciding what action, if any, to take. “I'm still waiting for the goods to arrive,” Crigler told us Mon.