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FCC: Let Papers Buy Local Radio, TV Stations

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By RICHARD MULLINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2007

TAMPA - Florida and several other states potentially could see a new round of buying and selling of TV stations if federal regulators loosen rules that regulate how companies can own newspapers, television and radio stations together.

The Federal Communications Commission has been pondering new media ownership rules for several years. On Tuesday, FCC chairman Kevin Martin released a proposal that would allow media companies that own newspapers in the 20 largest U.S. media markets to buy a broadcaster in that market, if they meet a string of requirements.

Martin said his proposal is driven in part by financial strain faced by the U.S. newspaper industry.

"At least 300 daily papers have stopped publishing over the past 30 years," Martin said in a statement Tuesday. "Permitting cross-ownership can preserve the viability of newspapers by allowing them to share their operational costs across multiple media platforms."

The proposal comes amid an intense debate over just how much media consolidation is appropriate in the United States and how the media should operate to foster a democracy.

Many media companies have argued that they need to further combine newspaper, television and Internet news operations to have more 24-hour news coverage and to reach news consumers wherever they are during the day, especially amid competition with Internet news outlets for readers and advertisers.

Removal of the ban has been a top priority for Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and 23 television stations. Tribune is currently the subject of an $8.2 billion buyout by real estate magnate Sam Zell that would take the company private.

Media General is parent company of The Tampa Tribune and NBC affiliate WFLA, Channel 8, in Tampa, and the two organizations share some news gathering resources.

Although such newspaper-TV cross-ownership is banned under current FCC rules, Media General is allowed to own and operate the Tampa news operations because the two properties were held before the current set of media ownership rules went into effect.

Critics of media consolidation argue that too few companies already control newsrooms and broadcast stations nationwide, and that drowns out local voices and opinions that don't bubble up through large corporate ownership structures.

"The way things have gone over the past decade, we've ended up with less of what we need as a public," said Robert Dardenne, a professor of communications with the University of South Florida.

"I don't know if it's a massive problem if we have one or two more newspapers owned by a corporation with a TV station in the short run, but in the long run it's a disturbing sort of trend," Dardenne said.

The FCC had tried to loosen media ownership rules in 2003. But a federal court struck down the revised rules, sending the FCC commissioners back to rethink their ideas.

The FCC this year went on a tour of several cities, including Tampa, to hear viewpoints from local groups on media ownership.

Martin's new proposal includes a tightly targeted set of rules to govern any new combinations sought by media companies.

Under the proposal, new consolidation could occur only in the largest 20 U.S. media markets as measured by the ratings company Nielsen.

That list includes three markets in Florida: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne.

The FCC would review each new deal on a case-by-case basis, considering several extra factors, such as the financial distress of the paper involved. Despite Martin's support, a commission vote in favor of the new rules is not a foregone conclusion.

Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have argued strongly that a new round of consolidation would be bad for democracy.

The FCC opened up a short period for citizens and corporations to submit their comments on the proposed rules. That period ends Dec. 11, with an FCC vote possible afterward.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins@tampatrib.com.

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