Yesterday the FCC showed just how much they are in the pocket of Sinclair Broadcast Group. 

The FCC voted to eliminate the broadcast main studio rule that required stations to have a main studio located in or near its local community. 

This will allow companies like Sinclair to hub more newscasts out of one location and put on inferior newscasts with fewer people and by spending less money. 

While talking about eliminating the main studio rule, the FCC said it, "should produce substantial cost-saving benefits for broadcasters that can be directed toward such things as programming, equipment upgrades, newsgathering, and other services that benefit consumers. It will also make it easier for broadcasters to prevent stations in small towns from going dark and to launch new stations in rural areas."

It's almost like they said it just how Sinclair's David Smith wrote it. 

The FCC says by eliminating the rule it will give broadcasters a chance to save money that can be used for newsgathering.

Ha ha.... there is no way they said that with a straight face?

If a company like Sinclair can lay off staff, centralize news miles away and even possible in another state (such as they are currently doing with Toledo and Scranton) how is that directing money towards newsgathering? 

The newscast is not even being produced or anchored inside the market's DMA. It's complete bullshit. 

The NAB also bought into this crock. NAB VP of Communications Dennis Wharton said the rule "has outlived its usefulness in an era of mobile news gathering and multiple content delivery platforms. We're confident that cost savings realized from ending the main studio rule will be reinvested by broadcasters in better programming and modernized equipment to better serve our local communities. We applaud the FCC for continuing to remove unnecessary and outdated broadcast regulations.”

The only place that money saved is going is right back in the corporation's pockets. 

What the FCC rule change will do is let TV stations do their business with fewer people and that means job cuts. 

The current rule had been around for 80 years and there was a reason that it was there for so long. 

Despite what anyone says, this change was great for greedy corporations, but for people that care about real Journalism, it was nothing more than another slap in the face.